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OChE Event Agenda and Invitation to Open Forum and Reception
by Williams, David M. 17 Sep '14

17 Sep '14

All: On Thursday, September 25th, Outstanding Chemical Engineer Award winners Rob Crane (MSChE '94, PhD '97), Jeff Lievense (PhD '84) and Steve Murrill (BSChE '71) will be on campus. Attached is a draft of the agenda for that day and you are invited to attend both the Open Forum from 9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. in room G140 and the Reception from 10:15 a.m.-10:45 a.m. in the Robert Henson Atrium where cake and punch will be served. I hope to see you there! Thanks, David ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ David M. Williams Purdue Research Foundation Senior Director of Development School of Chemical Engineering Forney Hall of Chemical Engineering, Room 1060B 480 Stadium Mall Drive West Lafayette, IN 47907-2100 Office (765) 494-4065 Cell (765) 427-0527 dmwilliams(a)prf.org www.engineering.purdue.edu/ChE<http://www.engineering.purdue.edu/ChE>

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Dr. Jeetain Mittal Seminar -- September 16, 2014
by Guerrero, Betty Lou 15 Sep '14

15 Sep '14

Purdue University School of Chemical Engineering Graduate seminar series Prof. Jeetain Mittal Department of Chemical Engineering Lehigh University "Simulations of Biomolecular Assembly Processes at Interfaces" September 16, 2014 9:00-10:15 a.m. FRNY G140 Reception at 10:15-10:45 a.m. in Henson Atrium Abstract: Although biomolecular folding, binding and assembly are usually conceived of as occurring in a bulk aqueous solution, there are numerous instances of such processes occurring near interfaces within cells. Examples of these interfaces include very large macromolecules, membranes bounding intracellular compartments and the cell membrane itself. Interfacial behavior of biomolecules is also important in several technological applications such as DNA-based nanomaterials, biosensors, and microarrays. In this talk, I will discuss several ongoing research problems in my group that illustrate rich behavior exhibited by biomolecules (protein, DNA) at interfaces. Bio: Jeetain Mittal received his doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Texas, Austin, his master's degree in chemical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and his bachelor's degree, also in chemical engineering, from Punjab Technical University. Prior to joining Lehigh, he worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Laboratory of Chemical Physics at the National Institutes of Health. Sincerely, Betty L. Guerrero Administrative Assistant Office: FRNY 2037 Purdue University 480 Stadium Mall Drive West Lafayette, IN 47907 Phone: 765.496.2606 Fax: 765.494.0805 blg(a)purdue.edu

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Aniruddha V. Kelkar Dissertation Defense, Tuesday, September 16th, 10:30a.m. in FRNY 3062B
by Maus, Amy M 11 Sep '14

11 Sep '14

This e-mail is to announce that Aniruddha V. Kelkar will be defending his dissertation, On the Theory of Brownian Aggregation in Colloidal Dispersions, on Tuesday, September 16th, at 10:30AM in FRNY 3062B. The dissertation is being co-directed by Professor Franses and Professor Corti, and the abstract is attached. All are welcome to attend. Kind Regards, Amy Maus Graduate Program Secretary School of Chemical Engineering Purdue University 480 Stadium Mall Drive West Lafayette, Indiana 47907-2100 Phone: 765-494-7343 Email: amaus(a)purdue.edu

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Near miss in FRNY
by Nagy, Gabriela 10 Sep '14

10 Sep '14

Hello Everyone, I would like to share with you a recent near miss involving one of our graduate students using the Liquid Nitrogen (LN2) facility located on the western side of the physics building. The near miss (incident) occurred on Friday, September 5, around 1 pm and involved a ChE graduate student and an empty LN2 tank/cart system. No injuries were reported. To gain access to a previously filled LN2 tank, the researcher attempted to move the empty LN2 tank, left in upright position on a cart, near the LN2 refill station. The system responsible with securing the LN2 tank to the cart relied on a spring mechanism that later proved to be defective. When the tank/cart system was tilted to be moved out of the way, the spring locking mechanism on the cart disengaged, causing the empty tank to fall on the concrete platform. The damaged tank has been removed from service and the cart is being replaced with a newer and much safer design. Lessons learned: 1. Never try to remove a gas cylinder/LN2 tank before you check that the system is in good working order and it is safe to do so. 2. Never use defective carts. 3. Always follow the instructions on the side of the cart (if available) when moving/transporting gas cylinders (including LN2 tanks). 4. It is recommended that in-house training on how to safely use the gas cylinder/LN2 tank carts is provided to every student using this type of equipment. The training should be provided by the PI or by his/her designated safety officer (lead graduate student). For additional information on how to safely transport gas cylinders and procedures for FRNY, please visit the ChE safety page (https://engineering.purdue.edu/ChE/AboutUs/Safety.html ) and view the short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgHnKFqCru4 An updated "Gas Cylinder Handling Procedures" document will be soon posted on our website. Thank you for your commitment to safety! Sincerely, Gabriela On behalf of the ChE Safety Committee ________ Gabriela Nagy, PhD Industrial Education Director ChE Safety Committee Chair School of Chemical Engineering Room FRNY G051 Purdue University Tel: (765)-496-1710 E-mail: nagyg(a)purdue.edu<mailto:nagyg@purdue.edu>

