Chemical Engineering Science 203 (2019) 247–258

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Chemical Engineering Science

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ces

The critical contribution of chemical engineering to a pathway

to sustainability
Hamid Arastoopour
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Wanger Institute for Sustainable Energy Research (WISER), Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, United States

h i g h l i g h t s

 Chemical engineers should play major R&D role in pathway to sustainability.

 Chemical engineers should play a key role in carbon capture and desalination research.
 Chemical engineers should lead research in process intensification and biofuels.
 Chemical engineers must contribute to natural gas and energy storage research.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The vision of a pathway to a sustainable society is based on the three-pillar conception of sustainability
Received 29 August 2018 (economic, environmental, and social) that is expected to result in a significant improvement in the reli-
Received in revised form 8 March 2019 ability, security, and affordability of energy, materials, water, and food. This pathway should include
Accepted 26 March 2019
launching a multidisciplinary and least-cost strategy to move from today’s carbon-based economy
Available online 29 March 2019
toward a sustainable economy and, at the same time, to provide the needed energy, water, food, and
materials for present and future generations. It is imperative that chemical engineers do not relinquish
their leadership role in research and development as global energy systems continue to evolve in a his-
torical cycle from primary reliance on wood to coal and oil, to current reliance on natural gas as a tran-
sitional fuel in contributing to a pathway to sustainable global energy systems. Although
multidisciplinary research and development is needed to move forward on a pathway to sustainability,
in this paper, specific areas of research and development are discussed in which chemical engineers
should assume a leadership role or become major contributors in this critical initiative. These areas
include, but are not limited to: carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration; process intensification;
material recycling; water management and desalination; biofuel; natural gas production and conversion;
energy storage; and renewable energy, including concentrated solar energy use in chemical, pharmaceu-
tical, and biological processes, and advanced materials for photovoltaics.
Ó 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1. Introduction the worldwide need for even more chemical engineers. From
1960 to 1980, in addition to the development of processes for
Chemical engineering evolved from the design and application new products, the chemical process industry began to focus on
of chemistry-based separation processes for which traditional making more efficient processes to reduce the cost of the products
mechanical engineers and chemists lacked the needed comprehen- using computer-based technologies and computer-aided design
sion. Chemical engineering was first established as a profession in tools. Furthermore, advances in computational hardware made it
the United Kingdom in 1887 when the first chemical engineering possible to develop and apply advanced software such as computa-
course was developed by George E. Davis at the University of tional fluid dynamics (CFD) and advanced process control and opti-
Manchester and covered various applications of industrial chem- mization to chemical processes. In the 1990s, chemical engineers
istry (Peppas, 2008). began to apply their skill and process know-how in not only energy
The success of oil and gas exploration and resulting demand for conversion, but also in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, microelec-
sweetening natural gas and refining crude oil to obtain different tronics, and nanotechnology processes. This broadening of chemi-
fuels, particularly gasoline for the automobile industry, created cal engineering application continues today and will play a
significant role in the future of chemical engineering research
E-mail address: [email protected]
and development.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ces.2019.03.069
0009-2509/Ó 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
248 H. Arastoopour / Chemical Engineering Science 203 (2019) 247–258

