Chemical Engineering

Expanding Efforts in the Ultrapure Water Group to Address Resin Chemistry Issues – Phase 2

In Phase 1 of this project, the presence of several phenomena that affect the resins when exposed to aqueous ethanolamine at elevated temperature was established. Experimentation is still in progress to pinpoint more specific ETA/resin reactions. However, we have sufficient information to proceed with Phase 2. Two directions for Phase 2 are suggested: (1) define the impact of the hypothesized fouling mechanism on ion exchange resin performance; and (2) propose an alternative amine to ETA.

Sponsor: Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)

PIs: Gary L. Foutch

College of Arts and Sciences: Alan Apblett

Gas Phase Corona Technology for Treatment of VOC Paint Booth Emissions

This research project has four phases. The first phase will utilize OSU’s most recent plasma design which is scalable by constructing many small reactors and packing them like straws in a can. This phase will focus on assessing the destruction efficiency of the VOCs contained in typical exhaust from a paint booth by the plasma reactor. The second phase of the project will size and construct/purchase the requested adsorption technology to concentrate the VOCs, and investigate the most effective manner (likely steam) to release these VOCs back into the air phase so they can be directed to the plasma reactor for destruction. Phase three of the project will involve the scale-up calculations and actual construction of a plasma reactor to handle the specified airflow rates. The fourth and final phase will involve testing the large-scale plasma reactor both with and without the pre-concentrator adsorber system to assess system performance, and develop detailed operational costs and maintenance costs.

Sponsor: Altech Services, Inc.

PIs: Gary L. Foutch, Arland H. Johannes

School of Civil and Environmental Engineering: John N. Veenstra

Modeling the Performance of Mixed-Bed Ion Exchange Units Used to Produce Ultrapure Water

A consortium of companies supports general research in the area of ultrapure water processing. Funds are used to support graduate students in chemical engineering. Companies are invited to campus annually to hear presentations of the work completed and to present information on future industrial interest in ultrapure water processing. A range of projects have been addressed by this consortium, including the modeling of ion exchange and membrane systems and the development of an ion exchange resin database. Specific recent topics include modeling the boron thermal regeneration system, obtaining ion exchange selectivity data by chromatography, and obtaining the mass transfer characteristics of industrial ion exchange resins.

Sponsors: Duke Power Company, Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, PECO Energy Company, Pennsylvania Power and Light, Public Service Electric and Gas

PI: Gary L. Foutch

OSU Ultrapure Water Research Consortium

The overall objective of the UWC is to improve the fundamental understanding of ultrapure water processing. This objective is accomplished by developing detailed computer models that accurately predict ion exchange and membrane technology performance. The precise focus of the project is continuously refined through consultations with the sponsors at annual meetings, which has proven to be very successful in expanding dialog among students and industrial liaisons.

Sponsors: Dow Chemical Company, Intel, Pennsylvania Power and Light, Knoll’s Atomic Power Laboratory, British Energy, Arizona Public Service, Virginia Power, Public Service Electric and Gas

PIs: Gary L. Foutch

College of Arts and Sciences: Allen Apblett

Research Related to the Production of Titanium Dioxide

This project will model the Kerr-McGee Titanium Dioxide production process using FLUENTTM, a commercial computational fluid dynamics program, and compare the results with plant data and current Kerr-McGee simulations performed with CFXTM. Initial efforts will focus on two- and three-dimensional fluid mechanics and heat transfer simulation, with the objective of defining nozzle geometry and operating conditions that will minimize or prevent material buildup on the reactor wall.

Sponsor: Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation

PIs: Gary L. Foutch, Arland H. Johannes

School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering: Afshin J. Ghajar

Integrated Petroleum Environmental Consortium (IPEC) Research Administrative Services

Dr. Gasem has received the annual allocation as the OSU Associate Director of IPEC. These funds will be used to assist him in discharging his duties as described by the IPEC bylaws.

Sponsors: University of Tulsa, Integrated Petroleum Environmental Consortium

PI: Khaled Gasem

Sequestering Carbon Dioxide in Coalbeds

The specific focus of the proposed research is to investigate the competitive adsorption behavior of methane, CO2, and nitrogen on the surface of a variety of coals. Measurements will focus on the adsorption of the pure gases as well as their mixtures. Data will be taken on coals of various physical properties at appropriate temperatures, pressures, and gas compositions to identify the coals and conditions for which the proposed environmental and energy applications are most attractive.

Sponsor: Department of Energy

PIs: Khaled Gasem, Robert L. Robinson, Jr.

Experimental Batch Optimization

The purpose of this collaborative project is to develop new techniques for experimental optimization of batch recipes in real-time. Research software, developed at OSU, will be implemented at Eastern Carolina University (ECU) where it will receive in-situ spectroscopic measurements and process measurements from the laboratory batch reactor under development at ECU. The ultimate goal of the project will be to deliver a software program and demonstrate new techniques for experimental optimization of batch reactions.

