Department of Chemical Engineering - Auburn University

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AUBURN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING. Our goal is to be a top Chemical Engineering Program! • Successful ... Pulp and paper, bioresource engineering, biorefining. • Virginia Davis ... 11 Doctoral and 10 Masters degrees awarded in past year.
Department of Chemical Engineering

AUBURN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING Our goal is to be a top Chemical Engineering Program! • Successful graduates in industry, academia, and government • Research contributes to economic competitiveness and quality of life • International recognition of faculty • Leadership in the intellectual development of chemical and biological engineering

FACULTY & STAFF 19 Faculty 6 Staff + part time 13 Postdoctoral fellows & visiting scholars

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING FACULTY •

Christopher Roberts (Professor and Dept Chair), 334-844-2036, [email protected] Nanomaterials, alternative energy, green chemistry, tunable solvents



W. Robert Ashurst (Associate Professor) 334-844-2559, [email protected] Micro- and nano-electromechanical systems, thin films, surface science



Mark Byrne (Associate Professor) 334-844-2862, [email protected] Drug delivery, biomaterials, therapeutic and diagnostic devices



Robert Chambers (Professor), 334-844-2054, [email protected] Biochemical engineering, biotechnology



Harry Cullinan (Emeritus Professor), 334-844-2016, [email protected] Pulp and paper, bioresource engineering, biorefining



Virginia Davis (Associate Professor), 334-844-2060, [email protected] Nanorod liquid crystals, carbon nanotubes, polymer nanocomposites

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING FACULTY (cont’d) •

Steve Duke (Associate Professor & Center Director), 334-844-2087, [email protected] Alternative fuels, multiphase flow visualizations, polymer/drug particle formation



Mario Eden (Associate Professor), 334-844-2064, [email protected] Process systems engineering, computer aided design, biorefining and energy



Ram Gupta (Professor), 334-844-2013, [email protected] Biofuels, hydrogen fuel, nanomedicine, supercritical fluids



Thomas Hanley (Professor), 334-844-7773, [email protected] Reactive mixing, biochemical and biomedical process, multiphase systems



Y.Y. Lee (Professor) 334-844-2019, [email protected] Bioenergy and biofuels, biomass pretreatment, enzyme and microbial processes



Elizabeth Lipke (Assistant Professor) 334-844-2003, [email protected] Biomedical engineering, cardiovascular biomaterials, tissue engineering

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING FACULTY (cont’d) •

Glennon Maples (Professor), 334-844-2040, [email protected] Phase-cooling systems, wood burning equipment, energy efficiency



Ronald Neuman (Professor), 334-844-0513, [email protected] Surface science and interfacial phenomena, bio-relevant particles, fibers



Timothy Placek (Assistant Professor), 334-844-2022, [email protected] Process design and engineering education



Bruce Tatarchuk (Professor and Center Director), 334-844-2023, [email protected] Microfibrous materials manufacturing, heterogeneous catalysis, fuel processing



Jin Wang (Associate Professor), 334-844-2020, [email protected] Manufacturing process modeling, process control, systems biology

Improving the quality of life, the natural environment, and industry competitiveness

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP  Published 85 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters in 2010  165 conference presentations and invited seminars  11 Doctoral and 10 Masters degrees awarded in past year  Numerous Editorial Board Appointments  3 faculty selected to participate in National Academy of Engineering’s Frontiers of Engineering Symposia  Krishnagopalan received the 2010 Andrew Chase Award from AIChE for Excellence in Research and Education

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING RESEARCH FUNDING  Chemical & Engineering News ranked us 25th in research expenditures using NSF data in Fall 2010  FY 10 Research Expenditures: $5.3 million  New Awards: FY03

FY04

FY05

FY06

FY07

FY08

FY09

FY10

FY11

$1.99M

$3.6M

$5.7M

$4.0M

$7.2M

$5.2M

$6.2M

$7.2M

$6.5M

 Goal is to maintain research in the range of $6+ million with $300K-400K per faculty  $406K/TTF this year

SCHOOL SPENDING ON CHEMICAL ENGINEERING R&D

Chemical and Engineering News (the magazine of the American Chemical Society – www.cen-online.org) recently ranked our department at 25th in the country in research expenditures in their October 4, 2010 issue.

