Abstract :
The ongoing development of sustainable technologies aims to minimize the environmental impact of chemical processes by utilizing renewable resources, reducing waste, and improving energy efficiency. This seminar will explore recent advances in catalytic carbon utilization technologies that convert captured carbon emissions (waste) into fuels and chemicals, employing both experiments and theoretical models to foster the development of these technologies.
While a global transport electrification transition is underway, “hard-to-decarbonize” sectors such as aviation, maritime, and heavy industries still rely on traditional fossil fuels. A potential solution to this challenge lies in thermocatalytic carbon utilization technologies that produce drop-in fuels which can be used in existing infrastructure and engines. In addition to fuels, numerous chemicals are typically derived from the oil and gas industry and can be produced using other catalytic carbon utilization technologies based on electrochemical cells. The interdisciplinary nature of these sustainable technologies will be highlighted, integrating chemical engineering concepts with environmental and economic considerations. All these aspects influence the scale-up and help overcome challenges that hinder these technologies.
Biography:
Ergys Pahija is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biotechnological Engineering at the University of Sherbrooke. Ergys’ research combines experiments and models to improve sustainable processes to produce fuels and chemicals. He completed his BSc and MSc in Chemical Engineering at Politecnico di Milano. He received his PhD degree in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology where he was awarded the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong. His training extended through a postdoctoral research position at the Technical University of Denmark and Polytechnique Montreal in collaboration with local industries and research centres, where he worked on the development of chemical and biological processes. He serves as a Review Editor for the Frontiers in Chemical Engineering Journal.