1
Note from the Program Head
In This Issue:
SRP Update 2
Plastics 3
In the News 4
Publications 5
Sponsor Survey 7
Fall Meeting 7
As some of
you are aware,
separations
technology
was a topic of
discussion
within the
chemical engi-
neering com-
munity this summer. Jose Bravo au-
thored an excellent review of distilla-
tion technology in CEP and my UT
colleague Joan Brennecke chaired an
NAE report entitled “A Research
Agenda for Transforming Separations
Science”. I have reproduced the first
paragraph out of that report’s sum-
mary below. I am pretty sure I do not
agree with the stated opinion but both
publications got me thinking about
what I believe the path forward
should look like. What follows is the
view from my horse based on 40
years of trying to separate molecules.
Separation science plays a critical
role in our society. Chemical separa-
tions are critical in providing
the foods and services that are needed
to maintain our standard of living and
quality of life. Without separations,
access to such necessities as chemi-
cals, medicines, clean water, safe
food, and energy sources would not
be possible. Although chemical sepa-
rations are integral to numerous in-
dustrial processes, they are not al-
ways considered during product de-
velopment. That inattention results in
chemical processes that are ineffi-
cient or have adverse effects or re-
sults. A focus on separation science
is needed to overcome those issues
and ultimately to improve human
health, to reduce the adverse effects
of industrial activities, and to develop
a sustainable chemical enterprise that
can drive the economy. 1) Whatever it is, it has to work at
industrial scale. Back when the
next great thing was algae based
fuel production, I wanted to take
my bio-colleagues to the middle
of a world scale refinery and just
have them look around. We do
massive processes, and as eco-
nomics of scale become more im-
portant and we learn how to oper-
ate and control huge pieces of
process equipment, this trend will
only accelerate. Process intensi-
fication has its place but we do
not do “micro-equipment”. The
academic research community has
been guilty of exploring technolo-
gies which will NEVER scale to
commercial size. There is a long
list of poor choices which I will
not call out here but it’s a perva-
sive problem exacerbated by the
government funding process.
There needs to be more feedback /
interaction between funding or-
ganizations and industry to be
sure the right ideas are being fi-
nancially supported. cont. →
https://sites.utexas.edu/pstc/
2
Program Head Note cont.
The SRP pilot facilities continue to undergo modifi-
cations for enhanced capabilities and longevity.
The distillation piping has been modified to allow
for hydrocarbon hydraulic characterization similar
to those obtained with the Air/Water column. In ad-
dition, a new high capacity liquid recirculation
pump has been added along with re-insulating the
entire distillation column, bottoms and overhead
piping. Our original cooling water piping was experiencing
significant corrosion.
As a result, all of the
original cooling water
piping has just been
replaced with 304
stainless piping. The
project was co-funded
by the College of En-
gineering. Also in
October, all of the new cooling water piping will be
insulated. cont. →
SRP Update: Frank Seibert
2) We underutilize chemistry to conduct separa-
tions. Dr. Marvin Johnson, our top technical
engineering and NAE member at Phillips, could
come up with the most innovative ways to uti-
lize a chemical reaction to facilitate a separation,
either by adjusting molecules to improve a vola-
tility based separation or just reacting out the
problematic component. I am a distillation guy,
but we tend to go that direction without looking
at other process alternatives, especially those
that involve reactions. The NAE report agrees
with this opinion and clearly points out the need
for more collaboration between chemical engi-
neers and chemist.
3) When all you have is a hammer, everything
looks like a nail. At the risk of stating the obvi-
ous, not every separation can be feasibly done
with one universal technique. The reason the
skyline of east Houston is dominated by tall sil-
ver towers is vapor-liquid processes can be ap-
plied to the widest assortment of separations and
they scale to massive industrial flows. I love
membranes, but they are a niche technology. I
grew up as an engineer during a time when they
were going to replace all other separations ap-
proaches, that did not happen and 35 years later
but we are still try to apply them to applications
that will never be technically or economically
feasible. For what they do well (hydrogen sepa-
ration comes to mind) they do very well but we
should quit thinking they are a universal solu-
tion.