AUBURN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING GRADUATE PROGRAM Steady Climb in US News graduate rankings

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Graduate Enrollment F10: 92 (77 PhD) F08: 83 (63 PhD) F06: 67 (45 PhD) F04: 60 (41 PhD) F02: 59 (32 PhD)

EXAMPLES OF RECENTLY FUNDED PROJECTS

“IGERT: Integrated Biorefining for Sustainable Production of Fuels and Chemicals” PI: M. Eden, C. Roberts, S. Taylor, T. Gallagher, P. Raju Source: National Science Foundation Funding: $3 Million Objective: Interdisciplinary training program for 30+ PhD students across 5 colleges in the area of biorefining.

“Microstructure and Processing of Cylindrical Nanomaterial Dispersions” PI: Dr. Virginia Davis Source: NSF PECASE Funding: $400K

DR. BRUCE TATARCHUK RECEIVES $3.2 MILLION CONTRACT FROM ONR “Development and Demonstration of Advanced Filtration Strategies and Methodologies to Supply Clean Air to Future Navy Fuel Cell Systems”

“Fuel and Oxygenate Co-Products from Biomass Fractionation and Advanced Catalytic Conversion Processes” PI: Mario Eden Source: USDA – National Institute for Food and Agriculture AFRI Program Funding: $1 Million

“Optimization and control of a co-culture system for ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass” PI: Jin Wang (PI, AU) & Q. Peter He (co-PI, TU) Source: DOT-Sun Grant Funding: $357K Objective: To optimally design and control coculture systems as cost effective biocatalysts for lignocellulosic ethanol production. Key Result: First to achieve simultaneous complete consumption of both glucose and xylose with continuous fermentation.

“SBIR Phase II: Durable Super-Hydrophobic Nano-Composites” PI: W. R. Ashurst (AU), Jeff Chinn (IST) Source: National Science Foundation Funding: $500K Objective: This project seeks to explore and commercialize a conformal nanoscale film that is comprised of surface bound nano-particles and acts as superior water barrier.

“Processing and Properties of Cellulose Films for MEMS Applications” PI: V. Davis, W. R. Ashurst, C. L. Kitchens (Clemson) Source: National Science Foundation Funding: $287K (AU) + $133K (Clemson) Objective: Create “bottoms-up” platform based on cellulose nanocrystals with controlled surface chemistry and tailored rheological processing to produce functional non-silicon based MEMS devices. .

Engineering the Structure of Biomaterials: Therapeutic Contact Lenses PI: M. Byrne

In vivo Release Study

Eye Drops

Delivery Mechanisms Engineered Lens 0.035% eye drops (50 μL)

Agencies: CIBA Vision, Inc. ($240K) AL Launchpad & OcuMedic, Inc. ($100K), NSF ($230K)

Engineered Lens

Cmax (μg/mL) 214 ± 63 143 ± 18

tmax (min) 240 0

Objective: The Rational Design & Engineering of Polymer Networks Using Biology & Polymerization Kinetics for Recognition & the Controlled Transport of Molecules Highlights: - Relatively Constant Ocular Drug Conc. - 100x more Bioavailability Than Conventional Eye Drops - Increased Efficacy, Efficiency, Better Compliance, Better Health AUC0-26 h (μg*hr/mL) MRT (hr) 4365 ± 1070 12.60 ± 0.37 46.6 ± 24.5 0.25 ± 0.07

LIPKE LAB FOR TISSUE ENGINEERING AND CARDIAC REGENERATION Research Objectives:  Direct stem cell differentiation and alignment through chemical, electrical, and scaffold structural cues  Establish scalable culture system for differentiating cardiomyocytes  Create cell-polymer composites that are injectable and that can support cells as a cardiac patch  Assess large-scale electrophysiological properties of these composite systems for pharmaceutical testing and prevention of arrhythmias

Cell-material interactions can guide stem differentiation and tissue repair

Center for Microfibrous Materials Manufacturing (CM3) Director: Dr. Bruce Tatarchuk •

Business Model: The Center facilitates value-added enhancement of core Auburn University Microfibrous Materials IP and human capital via application driven focused fundamental RD&D. Activities include student education, scholarly outlets, IP generation, technology transition, partnering, commercialization and job creation.



