Author: avenkata42

Kaung Su and Natechanok have been awarded the Eckert Graduate Fellowship from ChBE. This fellowship recognizes their accomplishments and provides an additional stipend and monetary award for procuring materials and supplies for their research.

Link to issue:

https://www.nature.com/natchemeng/volumes/1/issues/11

About the article:

Our latest manuscript, “Process and techno-economic analyses of ethylene production by electrochemical reduction of aqueous alkaline carbonates,” has been published online in Nature Chemical Engineering. The study is also featured on the cover of the November 2024 issue, and a research briefing summarizes key findings.

In this collaborative effort between Georgia Tech and the Dow Chemical Company, we explored innovative process designs by integrating the electrolyzer with a direct air capture unit, advanced membrane-based separation technologies, and stream recycling. This approach aims to create a more renewable and sustainable pathway for producing ethylene at large scales (~2 million tons/year).

Key highlights from our study include:
– A process with near-neutral Scope-1 and Scope-2 CO₂ emissions in the optimistic scenario, albeit with a significant energy penalty.
– A roadmap to achieving <1 USD/kg ethylene.
– Sensitivity analysis on key process parameters that can guide experimentalists.
– Comparison of economics between contemporary electrolyzer architectures.
– Detailed sizing and costing for large-scale electrolyzer.
 
The Georgia Tech authors include Anush Venkataraman, Hakhyeon Song, Victor Brandão, Chen Ma, Magdalena Salazar Casajus, and Carlos Fernandez Otero. The PIs are Sankar Nair, Marta Hatzell, and Carsten Sievers.

Anomitra De and Savyasachi Shrikhande join the group as PhD-track researchers, and Owen Pittman as an undergraduate researcher.

Meghan (Natechanok) Yutthasaksunthorn has been awarded the Brightmark Scholarship in Plastics Circularity. This prestigious scholarship recognizes her outstanding entrepreneurial contributions and research in the field of plastic recycling and sustainability.

Anush Venkataraman was announced as the winner of the 2024 Eastman Fellowship in recognition of strong academic performance and research relevant to sustainable innovation.