RII Track-2 FEC:Cost-effective Conversion of Natural Gas and Biomass to Hydrogen and Performance Carbons

RII Track-2 FEC：将天然气和生物质经济高效地转化为氢气和高性能碳

• 批准号: 2218070
• 负责人: Steven Crossley
• 金额: $ 400万
• 依托单位: University of Oklahoma Norman Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-08-01 至 2026-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2218070&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RII; Track; FEC; Cost; effective

In this multidisciplinary and bi-institutional collaborative project, researchers from the University of Oklahoma and Iowa State University will investigate fundamental principles that will accelerate the development of sustainable and cost-effective processes for production of carbon-free or carbon-negative hydrogen and value-added advanced materials, including carbon nanotubes and carbon nanofibers. In the past, processes to obtain these advanced materials have been developed based on niche high-value solid products, without focusing on the value or utilization of the gaseous by-product at a large scale. Here, the emphasis is in the large-scale and low-cost production of CO2-free hydrogen. Namely, the project will focus on enhancing hydrogen yields from abundant natural gas resources using earth-abundant metals as catalytic materials, which need to be reclaimed from the solid product for environmental and technoeconomic reasons. Therefore, a central part of the project is the optimization of hydrogen yield and catalyst recyclability. A secondary but equally important part from a technoeconomic standpoint is the property optimization of the resulting performance carbon materials that could be employed in large-scale applications. In the latter half of the project, other emerging high-impact technologies, such as carbon-free ammonia production and environmentally benign energy from waste plastics will also be explored.This project includes researchers with complementary expertise ranging from experimental and theoretical modeling and technoeconomic modeling of the catalytic processes to materials synthesis and characterization of reactive catalytic surfaces as well as characterization of the produced carbon nanomaterials. The research plan contemplates experimental kinetics based on realistic models with specified sequences of elementary steps, characterization of the materials and processes at the nanoscale, and computational analysis ranging from first-principles density functional theory (DFT) and ab-initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) calculations. Machine learning and artificial intelligence methods will be incorporated in the project to connect the various modeling scales and predict promising surface structures. This project will also carry a significant community outreach component, including research opportunities for underrepresented undergraduate students, as well as workshops with hands-on activities aimed at high school students to better educate students on the importance of technology in energy generation while avoiding or minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. The team will pair with regional MSI’s and tribal colleges to create research opportunities for underrepresented groups, such as Native American students, to encourage and empower them to pursue graduate degrees in engineering.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

在这个多学科和双学院的合作项目中，俄克拉荷马大学和爱荷华州立大学的研究人员将调查基本原则，这些原则将加快生产无碳或无碳或碳的氢以及包括碳纳米纤维和碳Nananofibers的可持续性和具有成本效益的过程。过去，获得这些先进材料的过程是基于利基高价值固体产品开发的，而不关注大规模的气态副产品的价值或利用。在这里，重点是无二氧化碳的大规模和低成本产生。也就是说，该项目将专注于以环境和技术原因以催化材料作为催化材料，以催化材料作为催化材料增强丰富的天然气资源的产量。因此，该项目的主要部分是优化氢产量和催化剂可回收性。从技术角度来看，次要但同样重要的部分是可以在大规模应用中进行的性能碳材料的财产优化。在该项目的后半段中，还将探索其他新出现的高影响力技术，例如无碳氨的产生和环境良性的能量。该项目包括具有完整专业知识的研究人员，从实验性和理论建模以及催化过程的材料同步和反应性催化性的表征和表征性的表征以及对型号的表征以及型号的表征以及型号的表征范围。研究计划组件的实验动力学基于现实模型，具有指定的基本步骤序列，纳米级材料和过程的表征以及计算分析，从第一原理密度函数理论（DFT）和AB-Initio Molectary Dynamics（AIMD）计算。机器学习和人工智能方法将合并到项目中，以连接各种建模量表并预测表面结构。该项目还将携带重要的社区外展部分，包括针对代表性不足的本科生的研究机会，以及针对高中生的动手活动的讲习班，旨在更好地教育学生在能源发电中的重要性，同时避免或最小化温室气体排放。该团队将与区域MSI和部落学院搭配，为代表性不足的群体（例如美国原住民学生）创造研究机会，以鼓励和授权他们攻读工程学研究生学位。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是通过基金会的知识分子和更广泛影响的评估来评估Criteria的评估，并被认为是值得的。