With regard to global energy systems, chemical engineers ronment for future generations. The technological contribution to a
should continue their leadership in a system approach and not lose pathway to sustainability should include three plans (short-term,
this leading role in research and development as global energy sys- transitional, and long-term) that must be launched simultane-
tems continue to evolve in the historical cycle from primary reli- ously. The research and development needed for all three plans
ance on wood to coal and oil, and current reliance on natural gas also must be launched simultaneously.
as a transitional fuel toward a pathway to sustainable global
energy systems. 1.2. Setting short-term goals
Continuous advancements in the development of devices with
accurate and fast response measurements at the molecular/cellu- Short-term technical and scientific plans should address our
lar, particle, and reactor scales, along with advances in computa- immediate need for energy supplies, materials, food, and water,
tional capabilities, enable chemical engineers to develop more and efficient and smart usage and conservation. The short-term
bridges between different scales. This allows chemical engineers strategy should include: establishment of research and develop-
to create more rigorous and accurate design and scale-up tools ment initiatives in energy security and reliability, and efficient
such as computational transport phenomena (CTP), molecular and smart use of electricity, fuels, and water in the residential,
dynamics, and artificial intelligence/neural network software, and commercial, industrial, and transportation sectors; intensification
to begin to shorten the gap between laboratory and industrial of chemical and biological processes; and development of carbon
scales. capture, utilization, and sequestration technologies. Short-term
Today, there is an even greater opportunity for chemical engi- plans should also include: gradual change to hybrid and electric
neers to use chemical engineering principles such as transport phe- cars, use of highly efficient appliances, development of sustainable
nomena, chemical reaction engineering, and process design and built environment programs, water and materials accountability
scale-up, and advanced experimental tools and software to become and recycling, and use of innovative local programs to reduce
one of the main drivers in technological research and development CO2 production, such as sustainable urban food production.
in building a pathway toward a future sustainable society and to
continue to become a major contributor and/or leader in the mul- 1.3. Managing the transition
tidisciplinary research, education, and industrial movements of the
future sustainable world and sustainable economy. This paper Transitional technical and scientific plans should address the
highlights some of the present and potential future research transition from the present stage to the desired long-term goal of
opportunities for chemical engineers in contributing to a pathway a society powered by sustainable energy using natural gas (with
to sustainability. a lower carbon-to-hydrogen ratio) as the main transitional fuel,
and possibly nuclear energy in some regions. This requires signifi-
1.1. A pathway to sustainability cant investment in research and development on the production of
natural gas (using environmentally acceptable fracturing or other
The sustainability concept, which is both multi-faceted and technologies) from gas hydrates and low-permeability reserves
complex, includes meeting the needs of the present generation (such as shale), and efficient production of biofuel from biomass
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet and waste gasification. The plan should incorporate major infras-
their needs. The concept of sustainability is composed of three pil- tructural change and investment in electricity, water, and gas
lars: economic, environmental, and social (Barbier, 1987; Clune grids. The plan should also include research and development on
and Zehnder, 2018; Puris et al., 2018). Rockstrom et al. (2009) pro- freshwater production using advanced desalination technology
posed quantitative planetary boundaries within which humanity based on renewable energy, coordination between critical infras-
can continue to develop and thrive for generations to come and tructures (electricity, telecommunications, natural gas, and water),
identified nine processes (climate change, ozone layer depletion, and enhancement of infrastructure resilience in adverse
biodiversity loss, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, ocean acidifica- conditions.
tion, global freshwater use, atmospheric aerosol loading, change in
land use and chemical pollution) that regulate the stability and 1.4. Implementing an effective long-term strategy
resilience of the Earth system. In the literature, there are several
studies addressing planetary boundaries, and social and economic An effective long-term technical and scientific plan should
pillars, such as: Jackson (2016), Gough (2017), and Raworth (2018). address major and comprehensive basic and applied research and
However, our focus in this study is the contribution of engineering development initiatives in renewable energy (e.g., solar, wind,
and technological innovation to a pathway to a sustainable and geothermal); and integration of concentrated solar energy in
economy. chemical, pharmaceutical, and biological processes. The long-
Security and economic vitality and growth of global societies term strategy must include needed research and development in
depend upon adequate future supplies of energy, water, and food, the large- and small-scale energy storage area to accommodate
and their nexus. Technological innovation aims to improve the reli- conditions in which the major component of electricity is being
ability, security, and affordability of energy, materials, water, and produced using renewable energy sources and integration and syn-
food. This will be realized by launching a least-cost strategy to chronization of renewable energy with the electricity grid. The
move from today’s carbon-based economy toward a sustainable long-term plan should also demand life cycle analysis of materials
economy and, at the same time, to provide the needed energy, and a global water and carbon-based fuels consumption policy.
water, food, and materials for present and future generations. Managing the world’s successful transition to a sustainable
Probably the greatest challenge in meeting our goal revolves society will also require the development and implementation of
around the question of how we can provide and consume needed a comprehensive and multi-tiered energy and sustainability econ-
energy, water, food, and materials in a sustainable way. The tech- omy (Raworth, 2018), international policy, and education of the
nological contribution to a pathway toward sustainability and to general public, not only in advances in science and engineering,
planetary boundaries must include: gradually decarbonizing the but also in understanding the three pillars of sustainability, plane-
global energy system; increasing energy efficiency; developing tary boundaries, and the necessary changes in social issues and
innovative technologies to enhance needed freshwater and clean human behavior. Furthermore, the successful transition to a sus-
energy production; and preserving natural resources and the envi- tainable society must overcome highly significant social challenges
 H. Arastoopour / Chemical Engineering Science 203 (2019) 247–258 249

including continuing world population growth (Bartlett, 1994) and tainable cities and the journey toward a carbon-emission-free
corresponding global growth in energy, food, and water consump- world, not only by capturing carbon, but also by using carbon-
tion per capita. This makes our pathway to sustainability extre- free energy and reducing CO2 production that could include urban
mely complex and requires a significant change in the way we farming (reducing CO2 production due to transportation of prod-
live today. ucts), energy conservation, and use of more efficient devices and
Chemical engineers are in an excellent position to take a leader- lighting systems.
ship role or become major contributors in multidisciplinary efforts The next sections provide a brief discussion of the above-
in research, development, and education, not only to a pathway mentioned present and future opportunities for chemical engi-
toward sustainability, but also in the development of a future neering contributions toward a pathway to a sustainable society
world fueled by a sustainable economy. and a sustainable economy.

2. Specific contribution of chemical engineering research to a

pathway to a sustainable society 2.1. Carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration

Today, there is a unique opportunity for chemical engineers to The world consumption of energy from all fuel sources except
take advantage of advances in experimental measurement and coal will increase through year 2040 and renewables are the
computational tools, including artificial intelligence, neural net- world’s fastest-growing energy source, with consumption increas-
works, computational transport phenomena (CTP), and molecular ing by an average of 2.3%/year between 2015 and 2040. Although
dynamics, and their knowledge and understanding of the systems consumption of non-fossil fuels is expected to grow faster than fos-
approach, to make chemical engineering one of the leading disci- sil fuels, fossil fuels will still account for a majority of energy use in
plines in the multidisciplinary research and development needed 2040. Natural gas is the fastest-growing fossil fuel in the projec-
to contribute to a pathway to the future sustainable world. As tions, with other fossil fuel percentages decreasing by 2040
shown in Fig. 1, the areas of research and development in which (Energy Information Administration report, 2017). As oil prices
chemical engineers may position themselves as major contributors rise, it will be expected that several energy user industries will
in a multidisciplinary effort and/or take a leadership role include: intensify the processes, adopt more energy-efficient technologies,
carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration; process intensifica- and possibly switch away from liquid fuels to natural gas when
tion; water management and material recycling as part of the it is feasible. Fig. 2 shows the global anthropogenic CO2 emissions
short-term strategic goal; innovative and efficient technologies and cumulative emissions of CO2 equivalents from forestry and
for production of biofuel, gasification of biomass and municipal other land use and from burning of fossil fuel (Intergovernmental
waste, advances in natural gas production and conversion and Panel on Climate Change, IPCC report, 2014). This figure clearly
water desalination as part of the transitional strategy goal; and shows a significantly higher contribution from fossil fuel consump-
renewable energy (wind, geothermal, concentrated solar energy tion compared to land use and a continuous increase in CO2 pro-
use in the chemical, pharmaceutical and biological processes and duction with time. All of these predictions indicate that the
advanced materials for photovoltaics) and energy storage as part global emission of CO2 and its impact on climate change will con-
of the long-term strategy. Chemical engineers should be motivated tinue for many years in the near future and chemical engineers are
to participate in specific areas in large-scale initiatives such as sus- among the best professionals to have opportunities to address the

