Xiang Li, Department of Chemical Engineering, Lamar University, “Incorporating Exergy Analysis and Inherent Safety Analysis for Sustainability Assessment of Biofuels,” published in Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. (2011), 50, 2981-2993 (co-authors: Anand Zanwar, Abhishek Jayswal, Dr. Helen H. Lou and Dr. Yinlun Huang; advisor: Professor Helen H. Lou).
Mr. Xiang Li is a PhD student in chemical engineering at Lamar University. His area of research includes design for sustainability, process modeling and simulation.
This paper presents a novel approach for applying exergy analysis and inherently safe design principles to evaluate the sustainability of chemical systems. The efficacy of this methodology is demonstrated through a case study on biodiesel production processes. In conjunction with a multi-criteria decision-analysis method, this methodology will provide critical guidance to the designers.