Engineering Research Center for Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources - CISTAR

Purdue University, West Lafayette IN

Investigators

Abstract

The United States proven reserves of natural gas have nearly doubled in the past 15 years as a result of technologies to extract gas from shale formations. A sizeable fraction of these reserves are located in remote areas. Currently, the infrastructure and economics are not favorable for transporting the Light Hydrocarbon (LHC) alkane constituents (methane, ethane, propane, and butanes) of this ?stranded? gas to centralized plants where they can be processed to valuable liquid fuels and chemical intermediates. The NSF Engineering Research Center for Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources (CISTAR) aims to provide basic research understanding in the areas of catalysis, separations, and process design needed to develop small, modular, local, and highly-networked processing plants that will convert LHCs from remote shale resources to liquid chemicals and transportation fuels, thereby economically utilizing resources that would otherwise be underutilized. To this end, CISTAR?s overarching goal is to provide the technological innovation and a diverse highly-trained workforce to realize the potential of shale gas as a lower-carbon-footprint ?bridge fuel? to a future sustainable energy economy. CISTAR is led by Purdue University, with partners at Northwestern University, the University of Notre Dame, the University of New Mexico, and the University of Texas-Austin. CISTAR will take advantage of scientific and engineering discoveries in the areas of catalytic and membrane materials to enable the development of innovative process designs for economical production of liquid chemicals and transportation fuels by combining new catalytic alkane dehydrogenation and olefin oligomerization steps with novel separations. The overall process will operate with feedstocks (ethane and C2+), and at conversions and temperatures not possible with current commercial catalysts, to eliminate large capital and energy costs normally associated with olefin separation and purification. CISTAR will also explore new opportunities for the oxidative coupling of methane to ethylene, which can then be used as a feedstock for conversion to liquid fuels. Fundamental knowledge will be transferred to processes for chemicals and fuels using testbeds ranging from lab-scale up to a full-size pilot plant with economic evaluations using systems-level lifecycle and environmental impact analysis. An integrated plant design will be comprehensively optimized to meet local, state, and federal policies, as well as safety and environmental standards. The CISTAR Innovation Ecosystem will bring together the key industrial partners and non-industrial stakeholders such as government agencies, regulators, NGOs, and consumers to commercialize the Center?s research discoveries and to maximize benefits to society. Strong research and education integration will be vital for launching the next-generation hydrocarbon workforce and petrochemical and energy industry leaders. CISTAR brings proven, field-shaping capabilities in university and precollege education to address a critical workforce void and develop diverse students with technical and professional skills to lead and innovate in the separations, reaction engineering, systems engineering, and catalysis communities. Outreach programs will be aimed at fostering public awareness of safe and environmentally responsible ways to use U.S. hydrocarbon resources as a bridge to a renewable energy future.