4) New materials could be game changers. I have
watched with some interest my materials science
colleagues develop wonderful new compounds
for a host of very cool applications. I cannot
help but wonder what this new emerging science
could do if it was targeted at separations chal-
lenges. We are not as sexy as solar energy ab-
sorbing windows but few industries have the en-
ergy and capital investment footprint of the re-
fining and chemical processing industries. Our
good friend distillation is 10 percent thermally
efficient so there is room for improvement. 5) A realistic economic and technical assessment
needs to be a key part of the proposal process. I
have reviewed proposal economics and a lot of
them are based on unrealistic premises which
industry would never support. Industrial pro-
posal collaborators are the only solution to
providing the appropriate amount of oversight to
the economic component. So what’s the summary? There is room for innova-
tion but we need to eliminate dead end ideas and
fund truly novel approaches with industrial poten-
tial. This is a self-serving statement of course, but
that only happens within collaborative environments
with a strong academic / industry interaction. It also
only happens when industrial representatives be-
come part of the NSF, DOE, NIST proposal review
process.
3
The capacity of a liquid-liquid
extractor can be limited by poor
drop coalescence at the main op-
erating interface. This is espe-
cially true for many “wash” type
extractors. In the 1990s, an SRP
study was conducted to investi-
gate the performance of Teflon
and stainless structured packings
in enhancing coalescence and
increasing extractor capacity. In some cases, the
coalescer addition increased the capacity by 60%.
In recent years, new questions regarding coalescer
designs have emerged which suggest that a larger
study would be valuable. Such questions include: Could Teflon random packing provide a cost
efficient alternative to Teflon structured pack-
ing?
Are less expensive polypropylene packings as
efficient as Teflon packings?
What coalescer height is recommended?
What capacity increase should be expected with
a coalescer addition?
What coalescer material of construction should
be specified?
Other similar questions have arisen in the last ten
years. Several PSTC sponsors have recently pro-
posed that we revisit this area of study. We will ex-
plore the possibility of forming a group of PSTC
sponsors which will provide technical guidance and
leveraging of their Tier II funds to support this
study. Oldershaw distillation activity continues to be
strong with multiple projects extending into the
fourth quarter of 2019. Interest in oil/water mem-
brane separations continues to increase with more
than four projects planned in 2019/2020. The appli-
cations range across many industries. Future
2019/2020 SRP pilot plant and lab scale operations
will include: Oldershaw Distillation Studies
Distillation Random Packing Characterization
Application of NIR to Obtain Fast Distillation
Compositional Measurements
Air/Water Packing Characterization
Effect of Temperature, Interfacial Tension, Sur-
factants, and Varying Oils on the Oil/Water
Membrane Separation
SRP Update cont.
Plastics
Like most of the rest of the world, Drs. Seibert and
Eldridge have been following the recent stories on
the need for addressing plastics in the environ-
ment. There has to be some good chemical engi-
neering that can help mitigate the problem. We re-
alize that various ideas are being developed by our
sponsoring companies but our past 40 years of op-
eration would lead us to believe the PSTC / SRP
can bring some value to the research and develop-
ment process. To further pursue this idea, we need
your help in identifying your internal company con-
tacts who can assist us in understanding how we
can effectively plug into the problem. Any help will
be appreciated. Our working plan would be to have
a road-mapping session with interested academic
and industry participants in late 2019 or early 2020.
For your reference, the following links provide an
interesting overview of the problem and on-going
efforts:
1) Closed Loop Partners Report “Accelerating Cir-
cular Supply Chains for Plastics
[closedlooppartners.com]” summarizing key
players in the chemical recycling
2) Ellen MacArthur white paper “Enabling a Cir-
cular Economy for Chemicals with the Mass
Balance Approach
[ellenmacarthurfoundation.org]”
4
In the News
Over the course of 2019, Professor Ben-
ny Freeman has picked up awards for
his work. First, the Membrane Society
of Australasia (MSA), which aims to
represent and promote the activities in
membrane science and technology both in the re-
search and industrial sectors, has awarded him its
Distinguished Scholar Lectureship.
Freeman was also tapped by the American Chemical
Society’s (ACS) POLY/PMSE (Polymeric Materi-
als: Science and Engineering) to deliver the 2019
plenary lecture at the Fall 2019 ACS Meeting in San
Diego, CA.