Sponsor: University of Tennessee

PIs: Karen A. High, R. Russell Rhinehart

Green Technology Process Design and Assessment with Energy and Sustainability Considerations

Five objectives will be addressed by this research: (1) Recognize the state-of-the-art development of sustainability research. Assess and select promising green technologies for process development, (2) Set up a holistic assessment system for sustainability of processes derived from potential environmental impact, natural resources consumption, and economic evaluation, (3) Formulate a mathematical model with data from process simulation to optimize objective functions, (4) Establish an artificial intelligent alternative generator to assist engineers to form processes alternatives, (5) Develop user-friendly software to implement the methodology for practical uses.

Sponsor: Environmental Institute’s Energy Research Center

PI: Karen A. High

Measurement and Control Engineering Center

OSU created a Measurement and Control Engineering Center in affiliation with the National Science Foundation and the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK). Twenty-five companies are contributing both financial support and program direction. The Center will bring industrial needs for improved control into the university for studies and evaluations by faculty and students. The Center was developed at UTK, where the research emphasis has been in measurement and analysis. The reputation of OSU faculty in applied control makes OSU attractive to all of them, and the establishment of an affiliate site in Stillwater will help broaden the industry support base. For industry considering joining the OSU control center, becoming a partner with the MCEC is very attractive because it opens access to prior technology, other applied researchers, and an established, successful enterprise. Industrial Sponsorship is $35,000 per year. At semi-annual meetings, faculty presents progress to industry, industry provides direction for the next six months work, and industry selects projects for continued and new funding from the sponsorship pool.

Sponsors: National Science Foundation, Various Industrial Sponsors

PIs: Karen A. High, R. Russell Rhinehart

Travel Grant: AIChE Women’s Initiative Committee Session for “Advancement and Retention of Female Chemical Engineers: Issues and Strategies”

The purpose of this proposal is to request travel funds for two speakers (Catherine Didion and Regina Murphy) to present at the Woman’s Initiative Committee Session entitled “Advancement and Retention of Female Chemical Engineers: Issues and Strategies” at the Annual American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) meeting in Indianapolis. The biggest impact will be to the AIChE audience that rarely has the opportunity to attend sessions by the various speakers.

Sponsor: National Science Foundation

PI: Karen A. High

Travel Grant: AIChE Women’s Initiative Committee Session for “Women Engineering Success from the Inside Out”

This project will allow four speakers to present at the Woman’s Initiative Committee Session at the Annual American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) meeting. All of the speakers are women and most are not AIChE members.

Sponsor: National Science Foundation

PI: Karen A. High

Catalytic Activity of Nafion Solid Acid Catalysts

The purpose of this project is to determine the scope of catalytic activity of High Surface Area Nafion catalysts in olefin processing. OSU will be engaged in research activities to determine the usefulness of HAS Nafion catalysts and other reactions to improve the quality of alkylation feeds or provide better quality and volume products from olefin feeds versus currently available technologies.

Sponsor: Conoco, Inc.

PIs: Martin S. High, Karen A. High

Prediction of Corrosion Rates and Sites for Gas and Oil Wells

This project was initiated to predict and mitigate the effects of corrosion in oil and natural gas wells. The economic viability of gas and oil production in the United States depends to a large extent on the life of wells in the highly corrosive environments typically found in the U.S. This is particularly important for wells in Oklahoma where the natural gas contains unusually large amounts of corrosive hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide. The models developed in this project are a combination of the thermodynamic, fluid mechanical, and corrosion mechanisms that are important in downhole systems.

Sponsors: Amoco Production Company, Chevron Research and Technology Company, Conoco, Oryx Energy Company, Phillips Petroleum Company

PIs: Martin S. High, D. Alan Tree, Jan Wagner

Biomass-based Energy Research

This project is one of the integrated activities by the Oklahoma/Mississippi Consortium (Oklahoma State University, University of Oklahoma, and Mississippi State University). These activities will be accomplished through five primary research projects: Feedstock Development, Biomass Gasification and Syngas Conditioning, Syngas Fermentation, Microbial Catalyst Development, and Economics. These projects will be working synergistically and are aligned to address the most important issues in the conversion of biomass to liquid fuel.

Sponsor: U.S. Department of Agriculture

PIs: Randy S. Lewis, A.J. Johannes

Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources: Ray L. Huhnke, Danielle Bellmer, Charles Taliaferro, Francis M. Epplin, Timothy J. Bowser

Conversion of Low-Cost Biomass to Ethanol

Conversion of underutilized low-cost biomass to liquid fuel and other useful products at a price competitive with fossil fuel derivatives is one of the prime objectives of renewable energy research. The primary mission of our project is to further develop the bioconversion technology, which uses low-cost biomass for production of ethanol.

Sponsor: U.S. Department of Agriculture

PI: Randy S. Lewis

Elucidation of Metabolic Pathways of an Acetogenic Organism Able to Convert Synthesis Gas into Ethanol and Other Byproducts

The immediate objectives of this research are to (1) develop assays for enzymes from the P7 strain involved with the bioconversion of H2/CO/CO2 to ethanol, (2) identify enzymes involved in the rate-determining steps and assess parameters affecting these enzymes, and (3) identify control strategies to inhibit competing pathways.

