Innovations for green and renewable energy production

本研究的重点是新型催化剂的开发和催化蒸馏等反应工程技术在生产绿色可再生能源方面的应用。绿色工艺的定义是比现有工艺更节能并减少废物产生的工艺。催化蒸馏是一种将反应和分离相结合的反应器技术，可提高转化率、降低能耗和减少温室气体排放。该提案包括两个部分：一个是开发一种新的绿色工艺来升级加拿大丰富的油砂沥青和重油储备，另一种是开发一种生产生物柴油的绿色工艺。升级加拿大丰富的重油和沥青储备需要大量消耗氢气，这是昂贵和短缺的。我们已经为一种方法申请了专利，在这种方法中，重油和沥青回收过程中的水可以用来就地生产氢气，并减少废渣。这项建议旨在开发更活跃的原位制氢催化剂，并进一步研究利用水本身为重油和乳化液升级提供氢源。生物柴油是一种从生物质中提取的可再生能源。目前生产生物柴油的工艺使用的是液体催化剂，如NaOH或H_2SO_4，这对环境不友好。利用催化蒸馏生产生物柴油有潜在的好处。然而，必须开发一种既具有催化剂功能又具有分离装置功能的催化精馏填料。该提案的这一部分侧重于开发可用于生产生物柴油的催化蒸馏填料。对生物柴油生产的催化精馏过程进行了过程建模设计。

This research is focused on the development of novel catalysts and the application of reaction engineering such as catalytic distillation to produce green and renewable energy. A green process is defined as a process which is more energy efficient than an existing process and also reduces waste production. Catalytic distillation is a reactor technology that combines reaction and separation which offers enhanced conversion, reduced energy consumption and reduction of green house gases. The proposal has two components:  one project is to develop a new green process to upgrade Canada's vast reserve of oil sands bitumen and heavy oil and the other is to develop a green process for biodiesel production.Upgrading of Canada's vast reserve of heavy oil and bitumen requires a large consumption of hydrogen which is expensive and in short supply. We have patented a process whereby the water that is present in the recovery of the heavy oil and bitumen could be utilized to produce hydrogen in situ as well as reducing waste residue. This proposal is designed to develop more active catalysts for in situ hydrogen generation and to further investigate the use of water itself to provide a hydrogen source for upgrading the heavy oil and emulsion.  Biodiesel is a renewable energy that is derived from biomass. Current processes for biodiesel production use a liquid catalyst such as NaOH or H2SO4 which are not environmentally friendly. There are potential benefits to utilize catalytic distillation for biodiesel production. However, a suitable catalytic distillation packing which functions both as a catalyst and separation device has to be developed. This portion of the proposal is focused on the development of catalytic distillation packings that could be used for the production of biodiesel. Process modeling will be carried out to design a catalytic distillation process for biodiesel production.