Finally, the Bird/Stewart/Lightfoot (BSL) Programs
at the University of Wisconsin at Madison has
named Dr. Freeman their BSL Lecturer of 2019.
The BSL Programs were established to train chemi-
cal engineering students in fluid flow, heat transfer,
and diffusion. The lecture programs were founded in
2001 to honor outstanding chemical engineers.
A team of students and postdocs from
M-WET (The Center for Materials for
Water and Energy Systems) have won
the Department of Energy’s EFRC
(Energy Frontiers Research Centers)
"Student and Postdoc Team Science Competition
Award." This team counts Freeman group graduate
student Rahul Sujanani.
The DOE’s Office Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
sponsored this event to highlight student and post-
doc “accomplishments and further the development
of the future scientific energy workforce.” M-
WET’s team, under the guidance of center director
Benny Freeman, earned top honors for their presen-
tation ““Influence of Membrane Architecture on
Fluid Transport.”
PI Benny Freeman Earns Accolades
M-WET Team Receives DOE EFRC Award
PSTC Alumni Land Faculty Positions
Two of PSTC’s alumni have landed
coveted spots among the engineering
faculty at top universities. Jovan
Kamcev, former graduate student
from the Freeman group, has joined
the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Uni-
versity of Michigan. Kamcev earned his bachelor’s
degree in Chemical Engineering and Applied Math
& Statistics from Stony Brook University and his
master’s and a doctorate in Chemical Engineering
from the University of Texas at Austin. He also
served as a postdoctoral fellow for Professor Jeffrey
Long in the Department of Chemistry at the Univer-
sity of California, Berkeley.
Also joining the ranks of faculty this
fall is Hee Jeung Oh at Penn State’s
Department of Chemical Engineer-
ing. She earned her master’s and a
doctorate in Chemical Engineering
from the University of Texas at Aus-
tin in the Freeman Group and also served as a post-
doctoral fellow at the University of California,
Berkeley.
5
Publications
Baldea/Eldridge Group Donahue, M. M.; Downs, J. J.; Baldea, M.; Eldridge, R. B. “Managing Trace Components in a Dividing Wall
Distillation Column: An Experimental Study,” Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 2019, 58, 12687-
12701.
Donahue, M. M.; Baldea, M.; Eldridge, R. B. “Steady State Considerations for Designing Minimum Energy Con-
trol Strategies for a Dividing Wall Distillation Column with Trace Components,” Chemical Engineering & Pro-
cessing: Process Intensification in press.
Baldea Group Tsay, C.; Baldea, M. “110th Anniversary: Using Data to Bridge the Time and Length Scales of Process Systems,”
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 2019, 58, 16696-16708.
Simkoff, J. M.; Baldea, M. “Parameterizations of Data-driven Nonlinear Process Models for Fast Scheduling and
Control Calculations,” Computers & Chemical Engineering 2019, 129, 106498.
Yan, L.; Edgar, T. F.; Baldea, M. “Maximizing Energy Savings Attainable by Dynamic Intensification of Binary
Distillation Columns,” Studia Universitatis "Babes-Bolyai", Chemia, accepted.
Lee, F. Y.; Edgar, T. F.; Baldea, M.; Lee, J. “Minimized Test Times for Step and Pulse Responses,” Industrial &
Engineering Chemistry Research accepted.
Tsay, C.; Pattison, R. C.; Zhang, Y.; Rochelle, G. T.; Baldea, M. “Rate-based Modeling and Economic Optimiza-
tion of Next-generation Amine Scrubbing Carbon Capture Processes,” Applied Energy 2019, 252, 113379.
Costandy, J. G.; Edgar, T. F.; Baldea, M. “Switching from Batch to Continuous Reactors Is a Trajectory Optimi-
zation Problem,” Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 2019, 58, 13718-13736.
Ganesh, H. S.; Fritz, H. E.; Edgar, T. F.; Novoselac, A.; Baldea, M. “Model-based Dynamic Optimization Strate-
gy for Control of Indoor Air Pollutants,” Energy and Buildings, 2019, 195, 168-179.
Baldea, M.; Hasan, M. M. F.; Boukouvala, F. “Editorial for Special Issue on Frameworks for Process Intensifica-
tion and Modularization ,” Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research accepted.
