Developing a Computer Model for Carbon Dioxide Conversion
ChE Associate Professor Richard West, ChE/COS Assistant Professor Magda Barecka, and ChE Assistant Professor Qing Zhao were awarded a $500,000 grant for “Accelerating Electrocatalyst Innovation: High-Throughput Automated Microkinetic, Multiscale, and Techno-economic Modeling” as part of the Creating Revolutionary Energy and Technology Endeavors (CREATE) Exploratory Topic managed by the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). The objective of CREATE Exploratory Topic is to identify and support disruptive energy-related technologies and have the potential for large-scale impact.
Northeastern University will develop a computer model that could identify new avenues for producing essential chemical ingredients using carbon dioxide, a waste product of fossil fuels. Computer modeling would save time and money compared with running experiments that often focus on a single reaction pathway, whereas computer models seamlessly detect promising pathways from thousands of options. The project’s first steps will focus on producing propanol, a useful hydrocarbon found in cosmetics, cleaning, printing, motors, and other products.