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Fake 'phishing' emails
by Harrington, Michael P 10 Sep '14

10 Sep '14

Hi, Just a reminder NOT to click on links in emails if you are suspicious at all of their source. Today around 12pm many people received a message with the subject of "Blackboard" and link to "Sign In" This was a phishing email designed to steal your account and password information. If you clicked the link AND signed in to the fake site, you should change your career account password. If you find you can't log in to Purdue systems then ITAP may have already scrambled your password to prevent your account from being compromised. If ITAP locks your account I can't unlock it - you have to call ITAP at 765-494-4000. When in doubt you should always go to the official sites and not use links in emails unless you are 100% positive they are legit (and even then you should examine the actual link). The fake email today had a link pointing to the domain "calientatucama.com" - that is NOT "purdue.edu" - the people creating these emails make fake sites that look like official sites. -Mike Harrington Ps - please remember to send ALL computer / account questions to cheq(a)ecn.purdue.edu ******************** Mike Harrington Computer Facilities Manager ECN/Chemical Engineering Purdue University 765-494-6428 mph(a)purdue.edu

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Fwd: US News & World Report Undergrad Rankings
by Varma, Arvind 09 Sep '14

09 Sep '14

Dear Colleagues, It is wonderful to see that our peers at other institutions have evaluated our undergraduate program higher than last year - we are now one step away from the top-10. Thank you for your dedication to educating our students, to ensure they have satisfying and productive careers - working together, let's continue to improve our program; improved relative standing in such evaluations will follow on their own. I'll forward the list of the top ChE programs as soon as I can. With best wishes, Arvind Arvind Varma R. Games Slayter Distinguished Professor Jay and Cynthia Ihlenfeld Head of Chemical Engineering Purdue University Sent from my iPad Begin forwarded message: From: "Jamieson, Leah H." <lhj(a)purdue.edu<mailto:lhj@purdue.edu>> Date: September 10, 2014 at 12:57:12 AM GMT+7 To: "'engfaculty-list(a)ecn.purdue.edu<mailto:engfaculty-list@ecn.purdue.edu>'" <engfaculty-list(a)ecn.purdue.edu<mailto:engfaculty-list@ecn.purdue.edu>>, "'engap-list(a)ecn.purdue.edu<mailto:engap-list@ecn.purdue.edu>'" <engap-list(a)ecn.purdue.edu<mailto:engap-list@ecn.purdue.edu>>, "'engcs-list(a)ecn.purdue.edu<mailto:engcs-list@ecn.purdue.edu>'" <engcs-list(a)ecn.purdue.edu<mailto:engcs-list@ecn.purdue.edu>>, "'Eac-list(a)ecn.purdue.edu<mailto:Eac-list@ecn.purdue.edu>'" <Eac-list(a)ecn.purdue.edu<mailto:Eac-list@ecn.purdue.edu>> Subject: US News & World Report Undergrad Rankings Colleagues – US News & World Report has released its national rankings of undergraduate programs for this year. The undergrad rankings are computed from the responses to a survey sent to deans and selected senior faculty, who rated programs on a scale from 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished). In this year’s rankings, Purdue is #9 among engineering programs at doctoral-granting universities. We ranked #10 last year, tied with UT-Austin. The discipline rankings are: 2015 Ranking (published September 2014) 2014 Ranking (published September 2013) College #9 #10 tied w/ UT-Austin ABE #1 tied w/ UIUC #1 IE #4 #5 CE #4 #7 AAE #5 #6 ME #7 #7 EE #9 #7 ChE #11 #13 MSE #12 tied w/ Cal Tech and U Fl #17 tied w/ NC State CmpE #13 #12 EEE #13 tied w/ Cal Tech and NC State #12 BME #17 #15 *Nuclear engineering programs are not ranked by USN&WR every year and were not ranked this year or last year. Congratulations to ABE for their fourth consecutive #1 ranking; to ABE, IE, CE, and AAE for their top 5 rankings; to IE, CE, AAE, ChE, and MSE for moving up in the rankings; and to MSE for their pretty spectacular 5-point gain. Overall, the net movement, summed across the College and discipline rankings, was an improvement of 7 points. As you know, Purdue Engineering is on the move. Thank you for your continued commitment to creating inspired educational experiences for our undergraduates; for your creativity, effort, and dedication to growing and transforming the College of Engineering; and for your commitment to excellence in all you do. Best, leah --- Leah H. Jamieson The John A. Edwardson Dean, College of Engineering Ransburg Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Neil Armstrong Hall +1 765 494 5346 701 West Stadium Avenue +1 765 494 9321 (fax) Purdue University West Lafayette, IN 47907-2045 lhj(a)purdue.edu<mailto:lhj@purdue.edu> https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr

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Vinod Kumar Venkatakrishnan Dissertation Defense, Wednesday, September 10th, at 8:00 a.m. in FRNY 3062B
by Maus, Amy M 08 Sep '14

08 Sep '14

This e-mail is to announce that Vinod Kumar Venkatakrishnan will be defending his dissertation, Lab-Scale Fast-Hydropyrolysis and Vapor-Phase Catalytic Hydrodeoxygenation for Producing Liquid Fuel Range Hydrocarbons from Intact Biomass , on Friday, July 11th ' at 1:00PM in FRNY 3062B. The dissertation is being co-advised by Doctors Agrawal, Delgass, and Ribeiro, and the abstract is below. All are welcome to attend. Abstract: Liquid transportation fuels are primarily produced from petroleum-based non-renewable carbon sources. Sustainably available lignocellulosic biomass, as a renewable form of atmospheric carbon, could be utilized to produce hydrocarbon-based fuels with high energy density. One of the process options for this conversion is the H2Bioil process, where biomass is rapidly heated in a hydrogen environment to produce fast-hydropyrolysis vapors that are catalytically upgraded in downstream hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) to produce hydrocarbons. This process has been modeled to have high carbon and energy efficiencies of ~70% and ~75%, respectively. This dissertation presents the results of a lab-scale experimental proof-of-concept for the H2Bioil process for converting intact biomass to liquid fuel range hydrocarbons. Based on various prototype designs for high pressure (up to 68 bar) fast-pyrolysis in an inert environment, a cyclone-type fast-hydropyrolysis reactor system along with downstream vapor-phase catalytic HDO reactor was designed and constructed. A liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry based analytical technique was developed for quantitative compositional analysis of the cellulose pyrolysis liquid products. Levoglucosan and its isomers, cellobiosan, water and light oxygenates like formic acid, glycolaldehyde and hydroxyacetone are the major products of cellulose fastpyrolysis. Increasing pyrolysis temperature in the range of 480 ºC to 580 ºC was found to increase the formation of light oxygenates, due to the increase in thermal cracking, and to decrease carbon recovery in the liquid. Comparison of cellulose fast-pyrolysis and fasthydropyrolysis experiments showed that H2 does not play an important role in deoxygenation even up to 50 bar H2 partial pressures in the absence of a downstream HDO catalyst. Candidate catalyst screening and previous work from our research group revealed that adding an oxophillic promoter, such as Mo, along with the hydrogenation function of Pt, could increase C-O bond scission. Hence, a 5wt%Pt-2.5wt%Mo catalyst supported on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) was tested for HDO of fast-hydropyrolysis vapors from cellulose, as a model biomass feedstock, and poplar, as a real biomass feedstock. The total C1-C8+ hydrocarbon yield (as % carbon of feed) with cellulose was ~73%, the liquid fuel range (C4+) hydrocarbon yield was ~55%, with a major fraction as C6 hydrocarbons from the HDO of levoglucosan and its isomers. The total C1-C8+ hydrocarbon yield (as % carbon of feed) with poplar was ~54%, and the liquid fuel range hydrocarbon yield (C4+) was ~32%, with a major fraction as C8+ hydrocarbons from the HDO of lignin fragments. Increasing the HDO temperature from 300 ºC to 350 ºC increased the C-C bond scission and led to higher yields of CO and lower yields of C4+ hydrocarbons. Independent control of fast-hydropyrolysis and HDO temperatures in the H2Bioil process helps in improving the overall C4+ hydrocarbon yields. For improving the overall carbon efficiency from the experimental proof-of-concept of the H2Bioil process, synergistic process integrations, involving gasification, combustion and reforming, have been suggested within the group for utilizing carbon from CO, char and C1-C3 hydrocarbons to increase the yield of liquid fuel range (C4+) hydrocarbons.

