XiaoYu Wu

Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering

Research interests: energy storage, membrane technology, redox catalyst, reaction kinetics 

Biography

Professor XiaoYu Wu’s research group, Greener Production @ Waterloo, combines expertise in thermal science, material engineering and techno-economics to provide sustainable solutions for energy conversion and chemical production (e.g., hydrogen production, carbon capture and utilization, biomass and hydrocarbon valorization).

Prior to joining the University of Waterloo, XiaoYu was a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he also obtained his Ph.D. degree. He has published papers in journals such as Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, the Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, AIChE Journal and ChemSusChem. He serves as the Guest Associate Editor in Frontiers in Energy Research for a theme collection of “Sustainable Hydrogen for Energy, Fuel and Commodity Applications.”

Education

  • 2017, Doctorate, Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • 2012, Master of Science, Thermal & Energy Engineering, Zhejiang University

  • 2009, Bachelor of Science (BS), Energy & Environment System Engineering, Chu Ko-Chen Honors College & Zhejiang University

XiaoYu Wu

Research

Our group, Greener Production @ Waterloo addresses the challenges in bridging energy/chemical production processes and sustainability. The goals are:

(a) Utilizing clean and renewable energy resources for power generation and chemical production.

(b) Understanding how energy processes impact the economy, environment, and sustainability.

(c) Improving the welfare of everyone.

1. Flexible hybrid energy storage system

We work on flexible hybrid energy storage system for grid-scale energy storage and micro-grids.

  • Combining different energy storage technologies (e.g., Li-ion battery, hydrogen, and compressed air) to achieve a more sustainable energy storage system: long-term, large scale, fast response, and small footprint.
  • Using oxygen permeation membranes to facilitate water/carbon dioxide splitting for hydrogen/syngas production at elevated temperatures for chemical energy storage.

2. Cleaner hydrogen production

We investigate cleaner hydrogen production technologies to decarbonize the economy.

  • Combining gasification and hydrogen separation in a chemically and thermally integrated manner to produce high purity hydrogen with carbon capture at lower energy penalty
  • Using a mixed ionic-electronic conducting membrane to enhance water splitting for hydrogen production

3. Chemicals with smaller environmental footprint

We develop technologies for value added chemicals from methane, carbon dioxide and water, such as:

  • Using perovskite oxides replacing precious metal as catalysts for syngas/ethylene production from methane
  • Combining methanation and H2O/CO2 co-electrolysis in one reactor unit to achieve better efficiency

Publications
  • X.Y. Wu*, L. Cai*, X. Zhu, A.F. Ghoniem, W. Yang, A high-efficiency novel IGCC-OTM carbon capture power plant design, Journal of Advanced Manufacturing and Processing, 2, 2020, e10059 (*equal contributions)
  • L.Cai*, X.Y. Wu*, X. Zhu, A.F. Ghoniem, W. Yang, High-performance oxygen transport membrane reactors integrated with IGCC for carbon capture, AIChE Journal, 66 (7), 2020, e16427 (*equal contributions)
  • X.Y. Wu, A.F. Ghoniem, Mixed ionic-electronic conductive (MIEC) membrane for thermochemical reduction of CO2: A review, Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, 74, 2019, 1 - 30
  • X.Y. Wu, A.F. Ghoniem, Hydrogen-assisted carbon dioxide thermochemical reduction on La0.9Ca0.1FeO3-δ membranes: A kinetics study, ChemSusChem, 11, 2018, 483 - 493
  • Y. Luo, X.Y. Wu, Y. Shi, A.F. Ghoniem, N. Cai, Exergy analysis of an integrated solid oxide electrolysis cell-methanation reactor for renewable energy storage, Applied Energy, 215, 2018, 371 - 383

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