Fig. 1. Steps for chemical engineering contribution toward a pathway to sustainability.

250 H. Arastoopour / Chemical Engineering Science 203 (2019) 247–258

Fig. 2. Global anthropogenic CO2 emissions and cumulative emissions of CO2. (This figure was originally published in the 2014 IPCC report and has been reused with
permission.)

research and development needed to advance the critical area of

CO2 capture, utilization, and even sequestration.
There are two major sources of anthropogenic CO2 production
from fossil fuel consumption, namely, mobile and stationary. Cap-
turing CO2 from mobile sources is extremely challenging and
requires significant research and possible use of a non-carbon-
based fuel or energy supply. In stationary sources including indus-
trial and power plants, CO2 is usually generated through combus-
tion or gasification and becomes part of the mixture of gases,
usually in the range of 15 20%, leaving the plants. The major chal-
lenge is separating CO2 from other gases in the mixture using eco-
nomically competitive processes, and then regenerating it in the
concentrated form with less volume for utilization and/or seques-
tration. Today, liquid-based technology for CO2 capture is commer-
cially available; however, these liquid-based processes have
shortcomings including low operating temperature and high heat
for regeneration, which demand a high energy penalty. On the
other hand, solid sorbents have a demonstrated lower energy pen-
alty due to CO2 sorption at higher temperature and CO2 regenera-
tion at temperatures not significantly higher than the sorption
temperature and at possibly lower pressure (Breault et al., 2016;
Abbasi et al., 2014). Furthermore, chemical looping and the use Fig. 3. Contours of CO2 mole fraction in the CFB system after 15 s of the simulation.
of oxygen in place of air in combustion and gasification processes
results in the direct production of a concentrated CO2 stream
(Zhao et al., 2017). Although at the present time there is no avail- sorbent preparation, fundamental studies on developing rate of
able large-scale commercial plant for CO2 capture using solid sor- reaction and constitutive relation for gas solid flow, development
bents, numerical simulation studies by the research team at IIT of bench-scale cold model experiments, validation of flow and
have shown the capability of such systems (Abbasi et al., 2015; reaction models with experimental data including comparison of
Ghadirian et al., 2017). Fig. 3 shows the CFD simulation of the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) predictions with bench-scale
CO2 concentration profile using a regenerable MgO-based solid experimental data for further modification of the CFD model and,
sorbent at high pressure and temperature in a circulating fluidized finally, simulation of CO2 sorption and regeneration at desired high
bed (CFB) system after 15 s of the simulation. In this process, gas pressure and high temperature as the a basis for design and scale-
containing CO2 enters the bottom of the fluidized bed absorber up of the system. In all these steps of the road map, there will be
and reacts with fresh sorbent in the bed. The CO2-laden particles significant opportunities for chemical engineers to get involved
flow up the riser and flow to the regenerator fluidized bed, where and develop high-capacity and durable sorbents and innovative
CO2 is released from the sorbent particles by heating up the spent processes and models. There are many studies in the literature
sorbent using concentrated solar energy or steam. The regenerated on the sorbent preparation that could be excellent initial steps in
sorbent particles then move to the fluidized bed absorber to com- preparation of optimum CO2 capture sorbents. For example,
plete the loop. This simulation shows not only how a CFB loop sys- regarding amine-based sorbents, Darunte et al. (2017) explored
tem can be used to capture CO2 and regenerate CO2-laden sorbents, the potential of using an amine-functionalized metal organic
but also shows the capability of the CFD approach that is based on framework (MOF), Park et al. (2011) studied enhancement of CO2
the fundamentals of transport phenomena on the simulation, capture capacity and selectivity via the intermolecular interactions
design, and scale-up of such systems. between CO2 and amines using nanoparticle organic hybrid mate-
Fig. 4 shows an example of the research road map for the CO2 rials, and Vilarrasa-Garcia et al. (2015) and Cecilia et al. (2016)
capture process using regenerable solid sorbent and a CFB system. examined CO2 adsorption on amine-modified silica. For high tem-
Five different stages are identified in this road map; namely: perature and pressure processes such as integrated gasification
 H. Arastoopour / Chemical Engineering Science 203 (2019) 247–258 251

Fig. 4. A road map to CO2 capture research using solid sorbents.

