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What Are Chemical Engineers Doing About Energy?

Posted on: Wednesday, 26 March 2008, 03:00 CDT

The first annual energy survey conducted by AIChE's Research and New Technology Committee provides insights into the energy-related research of chemical engineers. The global demand for energy, coupled with concern about climate change, has led to an explosion in interest in energy research, use, production and policy. Chemical engineers, from the moment we take courses in mass and energy balances, are involved with energy and the environment.

AIChE's Board of Directors recognized the interest in energy within the Institute, and based on its internal report, "Recommendations for AIChE's Energy Strategy, 2006," began to implement strategies that would help ensure that chemical engineers play a central - even preeminent - role in advancing energy research and technology.

AIChE's first annual energy survey is one of many efforts that arose from this focus on energy. Sponsored by the Research and New Technology Committee (RANTC), the energy survey aims to guide AIChE's technical programming efforts related to energy. In addition, since one of RANTCs missions is to sponsor cutting-edge research programming, the group wanted to know in general what research topics within the energy field are relatively under- represented at the Institute's meetings. Because it was perceived that energy programming is widely represented throughout all of AIChE's divisions and forums, RANTC first focused on general questions, such as:

* How can energy programming at AIChE meetings be enhanced?

* What are the emerging topics in energy research?

* What role (if any) should the RANTC play in energy programming?

Before any of these questions could be answered, the central question What are chemical engineers doing about energy? had to be answered. While there are many ways to seek answers to this most basic question, the first energy survey used AIChE's conference planning tool, CONFEX, to query each author who had submitted a paper to the 2007 Annual Meeting.

The survey consisted of three main questions:

1. Is your paper related to existing technology or advanced technology associated with the overall use and supply of energy or global climate change research?

2. Is your paper related to fossil, renewable or nuclear energy?

3. Is your paper related to global climate change?

Drop-down menus offered context-related keywords that the author could use to further classify the submitted paper. For example, if the author decided the paper was related to renewable energy, the keywords wind, solar, biomass, ethanol, biodiesel, other fuels derived from renewable resources, energy efficiency, and other - fill in key word appeared so that the paper could be further categorized.

More than 4,500 people responded to the survey. Twenty-six percent (1,200) of the papers were related to energy. The portfolio of energy research represented at this meeting was quite balanced, with fossil, renewable and nuclear topics all well represented (Figure 1). The "other" category is large, probably because some authors conduct research that is broad enough to relate to both fossil and renewable energy fields (e.g., basic engineering sciences and catalyst development). The Nuclear Engineering Division and the Environmental Division together organized over 74 papers related to nuclear energy research.

Figure 2 provides details about the papers dealing with fossil energy. From the survey results, it became clear that there is room for growth in presentations related to the area of unconventional oil sources (e.g., oil shale and oil sands). Not surprisingly, energy efficiency was a hot topic at the 2007 Annual Meeting - all industries are looking for ways to use fossil fuels more efficiently.

Figure 3 summarizes the renewable energy programming at the 2007 Annual Meeting. RANTC was both surprised and pleased to see that 15% (52) of the renewable energy papers were related to solar energy. Solar energy crosscuts many AIChE divisions, and would be an excellent candidate for a focused topical conference in the future.

Ethanol and biodiesel were not as widely presented as expected. To some degree, the technology development efforts in these industries are focused away from basic research and more toward industrial development. However, with the launch of two new Dept. of Energy (DOE) bioenergy centers, the U.S. government will invest more than $250 million in basic research. As a result, AIChE members should see more biofuels-related papers at future annual meetings.

Presentations related to climate change research are summarized in Figure 4. Carbon sequestration is a broad, cross-cutting topic covered by virtually all divisions, and as such is another excellent subject for a future topical conference. Carbon capture topics are mainly within the purview of the Separations Division, with almost 36% of the carbon capture papers appearing in the Separation Division sessions.

Climate change research will continue to expand as the U.S. Congress and the Administration get closer to enacting climate change legislation. Thus, AIChE should expect to see more activity related to global climate change at its meetings.

While not a perfect survey, the First Annual AIChE Energy Survey revealed many details about the "who, what and where" of energy research being conducted by chemical engineers today. It is worth noting that a large fraction of the total energy research is done in a proprietary fashion by energy companies, and thus much of it is never published or presented at professional conferences. However, the cutting-edge research presented at the 2007 Annual Meeting shows that chemical engineers already have a leadership position in the energy field, and their prominent role in this arena is sure to grow.

AIChE will continue to conduct an annual energy survey, and plans to add a similar survey to future spring meetings.

T. BOND CALLOWAY, JR., SAVANNAH RIVER NATIONAL LABORATORY

T. BOND CALLOWAY, JR., is currently the alternative energy manager for the Savannah River National Laboratory (Alternative Energy, 719-18A1 Savannah River Site, Aiken, SC 29808; Phone: (803) 725-4466; Fax: (803) 652-8137; E-mail: bond.calloway@srnl.doe.gov(, where he leads a team of scientists and engineers who are conducting basic and applied research related to hydrogen, fuel cells, biofuels and global climate change. He has more than 20 years of experience associated with the process development, design, construction and operation of the Dept. of Energy's nuclear waste management facilities. His current research interests involve analyzing the potential effect and implication of global climate change on national security. Calloway serves as AIChE's Research and New Technology Committee vice chair, as well as its "energy steward." In this capacity, he is responsible for analyzing energy-related programming and championing new ideas on energy research. He also presently serves on AIChE's Chemical Engineering Technology Operating Council, and is a past chair of the Nuclear Engineering Division. A chemical engineering graduate of Auburn Univ., Calloway has authored more than 30 papers covering various aspects of nuclear waste and energy research.

Source: Chemical Engineering Progress

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