GOALI: Membrane Contactor Reactors for Environmental Applications

全国产生的垃圾填埋气（LFG）约为2.5 mmft3 /min。LFG是一种潜在的重要可再生燃料，因为它通常含有50%以上的甲烷（CH4）。不幸的是，今天LFG的很大一部分被燃烧了。其余部分用于发电和中等BTU气体型（例如，用于锅炉）应用。LFG利用的主要障碍之一是其各种腐蚀性污染物，例如含卤素和含硫化合物，需要经常维修能源生产设备，并可能导致最终故障。最糟糕的是，在燃烧或能源生产过程中，含卤素和硫的污染物被排放到大气中，严重造成空气污染，特别是酸雨。在燃烧前从LFG中去除这些污染物是一个难题，因为它们的范围很广，而且它们的含量很低。这些因素给传统的清理技术带来了困难，这些技术已被证明对LFG清理无效。PIs计划开发一种适用于LFG净化的新型催化氧化技术，该技术基于赋予氧化纳米催化剂的孔流反应器（PoFR）的概念。因此，如果开发出一种能够经济有效地去除LFG有毒污染物的工艺，就可以实现经济、环境和能源优势。在这个项目的重点是复杂的反应和传输过程的基础研究，发生在这样一个反应堆；理解和模拟在LFG中遇到的复杂杂原子化合物的催化燃烧将是一项重大的基础科学进步。正是这种更好的基本理解将导致进一步技术发展PoFR概念所需的主要技术进步。该项目将与工业伙伴M&amp；P和GCE合作开发。M&amp；P是一家致力于开发和应用这些新型材料的无机膜制造商。GCE是一家专门从事LFG收集和利用的工程公司。更广泛的影响该研究项目将为研究生和本科生提供教育经验和培训，因为他们将准备和表征新颖的新材料，并学习许多最先进的计算和实验技术。该项目还将为研究生和本科生提供与工业研究人员互动的机会。南加州大学的城市环境提供了与该地区各种2-4年制大学合作的机会，其中一些主要是少数民族机构。私人学院计划招收合格的本科生作为暑期实习生，并有可能招收研究生。他们计划通过同行评审的出版物、技术会议上的报告以及在网络上提供所有报告来传播我们的工作成果。他们还将利用南加州大学不断发展的本科课程计划，该计划强调垂直和水平整合的学位项目，包括与每个核心化学工程课程相关的重点实验/实验室模块。pi设想将研究成果和他们的工作方面整合为反应堆分析，传输现象和分离课程的学位项目。这种催化反应器技术将经济有效地去除LFG中的有毒污染物，具有显著的经济、环境和能源优势，并将使LFG（以及一般的沼气）充分发挥其作为有价值的可再生燃料的潜力。除了将注意力集中在一个重要的新型反应器概念上，该项目还将产生根本性的见解，这将影响纳米多孔介质中传输和反应的更广泛领域的知识库，并可能催化该领域的新思维和快速新进展。该项目得到了化学、生物工程、环境和运输系统司（CBET）和工业创新与伙伴关系司（IIP）的支持。

0968159TsotsisIntellectual MeritNationwide about ~2.5 MM ft3/min of landfill gas (LFG) is generated. LFG is potentially an important renewable fuel, as it typically contains more than 50% methane (CH4). Unfortunately, today a large fraction of the LFG is flared. The rest is utilized for electric power generation, and for medium BTU gas-type (e.g., use in boilers) applications. One of the major roadblocks to the utilization of LFG is its miscellaneous corrosive contaminants, e.g., halogen and sulfur containing compounds, which necessitate frequent energy producing equipment servicing, and may lead to eventual failure. Worst of all, halogen and sulfur containing contaminants are emitted to the atmosphere, during flaring or energy production, contributing significantly to air pollution, particularly to acid rain. The removal of these contaminants from LFG prior to combustion is a difficult problem, because of their wide range, and their presence at trace amounts. These factors present difficulties for conventional clean-up technologies, which have proven ineffective for LFG clean-up. The PIs plan to develop a novel catalytic oxidation technology appropriate for LFG clean-up, based on the concept of a pore-flow reactor (PoFR) endowed with an oxidation nanocatalyst. Thus economical, environmental, and energy advantages can be realized, if a process is developed that cost-effectively removes the LFG toxic contaminants. The emphasis in this project is on fundamental investigations of the complex reaction and transport processes that occur in such a reactor; a major fundamental scientific advance will be understanding and modeling the catalytic combustion of the complex heteroatom compounds encountered in LFG. It is such better fundamental understanding that will lead to the main technological advances needed for the further technical development of the PoFR concept. The project will be developed with collaboration with industrial partners M&P and GCE. M&P is an inorganic membrane manufacturer dedicated to the development and application of these novel materials. GCE is an Engineering Company specializing in LFG collection and utilization. Broader ImpactsThis research project will provide educational experiences and training for the graduate and undergraduate students as they will prepare and characterize novel new materials and learn a host of state-of-the-art computational and experimental techniques. The project will also provide the graduate and undergraduate students with the opportunity to interact with industrial researchers. The urban setting of USC affords the opportunity to work with a variety of 2-4 year colleges in the area, several of which are predominantly minority Institutions. The PIs plan to recruit qualified undergraduates as summer interns, and potentially as incoming graduate students. They plan to disseminate the results of our work through peer reviewed publications, presentations at technical meetings, and by making all reports available on the Web. They will also take advantage of the ever-evolving undergraduate curriculum program at USC, which emphasizes vertically- and horizontally-integrated degree projects consisting of emphasis-specific experimental/laboratory modules associated with each core Chemical Engineering course. The PIs envision integrating research findings and aspects of their work as the degree projects in the Reactor Analysis, Transport Phenomena, and Separation courses. This catalytic reactor technology will cost-effectively remove the toxic contaminants from LFG, offer significant economical, environmental, and energy advantages, and will allow LFG (and biogas in general) to gain its full potential as a valuable renewable fuel. In addition to focusing attention on an important novel reactor concept, this project will also generate fundamental insight, which will impact the knowledge-base of the broader field of transport and reaction in nanoporous media, and is likely to catalyze new thinking and rapid new advances in the area.This project is being supported by the Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems Division (CBET) and the Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships (IIP).