combined cycle (IGCC), MgO-based sorbents probably are the best improve the performance and reduce the cost and energy required
alternative (Zarghami et al., 2015; Vu et al., 2014). for CO2 separation (Mondal et al., 2012).
At the fundamental studies and model development step, there Catalytic conversion of carbon dioxide into fuels provides an
is also a great future opportunity to develop more reliable reaction/ attractive utilization of CO2 and opens up a great opportunity for
regeneration or adsorption/desorption rate models, and expansion future chemical engineering related research. Recently, Asadi
of the kinetic-theory-based CFD for gas solid flow (Gidaspow, et al. (2016) demonstrated catalytic electrochemical CO2 conver-
1994; Arastoopour, 2001) to computational transport phenomena sion to carbon monoxide in an ionic liquid.
(CTP) capable of design and scale-up of the reactors and the entire Sequestration of carbon dioxide must be designed such that the
reaction for the chemical looping process and the CO2 capture loop CO2 cannot escape from the rock formation into which it is
(Abbasi and Arastoopour, 2011; Arastoopour et al., 2017). Future injected. This provides an opportunity for chemical engineers to
research may include: more accurate models for effect of hetero- play a major role in multidisciplinary research in the stability
geneities on interfacial interaction including turbulence between and time scale of trapped CO2 in the pores of the underground for-
gas and solid phases (Li and Kwauk, 1994; Igci et al., 2008; mations (Andrew et al., 2014; de Chalendar et al., 2018).
Ghadirian and Arastoopour, 2016; Sinclair and Mallo, 1998); fur-
ther development of the constitutive equations for the particulate 2.2. Process intensification
phase including the effect of particle shape and size distribution;
and development of more accurate models for particles variation Process intensification may be defined as the development of an
properties due to particle growth, breakage, attrition, and agglom- innovative approach that provides extremely significant improve-
eration by linking the population balance equation with CTP equa- ments in chemical and biological processes by increasing efficiency
tions followed by use of an innovative numerical approach such as and reducing energy consumption and waste generation, leading
method of moments (Marchisio et al., 2003; Abbasi and to significant cost reduction and a more sustainable process.
Arastoopour, 2013; Strumendo and Arastoopour, 2008). Stankiewicz and Moulin (2000) concluded that process intensifica-
Finally, enhanced collaborative efforts with computer science tion represents progressive thinking about the processes and view-
researchers are essential for chemical engineers considering the ing them integrally through the tasks they have to fulfill and the
continuing advances in measurements and in computational capa- results they have to deliver. In the sustainable world, there is a
bility and to develop more efficient computer codes for CTP cap- continuous responsibility for chemical engineers to use fundamen-
able of reducing computational time for simulation, design, and tals of chemical engineering and their expertise in process design
scale-up of CO2 capture and chemical looping processes. and scale-up to conduct research and development in process
There are also future research opportunities for physical intensification of chemical, biological, and pharmaceutical pro-
adsorption of CO2 using, for example, a metal organic framework, cesses, to increase process efficiency, reduce energy and water con-
carbons, and zeolites (Sayari et al., 2011; Li et al., 2011; Pevida sumption, and gradually substitute fossil energy with renewable
et al., 2008), exploration of CO2 capture using membrane technol- energy. Examples of processes that demonstrate the potential to
ogy (Brunetti et al., 2010), and use of advanced high-surface-area provide great opportunities for intensification include: separation
catalysts or sorbents for capturing CO2 from the air at a very low processes (Agrawal, 2001), solid handling (Wang et al., 2017), solar
concentration (Pang et al., 2017). energy as a process intensification tool for chemical and biological
In general, all CO2 capture technologies have their own advan- processes including biodiesel production (Gupta et al., 2018), and
tages and limitations, but their stability and removal efficiency rotating fluidized bed for the polymerization process to decrease
are the main challenges and opportunities for future research to reactor size and enhance heat and mass transfer at higher gravita-
252 H. Arastoopour / Chemical Engineering Science 203 (2019) 247–258

