The proposed project would seek to develop a technology and identify adsorbents that are better able to remove impurities such as carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen (N2), and oxygen (O2) from biogas (mostly CH4, also referred to as natural gas) produced from landfills, using adsorption technology. Interns will be carrying out adsorbent screening, by determining kinetics and binary and multi-component adsorption behaviour. Promising adsorbents will then be selected and tested under cyclic conditions to determine their life cycle.
Currently, around the world municipal solid wastes creating a serious risk to human health and the environment; the cheapest and commonly used management technologies for these wastes are landfilling or combustion. However, landfill releases methane and other greenhouse gases, also it has potential to pollute surrounding soil and groundwater. On the other hand, municipal solid wastes can be processed via hydrothermal liquefaction technology to convert agricultural, kitchen and other organic waste streams into bio-crude oil that is environmentally green and carbon neutral.
Biomass is a key feedstock for the production of renewable fuels and chemicals with potential zero carbon emissions and at low cost. State of the art conversion of biomass to bio-fuels focuses on the pyrolysis of the feedstock at high temperature in conventional reactors. However, current technologies face many challenges to achieve lower costs than fossil fuels, higher yields, improved energy efficiency and product quality. This project aims to evaluate the production of renewable fuels from biomass using a dual spinning-disc reactor.
Most of the heavy oil and bitumen produced in Western Canada is transported through pipelines to refineries in North America. Prior to transportation, the high viscosity of those fluids must be reduced by either dilution with a light solvent or upgrading. The high costs associated with handling diluents has increased the interest in upgrading; that is, the thermal conversion of high viscosity heavy oil or bitumen into a less viscous product.
This project will be with Vena Medical that focused on creating a forward viewing imaging microcatheter to provide a real-time navigational perspective for interventional physicians. The Vena Microcatheter will make interventional procedures faster, easier, and safer for both patients and physicians. This project will investigate the novel polymer optical fiber with high flexibility and high-quality image transmittance for medical microcatheter.
Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology provides a promising avenue to reduce carbon emissions. CCS works by capturing and storing carbon dioxide preventing it from contributing to climate change. Pressurized Chemical Looping Combustion (PCLC) is a promising next generation CCS technology that use a metal catalyst to react hydrocarbon fuels in an efficient way allowing for cheap and simple capture of carbon. PCLC has been shown at small scales to capture upwards of 90% of carbon dioxide emissions.
Cancer is the leading cause of death in Canada. A promising new way to treat cancer is through the administration of immune cells that target the cancer – an approach called cancer immunotherapy. The goal of this project is to engineer better culture vessels to produce dendritic cells. Dendritic cells are the "gatekeepers" of our immune system. They can have the capacity to activate other immune cells to attack cancers. The project involves two industrial partners: Kanyr Pharma, Inc. and Saint- Gobain, Inc.
Innovative approaches that ensure food security in light of the increasing world population, increasing variety of crop pests and microbes, and accelerating climate change are urgently needed. Suncor has developed a novel plant immune aid that can effectively enhance the disease resistance of crops to enhance agricultural yields. Through this collaboration with Dr.
This MITACS project aims to investigate the durability of IONOMR’s PEMIONTM membranes in Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM)-based fuel cells for automotive applications and explore their usage as the PEM in PEM-based fuel cells. Specific test conditions and protocols for use at IONOMR based on industry standards will be developed and the materials will be benchmarked against current state-of the art materials in order to prioritize development efforts and aid in customer adoption efforts.
Intern will significantly benefit in terms of knowledge generation and implementation from this research project by learning novel process to shape and modify biopolymer. After successful completion, the intern will learn process to scale up the product to real life application such as fishing line and nets. Plantee Bioplastics will be able to bring the modified product to market and capitalize on research done by the intern. This project has capacity to change the negative public perspective on plastics by bringing in market an improved fishing line and n
