Energy and Sustainability

Sally Ng in lab

Energy & Sustainability research addresses the challenges in developing systems and products that meet the energy needs of society while considering environmental impact and economic feasibility.

ChBE researchers create technologies that generate, distribute, store, consume, and recycle energy and materials in a cleaner and more efficient manner.

Distillation facility

Research: Carbon Molecular Sieve Membranes Cut Energy Use in Hydrocarbon Separations

A research team from the Georgia Institute of Technology and ExxonMobil has demonstrated a new carbon-based molecular sieve membrane that could dramatically reduce the energy required to separate a class of hydrocarbon molecules known as alkyl aromatics. The new material is based on polymer hollow fibers treated to retain their structure – and pore sizes – as they are converted to carbon through pyrolysis. The carbon membranes are then used in a new “organic solvent reverse osmosis” (OSRO) process in which pressure is applied to effect the separation without requiring a phase change in the chemical mixture. Read Full Story