tional force at higher rotating speed (Ahmadzadel et al., 2008, reached, the energy is released through the formation of a large
2003). surface area (pulverization) and, for the case of rubber, in partial
devulcanization. Fig. 6 shows a schematic of vulcanization and
devulcanization or recycling of rubber using SSSE technology. In
2.3. Material recycling addition, future research on the modification of recycled rubber
particles to introduce chemical functionality or novel physical
The word ‘‘recycle” suggests movement in a circle. However, properties can significantly enhance their utility. For example,
when it comes to polymers and elastomers, that vision doesn’t modifications involving the addition of a hydrophilic character to
quite match reality. Recycling of polymeric and elastomeric mate- the hydrophobic rubber can produce water dispersible, structured
rials is the process of recovering scrap or waste rubber or thermo- rubber particles and prevent their agglomeration in aqueous media
plastic or thermosetting polymers and reprocessing the material (Shahidi et al., 2004). This can provide a much broader range of
into useful products. Humanity has generated billions of metric application for recycled rubber particles, such as coating and as
tons of waste and continues to generate more polymeric and elas- an additive to water-based paint applications. More important,
tomeric waste, most of which at the present time will end up in the water-absorbing and retaining capability of the structured rub-
landfills. Current recycling technologies usually result in some ber particles enables them to be mixed with soil and significantly
form of downgraded product. This opens up a unique research reduces the amount of water needed to grow a plant.
opportunity for chemical engineers in our pathway to sustainabil- Another area of opportunity for present and potential future
ity with the goal of closing the cycle and recycling the polymeric fundamental and applied research for chemical engineers is the
and elastomeric materials to original use or high-grade applica- development of durable biodegradable materials and polymers
tions. The critical challenge is that future chemical and biochemical (Shutov et al., 1997).
recycling innovations must be inexpensive, not energy intensive, In summary, chemical engineers can contribute significantly to
and any required energy must be provided by renewables such the development of innovative processes for material recycling by
as solar. modifying the recycled materials for different applications and
For thermoplastic polymers that melt upon heating, one conducting fundamental research needed to produce durable and
approach to recycling could be breaking the polymers down into economically feasible biodegradable polymers.
individual monomers and subsequently rebuilding the same poly-
mer products from the ground up. For thermosetting polymers, one 2.4. Water management
approach to recycling could be to pulverize the polymers and reuse
them as filler for making new thermosetting polymers. Chemical The world runs on water. Clean (fresh) water is indispensable
engineers are in excellent position to develop new technologies for all forms of life and is needed for almost all human activities.
for recycling of thermosetting materials. Elastomeric materials Water supplies are vital for world daily survival, industry, agricul-
such as tires are crosslinked or volcanized and the first step should ture, and energy production and will remain a crucial factor in the
include the devulcanization process that causes cleavage of the many challenges that our world faces. As such, providing secure
crosslinks via chemical, microwave, and ultrasonic and mechanical sources of clean water is one of the pivotal components in develop-
treatments. The mechanical approach pulverizes the rubber to ing a global pathway to sustainability.
small devulcanized particles and results in significantly less degra- The world’s water systems are facing a real problem. More than
dation of the rubber (Bilgili et al., 2001). One of the promising pul- a billion people currently live in water-scarce regions, and this
verization technologies that also partially devulcanizes the rubber number will continue to increase due to a drop in the water table
without degradation is solid state shear extrusion (SSSE). This all over the world, increase in population, and increase in the stan-
novel IIT-developed process is a non-cryogenic size reduction pro- dard of living, which requires more water consumption per capita.
cess under high shear and compression by which polymeric mate- Furthermore, anthropogenic climate change adds additional com-
rials or elastomers can be pulverized. Typically, pulverized powder plexity and challenges to the global water supplies by directly
of 10 lm 500 lm in size is produced (Bilgili et al., 2001; Shahidi shifting precipitation patterns and speeding glacial melt. Because
et al., 2006; Eskandari and Arastoopour, 2009). Fig. 5 shows a sche- agriculture accounts for a majority of global freshwater use, the
matic diagram of our single screw extruder used for pulverization food production for the increasing population of the world will
of polymers and rubber. Conceptually, materials at high shear and become a major global issue and concern. Therefore, there is a
compression store an increasing amount of energy until it reaches great need for research and development in areas related to water
a condition that is no longer sustainable. When this condition is management such as wastewater use and treatment in residential
and commercial buildings, and elimination of freshwater con-
sumption in industries and utilities. To reduce water consumption
in agriculture, which is the main consumer of freshwater, mixing of
soil with biochar or modified rubber particles (Shahidi et al., 2010),
or new innovative future products developed potentially by chem-
ical engineers will result in more retention of water and prevent
unnecessary evaporation. In addition, the use of fertilizer results
in leaching of different chemicals including phosphorus from the
soil to the water, or from animals or human wastes to the wastew-
ater systems. This requires the development of not only more effi-
cient and innovative wastewater treatment processes, but also an
innovative approach to improve the efficiency of phosphorus use
in fertilizer (Clift and Shaw, 2012). On the residential front,
wastewater contains both thermal and, in the case of tall buildings,
potential energy that can be used to generate electricity and run
heat pumps. Walker et al. (2012, 2013) showed that the use of trea-
Fig. 5. Schematic diagram of single screw extruder for pulverization of polymers ted municipal wastewater to replace freshwater as make-up water
and rubber. to a recirculating cooling system in a thermoelectric power plant
 H. Arastoopour / Chemical Engineering Science 203 (2019) 247–258 253

Fig. 6. Schematic diagram of vulcanization and devulcanization (recycling) of rubber using SSSE technology.

