Engineering Interfaces to Enhance Performanc and Longevity of Sustainable Energy Systems

The project plans to develop and optimize functional interfaces in two unique sustainable energy systems, that of biomass combustion as well as CO2 electroreduction. For the biomass combustion part of the project, a large limitation of of biomass combustors is the buildup of soot which in turn impacts heat transfer. The research goals are to first develop and test the textured surfaces which can both attract and capture the soot particles. Then fabricate catalytic coatings on the aforementioned surfaces/textures in order to selectively oxidize the soot byproduct. For the CO2 electroreduction portion of the project, the goal is to convert CO2 to ethanol via electroreduction. In the past and currently, distillation is a primary method to recover ethanol as a byproduct. In this project the first goal is to develop membranes which will be able to selectively absorb ethanol from ethanol-water mixtures. The next goal will be to then test these membranes in a CO2 electroreduction setup in order to recover the absorbed ethanol.

Faculty Supervisor:

Sami Khan

Student:

Partner:

University of Kansas

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Energy and Utilities; Sustainability & the Environment; Clean Technology

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program: