Opportunities and Challenges in the Pursuit of Energy Savings Using Membranes for Large Scale Chemic

Lyman Handy Colloquium SeriesPresentsWilliam KorosProfessor, Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA 30332Abstract:
Purification and separation processes to provide commodities needed for a high standard of living are energy intensive, accounting for roughly 15% of global energy usage. This significant figure is invisible to most of society, since it is embedded in massive plants used to provide the products we all rely upon. Over the next three decades, global demands for commodities such as water, fuel and basic chemicals will escalate by three to four-fold beyond those in 2009. This demand growth will be fueled not only by population growth but also by a need to provide a high standard of living in emerging economies. Basing expanding commodity capacity on current technology to meet such a demand growth would require a huge increase in global energy consumption and create additional carbon dioxide environmental burdens. If such capacity expansions occur with current energy-inefficient technologies, economic barriers will impede decommissioning of these facilities, despite their environmental burdens. It is imperative, therefore, that alternative large scale separation and purification approaches be developed and implemented within the next decade to address this challenge. Membranes offer the best option for a 10X reduction in separation and purification process energy intensity. Emerging membrane technology involving crosslinked polymers, inorganic-polymer hybrids and pure inorganic or carbon materials have the potential to economically address this challenge in different applications. Practical approaches to enable this perfection and deployment will be outlined with a focus on novel materials, their manufacture and implementation in revolutionary large scale processes.

Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 122

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Petra Pearce Sapir