has the potential to be economically viable. They also determined In addition, chemical engineers are in an excellent position to
the extent of the treatment needed to optimize the cost of using conduct fundamental research to create new, innovative, and more
wastewater. efficient desalination processes and to take research and educa-
In summary, chemical engineers with strong expertise in chem- tional leadership in ongoing areas, such as membranes and related
ical and biological process development and design, and knowl- issues including biofouling (Nagaraj et al., 2018) and microbial
edge of chemistry and biology are in an excellent position to desalination cells (Sophia et al., 2016).
assume a critical role in multidisciplinary efforts in current and
future research and development in the water management area, 2.6. Biofuel
including innovation in the development of a new generation of
fertilizers that will reduce the release of phosphorus in the water Biomass, including municipal solid waste (MSW), most often
cycle. refers to plant-based materials that are not used for food. As an
energy source, biomass (specifically lignocellulosic biomass) can
2.5. Water desalination either be used directly (combustion or gasification) or indirectly
by conversion (thermal, chemical, and biochemical) to various
Drinking water is essential for our survival. Water covers three- forms of biofuel. The chemical conversion of biomass to liquid to
fourths of the Earth’s surface and only 1% of the world’s water is be used in transportation applications may be achieved using
presently usable for us. About 97% is salty seawater and 2% is fro- chemical processes such as pyrolysis, Fisher Tropsch, and other
zen in glaciers (Velmurugan et al., 2008). To convert the needed innovative catalytic processes (Swain et al., 2011; Chheda et al.,
part of this huge salty seawater reserve to drinkable water, desali- 2007). Biochemical conversion makes use of the enzymes of bacte-
nation (a process that extracts mineral components from saline ria and other microorganisms to break down biomass into gaseous
water) seems to be the only solution. In fact, evaporation of water or liquid fuels. The thermal conversion of biomass, including MSW
over the oceans and its return in the form of rain or snow is the to gaseous fuels, is mainly accomplished through the gasification
largest-scale natural desalination process. Water-scarce (lack of process (Zhang and Pang, 2017; Yan et al., 2016; Moya et al., 2017).
freshwater resources to meet water demand) regions in the world Although biomass as a phase-change, carbon-neutral source
continuously increase due to population growth, improvements in will not provide a total solution to substitute fossil fuel due to
the standard of living, and climate change. Desalination could be insufficient land, competition with land use for food, and freshwa-
the best solution for these regions because it is relevant and eco- ter availability, it demonstrates great potential to contribute signif-
nomically attractive because of the lack of other resources for icantly to our pathway to sustainability during the transitional
freshwater. Due to its energy consumption, desalinating sea water step. Among all biomass, algae is probably the best candidate to
is generally more costly than securing freshwater from other become a biomass fuel source of the future because it does not
sources. This means desalination using renewable energy, particu- need freshwater, can grow in salty water, and does not require sig-
larly solar, to provide needed energy is the most promising route to nificant land to compete with land use for food. Algae, or, more
meet future world freshwater demand (Gude, 2016) in our journey correctly, microalgae, are very small aquatic organisms that con-
to sustainability. Thermally driven desalination technologies fre- vert sunlight into energy. Under the right conditions, algae can
quently require low-temperature heat sources. This provides produce a significant amount of oil that can be converted into bio-
future opportunities for chemical engineers developing innovative fuels (Aly Eldeen et al., 2010).
hybrid systems with low-temperature energy producing systems Chemical engineers represent the most qualified discipline, by
such as: solar, cogeneration processes, industrial waste energy, far, to assume a leadership role in launching research and develop-
geothermal, and fuel cells. Desalination using solar is still a simple ment programs to advance the critical area of biomass, including
and direct use of solar energy (Selvaraj and Natarajan, 2018). More MSW conversion to fuel, as a major energy source in our journey
research and development by chemical engineers in a multidisci- to a sustainable economy due to their knowledge of chemistry,
plinary team is needed to create an innovative hybrid of solar biology, and process design and scale-up. The contribution of
thermal and concentrated solar power with a photovoltaic system chemical engineers in research and development in the area of
to provide all needed energy for more efficient desalination conversion of algae to fuel may include fundamental studies in
processes. the rate of growth of algae under different conditions, investigation
254 H. Arastoopour / Chemical Engineering Science 203 (2019) 247–258

