WPI Research is the research magazine of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. It contains news and features about graduate research in the arts and sciences, business, and engineering, along with notes about new grants, books, and faculty achievements.
Issue link: http://wpiresearch.epubxp.com/i/229254
Betting Big on a Membrane The success and economic viability of the entire process "I think it's very good material, good applications, good fundamental work. It will provide, hopefully, cleaner and less expensive energy." — Yi Hua "Ed" Ma United States, coal can be heated while steam and oxygen (in quantities too small to support combustion) flow over it. The coal is oxidized, creating a gaseous mix of carbon monoxide, CO2, water vapor, and molecular hydrogen (H2). Through a process called the water-gas shift reaction, the carbon monoxide and water vapor (steam) can then be converted to more CO2 and H2. In a fi nal step, the hydrogen and CO2 flow through a membrane system that separates the CO2 , which can be sequestered to keep it from reaching the atmosphere, and the hydrogen, a valuable chemical commodity that can be recovered and used to make chemicals like ammonia and methanol, help with petroleum refi ning, become the fuel used in fuel cells, or be burned to produce electricity. hinges on the membrane, and the most efficient and economical option to emerge in recent years is one developed by Yi Hua "Ed" Ma, James H. Manning Professor of Chemical Engineering, and his research team in WPI's Center for Inorganic Membrane Studies. Their patented membrane performed brilliantly in the fi rst phase of a national demonstration project funded by the DOE. With a $1.5 million award, WPI (the only university among the competitors) led one of four teams to pilot test their membrane systems. Two teams, WPI's and one led by Praxair Inc., have moved on to the second and fi nal phase, in which they will build modules made of multiple membranes that will be tested under real-world conditions. WPI's module will be tested at the NCCC in a high-stakes experiment that could help pave the way for the clean power plants of the future. "I think it's very good material, good applications, good fundamental work," says Ma, with characteristic modesty, of his lab's crowning achievement. "It will provide, hopefully, cleaner and less expensive energy." Ma came to WPI in 1967 upon earning his doctorate at MIT. After founding the Center for Inorganic Membrane Studies in 1988, he spent more than a decade developing a membrane that uses a thin layer of the precious metal palladium (chemical symbol Pd), deposited on a porous stainless steel support, to tease hydrogen out of a blend of gases, including natural gas. The work on the innovation has been funded by more than $12 million in grants from industry and government. In the current DOE-funded program, the WPI team is working to scale the membrane system up for a fi nal large-scale test they hope will lead to commercialization. "It would be an enabling technology, one of many technologies that are needed to really mitigate greenhouse gas emissions," says Morreale, whose agency is funding WPI's participation in the project's second phase with a $4 million award. "I've followed Ed's work for 10 or 15 years, and he's doing a tremendous job," Morreale adds. "I think he's really made progress not only on the membrane that he's developing but membrane technology in general." Ma's achievements have earned him a long list of national and international honors. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Worcester Polytechnic Institute > 19