SusChEM: Workshop on Supercritical Fluids and Energy, Brazil, October 2013

Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University, Blacksburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

This award is being co-funded by the Office of International and Integrated Activities. The primary objective of this workshop on Supercritical Fluids and Energy is to create a unique opportunity to (1) Review the state of Supercritical Fluid Science and Technology to assess its future potential utilizations and impact in various areas pertaining to energy; (2) Assess the bottlenecks that are hindering advances towards large scale implementations and help develop recommendations to facilitate transformation from laboratory to industrial practice; (3) Identify future research needs and promote international collaborative research efforts; (4) and Create a platform to directly engage future generation of researchers, and give them the opportunity to interact closely with the current leaders in the field and build their international networking. The workshop intends to bring about 25-30 leading experts as panel members who will provide sound and informed perspectives on the future directions and the role Supercritical Fluids Science and Technology can play in several key areas on energy. These will include: (a) Conversion of biomass to fuels and development of bio-refineries; (b) Supercritical fluids as working fluids in power generation and refrigeration cycles; (c) Supercritical fluids in the development or in processing of materials that impact energy efficiency such as porous insulation materials with low thermal conductivity, or membranes for fuel cells; and (d) Supercritical fluids as benign solvents for green chemistry and for sustainable technologies such as waste minimization, carbon capture and storage. The workshop also intends to bring about 50 - 60 young scientists to this workshop who may become the future leaders. The workshop will form a nucleus for new collaborative efforts and possible multi-national research initiatives. The workshop will be co-chaired by Erdogan Kiran (Virginia Tech, USA) and Angela Meireles (University of Campinas, Brazil). The workshop will be held at the University of Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Brazil is leading in its activity in bio-based alternative fuels, and as such is a natural location to address the central topic of Energy. Dr. Flavio C. Albuquerque from PETROBRAS, Brazil will be serving as an industrial representative in the local organizing committee. Brazil is also very active in the area of processing of bio-based materials using supercritical fluids, and will provide the platform to look at the limitations in transforming bench-top research findings to industrial implementation.