of the effect of light distribution on algae growth, and the CTP production. To obtain a better understanding of methane produc-
approach in the scale-up of the algae growth and conversion to tion from hydrate reservoirs, development of numerical simulation
fuel. In more complicated conversion processes, such as gasifica- tools to predict gas and water flow patterns in the reservoir is
tion of biomass and MSW, in addition to the contribution to funda- needed. The major challenge in developing two- or three-
mentals of chemical reaction and fluidization, chemical engineers dimensional reliable governing equations and simulation code is
have opportunities to conduct innovative research in the artificial that the hydrate reservoirs are unconsolidated. Current available
intelligence/neural network and the CTP area to design and scale reservoir simulators are based on consolidated reservoirs and are
up the entire system. not applicable to hydrate reservoirs. The presence of gas hydrate
contributes substantively to the strength of the sediment matrix,
2.7. Natural gas production and conversion such that the sands subsequently behave as unconsolidated sedi-
ment and result in continuous variation in porosity and permeabil-
Natural gas as a transitional or bridging fuel is able to power our ity or interfacial drag between gas, water, hydrate, and sand
economy on our pathway to a sustainable economy with less CO2 particle phases. In addition, overburden pressure on the sediment
emission, which is responsible for climate change. To serve as a with decreased strength from hydrate dissociation causes continu-
bridge, natural gas must gradually replace coal and possibly oil ous axial deformation. This complicated behavior of gas production
in the transition to a renewables-only future. Natural gas is a from hydrate reservoirs creates a unique research opportunity for
clean-burning source of energy and it emits approximately half chemical engineers to play a major role in multidisciplinary
as much carbon as coal for each unit of energy produced. There research to develop realistic and reliable interfacial force, and heat
is a significant amount of natural gas reserves in the world in the and mass transfer between the four gas, water, hydrate, and solid
form of gas reservoirs, gas reserves associated with oil reservoirs, phases during hydrate dissociation. Furthermore, there is also a
and unconventional gas reservoirs in the form of low- need to continue developing comprehensive models and numerical
permeability reserves (e.g., shale gas) and hydrate reserves. codes for four-phase flow to predict reliable gas production esti-
The shale gas global reserves estimate is 7000 trillion cubic feet mates from hydrate reservoirs.
(tcf), according to the Energy Information Administration (2013). Recently a team of researchers at IIT developed a novel produc-
Shales are fine-grained sedimentary rocks with low permeability tion numerical simulator that captures the four-phase flow behav-
and porosity and rich sources of petroleum and natural gas. During ior of gas, water, sand, and hydrate in an unconsolidated gas
the past decade, the combination of innovation in directional dril- hydrate reservoir with some simplifying assumptions such as
ling and hydraulic fracturing technology has allowed access to equal temperature for all phases and incorporation of two-
large volumes of shale gas that were previously uneconomical to parameter interfacial forces developed based on log and produc-
produce. Hydraulic fracturing is a well stimulation technique in tion data to describe gas production from the JOGMEC Mallik 2L-
which rock is fractured by injecting a pressurized liquid (primarily 38 well in Alaska (Dallimore, 2008). Additionally, our constitutive
water, containing sand or other proppants suspended with the aid model quantifies the pore-scale inhomogeneities and simulates
of thickening agents) into a wellbore to create cracks and a huge the evolution of high-permeability regions in the reservoir. Fig. 7
exposure surface area in the deep-rock formations causing an shows our model prediction of permeability inhomogeneities after
increase of several orders of magnitude in gas flow out of the shale 18 h of gas, water, and sand production from the Mallik well in
formation. Alaska. Our model considers variation in flow parameters including
The expected potential low price and available supply of shale concentration and interfacial forces parameters (permeability)
gas and hydrate reserves is providing opportunities for chemical between gas, water, hydrate, and sand particle phases due to
engineers to expand research and development in environmental hydrate dissociation and sand movement and/or production.
issues related to fracturing fluid and create innovative processes Fig. 8 shows the increase in effective permeability due to sand pro-
for producing liquid fuels and chemical feedstocks (Siirola, 2014; duction and hydrate dissociation. This figure clearly demonstrates
Gidaspow et al., 2015; Joseph, 2018). the domination of hydrate dissociation in the early hours of pro-
Natural gas from hydrates is extremely abundant as an energy duction. After that, the sand production effect becomes more
resource; even the more conservative estimates of global pronounced.
resource-grade deposits equal about 100,000 tcf (Boswell and
Collett, 2011), which is about 15 times the estimate for shale gas. 2.8. Renewable energy
U.S. resource-grade hydrate deposits are estimated to be more than
20 times the domestic proved natural gas resources (Energy The primary energy source of the future sustainable world is
Information Administration, 2016). Methane hydrate or gas expected to be solar. Wind, geothermal, and biofuel will play a sec-
hydrate is a naturally forming compound that consists of methane ondary role, and other energy sources including fossil and nuclear
molecules trapped within the crystalline lattice of water mole- are expected to play a supporting role as needed.
cules, barring any chemical bonding. Methane hydrate forms natu- There are three sub-areas of solar energy in which chemical
rally under high-pressure and low-temperature conditions, engineers can provide a leadership role or significantly contribute
creating a structure resembling ice. This condition is common in to multidisciplinary research and development. The first one is to
the marine sediment along continental borders and below about continue to conduct more research in solar cell materials to
200 m depth in permafrost areas. increase the efficiency and performance of solar cells based on
Hydrate contains enormous volumes of methane, which can be nano or other technologies (Macco et al., 2018; Brew et al., 2017;
accessed by melting, or dissociating, the hydrate, producing gas Hages et al., 2016). The second one is the efficient development
and water. The primary driving force to initiate hydrate dissocia- of innovative mixtures of fluid and particles using, for example, flu-
tion is depressurization, which forces the hydrate to become ther- idized bed processes to efficiently transfer heat for steam produc-
modynamically unstable. The depressurization is also the driving tion for electricity generation or other applications (Tregambi et al.,
force that draws the methane out of the reservoir, into the well- 2016; Matsubara et al., 2014). Fig. 9 shows a schematic diagram of
bore, and, ultimately, to the surface (Liu et al., 2008; Nazridoust a conceptual novel heat transfer mechanism from concentrated
and Ahmadi, 2007). Dissociation of the solid hydrate frees up addi- solar power. Our heat transfer fluidized bed reactor will have no
tional pore space in the system, which has a massive effect on the tubes for heat removal, therefore eliminating erosion and reducing
hydrodynamics of the reservoir and therefore the rate of gas cost by orders of magnitude. In this system, gas enters the bottom
 H. Arastoopour / Chemical Engineering Science 203 (2019) 247–258 255

Fig. 7. IIT model prediction of permeability inhomogeneities after 18 h of production.

Additional research opportunities exist for chemical engineers

to study the effect of the environment (rain, snow, and icing) on
power generation from solar cells (Andenaes et al., 2018) and from
wind turbines (Arastoopour and Cohen, 2017).
Geothermal energy is heat derived below the Earth’s surface
and can be harnessed to generate clean, renewable energy. This
energy may be used by chemical engineers in chemical, pharma-
ceutical, and biological processes that need a lower level of heat
or energy, such as desalination.

2.9. Energy storage

Without a way to store energy for later use, intermittent renew-

able energy will struggle to replace fossil fuels in our route to a sus-
tainable economy and sustainable growth. Thus, energy storage
plays a key role in achieving a society with renewable energy as
a primary source of energy. Energy could be stored in the form of
Fig. 8. Increase in effective permeability due to sand production and hydrate electrons (rechargeable batteries and supercapacitors), in the form
dissociation. of molecules (large-scale pumped hydro-power and air, hydrogen,
or natural gas storage), and in the form of thermal and mechanical
of the fluidized bed through a distributor, specially designed to energy (flywheels and thermal storage).
eliminate the large bubbles that cause gas bypassing and loss of Batteries and electrochemical storage devices across multiple
particles by entrainment. Inside our proposed single/multi-stage scales are expected to provide high-energy-density, high-power
fluidized bed, blackbody particles receive concentrated solar storage devices with long cycle lives. Chemical engineers are in a
power, while the gas directly removes the heat from the high- unique position to advance battery energy storage by focusing
temperature particles. After passing through a cyclone to remove research on materials and enhancing the performance of: lithium
any particles, hot gas will enter a gas turbine to generate electric ion (Ashuri et al., 2016; Wang et al., 2010), lithium air (Asadi
power. The gas from the turbine will be recycled through the flu- et al., 2018), and flow batteries (Milshtein et al., 2017). In addition,
idized bed. The direct contact between the gas stream and the there is much room for research in developing non-lithium-based
hot particles significantly improves the performance and efficiency battery technology, specifically the sodium-ion battery, because
of the process. of the abundance and low cost of sodium (Wang et al., 2015;
The third sub-area of solar energy in which chemical engineers Sawicki and Shaw, 2015).
must be the leaders in research and development is: the use of con- Energy storage in the form of molecules of hydrogen using
centrated solar energy (CSE) in chemical, pharmaceutical, and bio- mixed metal hydrides has shown good potential in terms of higher
logical processes. Hirsch and Steinfeld (2004) produced hydrogen capacity for hydrogen sorption and also a higher rate of sorption
by thermal decomposition of natural gas using CSE. Weldekiddan and desorption at all temperature ranges in comparison with other
et al. (2018) and Zeaiter et al. (2018) used CSE for pyrolysis of available materials; however, more research is needed to further
biomass and waste tires. develop metal hydrides and/or materials with better performance.
256 H. Arastoopour / Chemical Engineering Science 203 (2019) 247–258

Fig. 9. Schematic diagram of a conceptual novel heat transfer mechanism from concentrated solar power.

Methane storage can be accomplished in three ways: com- 2.10. Hydrogen economy
pressed natural gas (CNG) with low capacity and fast discharge;
adsorbed natural gas (ANG) with higher capacity and low rate of Hydrogen is considered the non-carbon, molecular-based
desorption; and liquefied natural gas (LNG) with very high capacity energy carrier of the future. Today, energy carriers such as electric-
and high cost, with some challenges in handling, transportation, ity and natural gas are used to move, store, and deliver energy in a
and safety. For transportation applications, a hybrid of CNG and form that can be easily used. Hydrogen can be used as a fuel with
ANG provides both higher capacity and faster rate of release. no negative impact on climate change for residential and commer-
Fig. 10 shows our experimental data on comparisons between cial applications, including using fuel cells for generating electric-
capacities of methane storage using compressed gas with adsorbed ity. The major challenge is the production of energy-carrier
gas on activated carbon at different pressures. Our experimental hydrogen from sustainable and economically feasible processes
data clearly showed that adsorbed methane on activated carbon using renewable energy sources.
has more than twice the capacity of compressed methane. Reforming and partial oxidation of methane, methanol, and
For gas transmission and distribution, a hybrid of all three stor- ethanol using catalysts are among the processes that are frequently
age technologies is needed to provide storage capacity and the rate used for the production of hydrogen or syngas for use in fuel cell
of gas released or stored that is needed for the gas grid and its syn- applications (Sengodan et al., 2018). However, reforming and par-
chronization with the electricity grid, with utilities as the major tial oxidation results in the production of CO2, which is not sustain-
natural gas consumers. Chemical engineering researchers have a able. Various biomass sources, such as sludge from waste water,
great opportunity to advance this area by conducting research in algae, and agricultural and municipal wastes, can be used as poten-
a multidisciplinary team on natural gas adsorption fundamentals tially low-cost substrates for bio-hydrogen production, which will
and developing new materials with higher capacity and sufficiently not result in an increase in carbon above the Earth’s surface (Fang
high rates of sorption and desorption. and Zhang, 2004; Wang and Yin, 2018).
Another approach could be the use of concentrated solar energy
and catalysts at high temperature to dissociate carbon dioxide and
80
water into carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which can be used as
70 fuel without increasing carbon above the Earth’s surface (Chueh
et al., 2010). The concentrated solar energy may also be used
Storage capacity (Vs / Vb)

60 potentially for cracking natural gas to produce hydrogen gas and

solid carbon (Ozalp et al., 2018). The most sustainable production
50 Adsorbed Methane of hydrogen is via splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen (solar
thermal water splitting, STWS) using solar energy (Fletcher and
40 Moen, 1977; Ni et al., 2007; Ahmad et al., 2015). Muhich et al.
(2013) showed that two-step thermochemical water splitting
30
based on the metal oxide reduction and oxidation (redox) cycle
could be carried out isothermally using a low-cost iron aluminate
20
Compressed Methane redox active material at 1350 °C to produce an appreciable amount
10 of hydrogen provided by concentrated solar energy.
Chemical engineering researchers are in an excellent position to
0 advance this area in a multidisciplinary team by using their exper-
0 100 200 300 400 500 tise in transport phenomena, chemical reaction engineering, and
Pressure (psig) process design and scale-up in the development of economically
feasible large-scale processes for the production of hydrogen using
Fig. 10. Comparison between capacities of methane storage using compressed gas
with adsorbed gas on activated carbon at different pressures.
renewable energy.
 H. Arastoopour / Chemical Engineering Science 203 (2019) 247–258 257

3. Conclusion Andenaes, E., Jelle, B.P., Ramlo, K., Kolas, T., Selj, J., Foss, S.E., 2018. The influence of
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