Sponsor: Environmental Institute’s Energy Research Center

PIs: Randy S. Lewis

Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources: Jerald A. Lalman

Novel Polymers Designed to Minimize Platelet Adhesion

A polymer has been modified with cysteine such that platelet deposition is significantly inhibited following exposure to plasma. The overall objective of this project is to optimize the modified polymer using cysteine modification to completely inhibit platelet deposition. This objective will be achieved following the completion of three specific aims, (1) measurement and modeling of transnitrosation and nitric oxide release, (2) optimize polymer modification to enhance nitric oxide release, and (3) application of optimized polymers to plasma and blood.

Sponsor: National Science Foundation

PI: Randy S. Lewis

Biodegradable Scaffolds for Tissue Regeneration

This project will focus on (1) developing novel blends of biomaterials that can be tailored to required biomechanical properties, (2) optimizing macro- and micro-architecture of scaffolds, and (3) design and development of bioreactors. Project will be emphasized toward developing optimized scaffolds for applications such as heart valves and vascular grafts.

Sponsor: Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (Applied Research)

PI: Sundararajan V. Madihally

EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Plan

This project is in support of the College of Arts and Science’s EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Plan. Graduate research assistance is the focal point of the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology involvement.

Sponsor: National Science Foundation

PI: James E. Smay

Formation and Assembly of Complex Nanoparticle Building Blocks

The research project is developing a methodology for synthesizing complex nanoscale hetero-clusters with well-defined geometrics and assembling them into ordered superstructures.

Sponsor: Oklahoma EPSCoR for Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education

PI: James E. Smay

Automatic Model Adjustment

Models are used in the process industries for model predictive control, process optimization, event scheduling, and on-line fault diagnosis. However, the manufacturing process behavior is always changing, and therefore the model becomes out of date. When this happens, the effectiveness of the model-based strategy degrades. The objective of this project is to develop and analyze automatic methods to identify when process/model mismatch has increased to the point where the system should initiate model adaptation. There are two main functions in the approach. The first is to identify when control performance is bad. The other is to determine whether there is statistical evidence to justify model adjustment. The work is being conducted using both simulated and actual plant data.

Sponsor: Measurement and Control Engineering Center

PIs: James R. Whiteley, R. Russell Rhinehart

Oklahoma State University Geothermal Smart Bridge

This proposal describes a project aimed at research, development, and technology transfer associated with a bridge deck heating system to eliminate preferential icing. The proposed bridge deck-heating system (1) is hydronic, i.e., a heated fluid is circulated through tubes embedded in the bridge deck; (2) makes use of a ground source heat pump system, which recovers energy stored in the earth, and uses it to heat the fluid circulated through the bridge deck; (3) is automatic, integrates with the available intelligent transportation systems and makes use of local and remote weather stations to forecast potential icing conditions; and (4) is expected to enhance both safety, by eliminating preferential icing conditions, and bridge deck life, by eliminating the application of salt on the bridge and reducing corrosion of the reinforcing steel.

Sponsor: Federal Highway Administration

PIs: James R. Whiteley

Division of Engineering Technology: Marvin D. Smith

School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering: Jeffrey D. Spitler, Daniel E. Fisher, Ronald

D. Delahoussaye

School of Civil and Environmental Engineering: M. Samir Ahmed

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering: Ronald L. Elliott

Environmental Institute: Edward T. Knobbe

Development of Process Cause and Effect by Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Develop an algorithm that autonomously observes process data and develops linguistic cause-and-effect relationships in dynamic (time dependent), noisy, continuous processes when affected by natural events (not intentionally perturbed). Antecedents will include persistence and variable delays. Initially, genetic algorithms are proposed to develop neural-fuzzy rules. Quality of rules will be evaluated by goodness (likelihood of consequent happening), completeness (all events that could create an outcome are included in the antecedent), complexity (minimal variables and conjunctions in the antecedent), and sufficiency of data to evaluate rule. This multi-objective situation will be treated with Pareto Optimal techniques.

The cause-and-effect relations might be expressed as, “if the flow rate decreased somewhat a short time past, and if a catalytic reactor was recently regenerated, then the product will be slightly yellow.” Or as, “if the cycle time for the carbon bed absorber is less than 4 hours, and product X is more than 10% of total production, then the recovered solvent will contain more than 50% water. If we know these cause-and-effect relationships, then we can use that knowledge to better manage our processes.

The “intelligent system” could be used to discover process relationships faster than human experience would generate their operational expertise, and without human bias. Once discovered, these cause-and-effect rules could be used to warn operational staff of pending events so that they can take timely and directed corrective action. The rules could be used to automatically trigger control action. The rules could be used to guide process re-engineering that would eliminate the causes or the process mechanism that leads to the effect.

Sponsor: Measurement and Control Engineering Center

PIs: Gary G. Yen, R. Russell Rhinehart