Revenue Model: Extramural contracts, ICRE, license agreements, royalty income, spin-off equity holdings



Funding: 100% Extramural (no cost sharing)

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Center for Microfibrous Materials Manufacturing Enabling Technical Fundamentals: Microfibrous Materials provide unparalleled enhancement in heterogeneous contacting efficiency and hierarchical dimensional design compared to current SOA approaches. (Able to promote and sustain the highest levels of chemical reactivity per unit volume by structure induced balancing of surface kinetics vs. transport limitations) Manufacturability: Scale-up has been achieved on campus and at a variety of larger third party locations by adapting high speed wet-lay paper making techniques and machines

Activated Carbon Fiber and 2 µm Stainless Steel Fibers

2 μm 316L SS Fibers Entrapping Spray Dried TiO2

100 – 150 µm Activated Carbon 10 – 20 µm Polymer Fibers

55-85 µm BPL sorbent entrapped in 2,4,8 µm Ni Fibers

100 µm SiO2 in 2-15 µm Ceramic Fibers

Vapor grown carbon fibers (VGCF) entrapped in 2.4 𝜇 m glass-MFM

Vapor grown carbon nanofibers (VGCNF) grown on 1.5 𝜇m Ni-MFM

180-250 mm g-Al2O3 entrapped in 8mm SS Fibers

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Center for Microfibrous Materials Manufacturing

Staffing: • Direct : ca. 30 including, 22 GRA’s, 2 Research Fellows, 1-3 Postdocs, 2 Staff, 1 part-time Director @ 10% • Associated: AU collaborating faculty, subcontracts to other universities, subcontracts to/from industry and/or small business Intellectual Property: • Approximately 42 issued U.S. and Foreign Patents, 3 other US/PCT applications pending Applications Areas: • Heterogeneous Catalysis including the 95% of all processes under transport control • Electrochemical Systems including synthesis reactors, packaged energy storage devices, prime power generation • Structured Sorbents and Beds under transport or driving force control • Filtration Applications including combined particulate and molecular contaminants • Engineered thermal diffusivity and vibration isolation substrates • EMI/RFI shielding for specialized commercial and military aerospace

Commercializations, Product Introductions, Industrial Licenses: • Liquid Double Layer Capacitors (broad use) • Conductive Gasketing (broad use in commercial aircraft) • Conduction Aides (broad use in military aircraft) • Polishing Sorbents (military gas canisters) per US#7,501,012 • Heterogeneous Catalysis (two licenses to Fortune 50 firms) • Microfibrous materials (IntraMicron, Inc. an AU spin-off) • Others in process

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ALABAMA CENTER FOR PAPER AND BIORESOURCE ENGINEERING

Interim Director: Dr. Steve Duke Former Director: Dr. Harry Cullinan

VISION

RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY

• AC-PABE is a dynamic responsive organization focused on the needs of the pulp and paper industry

• Major sludge to ethanol

• Breakthrough Alabama Center for NIR sensor technology successfully developed and deployed in industry (REH, LLC) Paper & Bioresource •Engineering Extraction of hemicellulose sugars prior to pulping

• AC-PABE's major emphasis is on engineering education, strategic research, technology transfer and technical training for the industry

• AC-PABE's success is measured by the quality and MISSIONS• Leadership of the WISE Initiative performance of our graduates, the participation of the industry, the value of our resultsundergraduate, and the • toresearch provide graduate and continuing significance of the technologies ultimately education in science and engineering relevant to the transferred to the industry

needs of the pulp, paper and allied industries

• to conduct fundamental and applied research in line with the industry’s research agenda • toWITH develop and transfer technology to the industry PARTNERING UNIQUENESS INDUSTRY consistent with the industry’s technology vision

• The only pulp and paper engineering program in Alabama,



• to provide timely technical training to the operating supported by the Auburnsector Pulp and Paper Foundation with The only US university offering pulp, paper & bioresource its 55 member companies of the industry engineering specializations in ChE, EE and ME

• Strong scholarship program supported by the Auburn Pulp and Paper Foundation • Leadership of the American Forest and Paper Association's Technologically Advanced Workforce Initiative • Membership in the Agenda 2020 CTO Committee

• The headquarters for the Pulp and Paper Education and Research Alliance (PPERA) whose membership is comprised of the 10 US universities offering pulp and paper science and engineering programs • National Network for Pulp and Paper Technology (NPT)2 focused on operator training for the US industry

Alabama Center for Paper and Bioresource Engineering

BIOREFINING Feedstocks

Fractionation and Selective Hydrolysis

SCW Depolymerization and Catalytic Reforming

Ethanol

Biomass Separation

Waste Wood

Products F-T Fuels

Forest Residuals

Gasoline

Ag. Crops/Residues

JP8

Algae

Biocrude

Mill Sludge

Biochar

MSW

Syngas

Process Integration

Gasification Pyrolysis

Thermo-Chemical

Processing

Hydrogen Lignocellulosic Pretreatment

Bio-Chemical Processing

FischerTropsch Catalysis

SSCF Technologies

Strategic Research Framework

Chemicals