UIC Chemical Engineering

Come join the Chemical Engineering Department for a seminar from Sunkyu Park, a Distinguished Professor at North Carolina State University, as he talks about strategies to decarbonize pulp and paper industries!

The seminar will take place Thursday, April 17, at noon at the UIC Engineering Innovation Building, 929 W Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60607.

ABSTRACT:

Prof. Park is actively involved in various research areas, including (a) Decarbonization of the Pulp and Paper (P&P) Industry, (b) Biographite Production, (c) Aviation Fuel Production, and (d) Cellulose Derivatives, as outlined below.

This presentation will primarily focus on carbon emissions in the U.S. Pulp and Paper (P&P) Industry and strategies for their reduction. The U.S. P&P Industry produces approximately 80 million tons of paper products annually while emitting around 150 million metric tons of CO₂ per year, ranking third among manufacturing sectors after chemicals and petroleum refining. The recovery boiler is the largest contributor to CO₂ emissions at the mill, accounting for 66% of the flue gas and 61% of the total energy input. Decarbonizing the recovery boiler presents a significant challenge due to its essential role in chemical recovery. Recognizing these challenges, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has supported decarbonization initiatives in this sector. Prof. Park is currently leading several funded projects aimed at developing innovative decarbonization strategies for the P&P industry. This presentation will cover (1) Basics of kraft chemical recovery in P&P, (2) An overview of U.S. P&P carbon emissions, (3) Emerging technologies for decarbonizing the P&P industry, including (a) deep eutectic solvents as a replacement for kraft liquor and (b) bipolar membrane electrodialysis for recycling kraft chemicals.

BIO:
Sunkyu Park is an Associate Department Head, Jordan Family Distinguished Professor, and University Faculty Scholar at the Department of Forest Biomaterials, North Carolina State University. Before joining NCSU in 2009 as a faculty member, he received his Ph.D. in the same department, followed by postdoctoral training at DOE-NREL. His department is dedicated to Pulp and Paper education, and he teaches process simulation for Pulp and Paper, and Biorefinery operation. His research covers a broad spectrum of biorefinery development to produce biofuels, biochemicals, and biomaterials from lignocellulosic biomass, funded mainly by the US Department of Energy (DOE). He has ~140 publications and is currently working on 7 DOE projects and 4 of them as a lead PI.

Zoom: Meeting ID: 992 0740 9473 Password: seminar4@

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