Innovations for green and renewable energy production

本研究的重点是新型催化剂的开发和反应工程的应用，如催化蒸馏，以生产绿色和可再生能源。绿色工艺被定义为比现有工艺更节能并且还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，其提供了增强的转化、降低的能量消耗和减少的绿色家庭气体。该提案有两个组成部分：一个项目是开发一种新的绿色工艺，以提高加拿大储量巨大的油砂沥青和重油的质量;另一个项目是开发一种绿色工艺，用于生产生物柴油。我们已经申请了一项工艺专利，通过该工艺，可以利用重油和沥青回收过程中存在的水原位生产氢气，并减少废渣。该方案旨在开发更高活性的原位制氢催化剂，并进一步研究利用水本身为重油和乳状液提质提供氢源。 生物质能是从生物质中提取的可再生能源。目前用于生物柴油生产的方法使用液体催化剂，例如NaOH或H2SO 4，这是不环保的。利用催化蒸馏生产生物柴油具有潜在的好处。然而，必须开发既用作催化剂又用作分离装置的合适的催化蒸馏填料。这部分提案的重点是开发可用于生产生物柴油的催化蒸馏填料。将进行过程建模以设计用于生物柴油生产的催化蒸馏过程。

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.