Tsay, C.; Kumar, A.; Flores-Cerrillo, J.; Baldea, M. “Optimal Demand Response Scheduling of an Industrial Air
Separation Unit using Data-driven Dynamic Models,” Computers & Chemical Engineering 2019, 126, 22-34.
Simkoff, J. M.; Baldea, M. “Production Scheduling and MPC: Complete Integration via Complementarity Condi-
tions,” Computers & Chemical Engineering 2019, 125, 287-305.
Tsay, C.; Baldea, M. “Fast and Efficient Chemical Process Flowsheet Simulation by Pseudo-Transient Continua-
tion on Inertial Manifolds,” Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering 2019, 348, 935-953.
Yan, L.; Edgar, T. F.; Baldea, M. “Dynamic Process Intensification of Binary Distillation via Periodic Opera-
tion,” Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 2019, 58, 5830-5837.
Kelley, M. T.; Baldick, R.; Baldea, M. “Demand Response Operation of Electricity-intensive Chemical Processes
for Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Application to an Air Separation Unit,” ACS Sustainable Chemistry
& Engineering 2019, 7, 1909-1922.
Yan, L.; Edgar, T. F.; Baldea, M. “Dynamic Process Intensification of Binary Distillation Based on Output Multi-
plicity,” AIChE Journal 2019, 65, 1162-1172.
Korambath, P.; Ganesh, H. S.; Wang, J.; Baldea, M.; Davis, J. F. “Energy Optimization of a Heat Treating Fur-
nace via On-Demand Cloud Workflow Services,” ASTM Smart and Sustainable Manufacturing Systems 2018,
1, 165-179.
Ganesh, H. S.; Ezekoye, O. A.; Edgar, T. F.; Baldea. “Heat Integration and Operational Optimization of an Aus-
tenitization Furnace Using Concentric‐tube Radiant Recuperators,” AIChE Journal 2019, 65, e16414.
Otashu, J. I.; Baldea, M. “Demand Response-oriented Dynamic Modeling and Operational Optimization of Mem-
brane-based Chlor-alkali Plants,” Computers & Chemical Engineering 2019, 121, 396-408.
Baldea, M.; Edgar, T. F. “Dynamic Process Intensification,” Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering 2018, 22,
48-53.
Daoutidis, P.; Lee, J. H.; Harjunkoski, I.; Skogestad, S.; Baldea, M.; Georgakis, C. “Integrating Operations and
Control: A Perspective and Roadmap for Future Research,” Computers & Chemical Engineering 2018, 115,
179-184.
6
Publications cont.
Baldea Group cont. Ondeck, A. D.; Edgar, T. F.; Baldea, M. “Impact of Rooftop Photovoltaics and Centralized Energy Storage on the
Design and Operation of a Residential CHP System,” Applied Energy 2018, 222, 280-299.
Otashu, J. I. Baldea, M. “Grid-level "Battery" Operation of Chemical Processes and Demand-side Participation in
Short-term Electricity Markets,” Applied Energy 2018, 220, 562-575.
Baldea, M. “A Pinch-like Targeting Framework for Systematic Thermal Process Intensification,” AIChE Journal
2018, 64, 877-885.
Ritter Group Eghbal, P.; Fatemi, S.; Vatani, A.; Ritter, J. A.; Ebner, A. D. “Purification of Helium from Nitrogen Rejection
Unit in Cryogenic Natural Gas Process by Pressure Swing Adsorption,” Separation and Purification Technolo-
gy 2018, 193, 91-102.
Ebner, A. D.; Ho, J. G. S.; Ritter, J. A. “Graphical Approach for Formulating Pressure Swing Adsorption Cycle
Schedules with Unlimited Equalization Steps,” Adsorption 2018, 24, 221-232.
Erden, L.; Ebner, A. D.; Ritter, J. A. “Separation of Landfill Gas CH4 from N2 using Pressure Vacuum Swing
Adsorption Cycles with Heavy Reflux,” Energy & Fuels 2018, 32, 3488-3498.
Erden, H.; Ebner, A. D.; Ritter, J. A. “Development of a PSA Cycle for Producing High Purity CO2 from Dilute
Feed Streams. Part I: Feasibility Study,” Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 2018, 57, 8011-8022.