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Recall: Vinod Kumar Venkatakrishnan Dissertation Defense, Wednesday, September 10th, at 8:00 a.m. in FRNY 3062B
by Maus, Amy M 08 Sep '14

08 Sep '14

Maus, Amy M would like to recall the message, "Vinod Kumar Venkatakrishnan Dissertation Defense, Wednesday, September 10th, at 8:00 a.m. in FRNY 3062B".

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Dr. Boudouris Seminar - September 9, 2014
by Waibel, Lucinda M 08 Sep '14

08 Sep '14

A friendly reminder.... Purdue University School of Chemical Engineering Graduate seminar series Prof. Bryan Boudouris School of Chemical Engineering Purdue University "Designing Macromolecules with Specific Optoelectronic and Chemical Functionalities for Advanced Membrane and Energy Conversion Applications" September 9, 2014 9:00-10:15 a.m. FRNY G140 Reception at 10:15-10:45 a.m. in Henson Atrium Abstract: : Designer polymers provide a platform by which to generate nanostructured, multifunctional materials with tailored chemical and optoelectronic functionalities whose solution-processable nature allows for the device fabrication procedures that are compatible with high-throughput (e.g., roll-to-roll coating) manufacturing processes. As such, these macromolecules offer the promise of providing tailor-made, low-cost materials solutions to some of the most pressing engineering challenges of the day. Here, we will discuss two distinct classes of functional macromolecules with tailored chemistries for implementation into separations and energy conversion applications. In the first of these efforts, we describe the synthesis, molecular characterization, and the solid-state electronic device application of an emerging class of transparent conducting macromolecules, radical polymers. Radical polymers are macromolecular materials that have flexible polymeric backbones and pendant groups that bear stable radical moieties. In contrast to almost all other semiconducting polymers, radical polymers lack backbone conjugation and are completely amorphous in the solid state. Despite this shift in macromolecular design archetype, we demonstrate that the solid-state electrical conductivity and charge carrier mobility values of a glassy model radical polymer are on par with the conductivity and mobility values of oft-used conjugated, semicrystalline polymer semiconductors [e.g., poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT)]. Furthermore, upon proper tuning of the chemical functionality of the polymer chains, these radical polymers perform well as an electrode modifying layers in thin film organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices and increase the power conversion efficiencies of these OPV devices greatly. In the second of these efforts, A-B-C triblock polymers are generated using controlled radical polymerization techniques. By tuning the molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, block polymer chemical composition, and casting techniques employed, we are able to generate mechanically-robust nanoporous thin films that are well-suited for nanofiltration applications. In fact, high-flux separations (i.e., at permeabilities equal to or greater than current commercial membranes) of particles down to ~1 nm in radii are presented, which is the smallest separation performed using a block polymer template to date. Additionally, we demonstrate that, through the appropriate selection of the C-block of the triblock polymer, the chemistry of the nanopore walls can be tuned to any number of functional groups. Therefore, these tailored macromolecules provide an excellent handle by which to generate size-selective and chemically-selective separations devices. Bio: Bryan W. Boudouris is an assistant professor in the School of Chemical Engineering at Purdue University with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Chemistry. Furthermore, he is a co-founder and scientific advisor of the start-up company Anfiro, Inc. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2004. After receiving his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 2009, he conducted postdoctoral research from 2009 to 2011 under the supervision of Professor Rachel Segalman at the University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Since joining Purdue University in 2011, he has been the recipient of a number of awards at the university and national levels including the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Program (AFSOR YIP) award and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Young Faculty Award (DARPA YFA). His group's current research interests include the design, nanostructural characterization, and implementation of homopolymers and block polymers in applications that include: polymer-based photovoltaic, thermoelectric, and memory devices; membranes with high fluxes and high selectivities; and improved sampling and detection of trace explosive residues for improved security of the homeland. Sincerely, Cindy Waibel Secretary ~ Rm 1144 Forney Hall of Chemical Engineering Purdue University 480 Stadium Mall Drive West Lafayette, IN 47907-2100 765-494-4069 Fax: 765-494-0805 leiklebe(a)purdue.edu<mailto:leiklebe@purdue.edu> [PurdueEngineeringLogosmall]

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Joshua Huff Dissertation Defense, Wednesday, September 10th, at 3:00pm in FRNY 3062B
by Maus, Amy M 05 Sep '14

05 Sep '14

This e-mail is to announce that Joshua Huff will be defending his dissertation, Tools for Efficient Design of Multicomponent Separation Processes, on Wednesday, September 10th at 3:00PM in FRNY 3062B. The dissertation is being directed by Dr. Agrawal, and the abstract is attached. All are welcome to attend.

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