IUCRC Planning Grant New York University: Center for Decarbonizing Chemical Manufacturing Using Sustainable Electrification (DC-MUSE)

化学制造电气化和脱碳可以改善全球环境健康，支持美国化学工业的经济安全和繁荣。该行业目前影响了美国25%(约5T美元)的GDP和440万个美国就业机会，同时生产了世界上14%的化学品，用于96%的制成品(救命药物、个人护理产品、农业化肥和杀虫剂、纺织品等)。遏制气候变化的全球趋势和社会压力对美国化学工业构成了迫在眉睫的威胁，因为目前美国的制造实践不符合国际二氧化碳排放政策，以及即将到来的碳税、交易、定价和处罚。例如，欧洲要求到2050年将温室气体排放量减少到1990年水平的95%，中国承诺到2060年实现碳中和。如果美国化学工业不及时脱碳，这些政策将使美国12%的出口(约2200亿美元)处于危险之中，这突显了拟议的IUCRC的重要性。要确保美国在未来化学品制造的气候变化行动中处于领先地位，转向可再生能源是至关重要的。拟议的使用可持续电气化的脱碳化学制造中心(DC-MUSE)可以通过提供基础的跨行业工具来部署由现场清洁能源(例如，可再生能源或氢气)和/或由脱碳电网供电的电化学和等离子工艺，以及一支训练有素的实施这些工艺的劳动力，从而实现这一行业转型。这笔规划赠款支持对一个新的IUCRC(DC-MUSE)的调查，该中心由两个地点组成--纽约大学(NYU)作为牵头地点，科罗拉多大学博尔德分校(CUBoulder)作为合作地点--这两个地点具有互补的研究优势。纽约大学在电催化材料、电化学反应器设计和反应优化领域提供了一套独特的能力。纽约大学的具体研究领域包括电化学过程和系统的设计，如燃料电池、电池和微反应器。这两个地点将合作开发可扩展的电气化化学制造系统的技术基础，这些系统可以实现新的化学转型，并有助于化学工业的脱碳。通过这项研究，新的知识和技术将填补以下领域的关键科学和工业空白：(1)制药和特种化学品部门，其主要需求是开发稳定和灵活的电化学反应器，可用于生产通常在中低规模生产的高价值化合物；(2)化工商品部门，其主要需求是开发可扩展的反应器概念和原型，以生产大规模石化产品(如低碳烯烃及其衍生物)，并将其与现场电力系统和电网相结合。基于这些目标，DC-MUSE提出了初步的竞争前项目组合，以支持这些行业需求：推力1.(纽约大学-铅)电催化材料；推力2.(纽约大学-铅)电化学反应器设计和反应优化；推力3.(CUBoulder-铅)电化学系统建模和电网集成。这笔赠款将支持客户发现和规划活动，包括一个行业研讨会，这将使整个DC-MUSE研究议程以及潜在的第一阶段IUCRC的特定初始项目集得到进一步完善。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Electrifying and decarbonizing chemical manufacturing could improve global environmental health and support the economic security and prosperity of the US chemical industry. This industry currently impacts 25% (~$5T) of the US GDP and 4.4 million American jobs while producing 14% of all the world’s chemicals used in 96% of all manufactured goods (lifesaving drugs, personal care products, agricultural fertilizers and pesticides, textiles, etc.). Global trends and social pressures to curb climate change are a looming threat to the US chemical industry because current US manufacturing practices are not compliant with international CO2 emission policies and impending carbon taxing, trading, pricing, and penalties. For example, Europe requires a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of 95% of 1990 levels by 2050, and China has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2060. Such policies place 12% of all US exports (~$220B) in jeopardy if the US chemical industry is not timely decarbonized, underpinning the importance of the proposed IUCRC. Diversification into renewable electricity sources is critical to ensure US leadership in climate change action in future chemical manufacturing. The proposed Center for Decarbonizing Chemical Manufacturing Using Sustainable Electrification (DC-MUSE) could enable this industry transformation by providing foundational cross-industry tools for the deployment of electrochemical and plasma processes powered either by on-site clean energy resources (e.g., renewables or hydrogen) and/or by electricity supply from the decarbonized power grid, and a trained workforce to implement them. This planning grant supports investigation of a new IUCRC (DC-MUSE) comprised of two sites - New York University (NYU) as the lead site and University of Colorado at Boulder (CUBoulder) as a partner site - that have complementary research strengths. NYU brings a unique set of capabilities in the areas of electrocatalytic materials, electrochemical reactor design, and reaction optimization. Specific areas of research focus for NYU include the design of electrochemical processes and systems, such as fuel cells, batteries, and microreactors. The sites will work collaboratively to develop technology foundations for scalable electrified chemical manufacturing systems that can enable new chemical transformations and help to decarbonize the chemical industry. Through this research, new knowledge and technologies will fill critical scientific and industrial gaps in (1)the pharmaceuticals and specialty chemicals sectors, whose primary need is the development of stable and flexible electrochemical reactors that can be leveraged to produce high-value chemical compounds commonly produced on medium-to-low scales and (2) the chemical commodities sector whose primary need is the development of scalable reactor concepts and prototypes to produce large-scale petrochemical products (e.g., light olefins and their derivatives) and their integration with on-site power systems and the electricity grid. Based on these goals, DC-MUSE has proposed an initial portfolio of pre-competitive projects to support these industry needs: Thrust 1. (NYU-Lead) Electrocatalytic Materials; Thrust 2. (NYU-Lead) Electrochemical Reactor Design and Reaction Optimization; Thrust 3. (CUBoulder-Lead) Electrochemical Systems Modeling and Grid Integration. This grant will support customer discovery and planning activities, including an industry workshop, that will enable further refinement of the overall DC-MUSE research agenda as well as the specific initial set of projects for a potential Phase I IUCRC.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.