Nguyen, H. G. T.; Espinal, L.; van Zee, R. D.; Rhommes, M.; Toman, B.; Hudson, S. L.; Mangano, E.; Brandani,
S.; Broom, D.; Cychosz, K.; Bertier, P.; Yang, F.; Krooss, B. M.; Siegelman, R.; Long, J. R.; Nakada, Y.;
Nakai, K.; Ebner, A. D.; Erdern, L.; Ritter, J. A.; Moran, A.; Talu, O.; Huang, Y.; Walton, K. S.; Billemont, P.;
de Weireld, G. “A Reference High-Pressure CO2 Adsorption Isotherm for Ammonium ZSM-5 Zeolite: Results
of an Interlaboratory Study,” Adsorption 2018, 24, 531-539.
Amalraj, P. B. C. A.; Ebner, A. D.; Ritter, J. A. “Effective Radial Thermal Conductivity of a Parallel Channel
Corrugated Metal Structured Adsorbent,” Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 2019, 58, 16922-
16933.
Hossain, M. I.; Holland, C. E.; Ebner, A. D.; Ritter, J. A. “110th Anniversary: New Volumetric Frequency Re-
sponse System for Determining Mass Transfer Mechanisms in Microporous Adsorbents,” Industrial & Engi-
neering Chemistry Research 2019, 58, 17462-17474.
Ritter, J. A.; Bullmiller, K. C.; Tynan, K. J.; Ebner, A. D. “On the Use of the Dual Process Langmuir Model for
Binary Gas Mixture Components that Exhibit Single Process or Linear Isotherms,” Adsorption accepted.
Freeman Group Lu, J.; Zheng, H.; Hou, J.; Li, X.; Hu, X.; Hu, Y.; Easton, C. D.; Li, Q.; Sun, C.; Thornton, A. W.; Hill, M. R.;
Zhang, X.; Jiang, G.; Liu, J. Z.; Hill, A. J.; Freeman, B. D.; Jiang, L.; Wang, H. “Ultrafast Metal Ion Sieving in
Rectifying and Highly Selective Metal-Organic Framework Based Subnanochannels,” Nature Materials in
press.
Stevens, K. A.; Moon, J. D.; Borjigin, H.; Liu, R.; Joseph, R. M.; Riffle, J. S.; Freeman, B. D. “Influence of Tem-
perature on Gas Transport Properties of Tetraaminodiphenylsulfone (TADPS) based Polybenzimidazoles,”
Journal of Membrane Science 2020, 593, 117427.
Jang, E.-S.; Kamcev, J.; Kobayashi, K.; Yan, N.; Sujanani, R.; Dilenschneider, T. J.; Park, H. B.; Paul, D. R.;
Freeman, B. D. “Influence of Water Content on Alkali Metal Chloride Transport in Cross-Linked Poly
(ethylene glycol) Diacrylate. I. Ion Sorption,” Polymer 2019, 178, 121554.
Choudhury, S. R.; Lane, O.; Kazerooni, D.; Narang, G. S.; Jang, E.-S.; Freeman, B. D., Lesko, J. J.; Riffle, J. S.
“Synthesis and Characterization of Post-Sulfonated Poly(arylene ether sulfone) Membranes for Potential Ap-
plications in Water Desalination,” Polymer in press.
7
Sponsor Survey: We Want to Hear From You!
The PSTC is in the process of updating our annual sponsors’ meeting format and
we have created a survey for all of our sponsors to weigh in on how to proceed.
Please click here to access the survey or copy and paste the following URL in-
to your preferred browser:
https://forms.gle/RM8Rr93FpTpQ9JLbA
Fall 2019 Meeting
Please join us for our annual PSTC Fall Meeting,
scheduled for Tuesday, October 15, 2019, here at the
University of Texas at Austin. This year we will be at a
different location: the new Engineering Education
and Research Center (EER) located on the main
UT Austin campus downtown.
Registration and accommodation information is now
available on our website. Handouts of the presentations
will be available for attendees; pdf copies will be post-
ed on our website closer to meeting time.
The electronic meeting will be available for those una-
ble to attend in person.
Questions? Please feel free to contact us:
Process Science & Technology Center
University of Texas at Austin
Building 133, Suite 1.312
10100 Burnet Rd., Mail Code R7100
Austin, TX 78758
(p) (512) 471-7077
https://sites.utexas.edu/pstc/