Department
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Major
Biochemical Engineering
Research Advisor
Woelk, Klaus
Advisor's Department
Chemistry
Funding Source
OURE AY 21/22
Abstract
Methanol is an important raw material for many industrial and laboratory processes. It is synthesized by converting natural gas to a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas. This mixture, called syngas, is then converted with help of a Cu-ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst to produce methanol. Only about 7% of methanol is yielded in a one-turn conversion. NMR relaxometry will be conducted in a specialized toroid-cavity probe to better understand the reactivity of the active sites of the catalyst. The toroid-cavity probe can record NMR relaxation times under industrial reaction conditions. A computational algorithm will be used to analyze multiexponential decay data and extract their correlated relaxation times. The relaxation times are associated with chemical environments for different reactive components of the methanol synthesis, such as freely moving molecules versus locally fixed molecules. The relaxometry results are used to identify yield-inhibiting processes such as water deposition on the catalytically active sites.
Biography
Allison Hermelink is a sophomore in biochemical engineering with a the goal of becoming a processing engineer in the cosmetic, drug, or food industry. She is a member of the Society of Women Engineers and a project leader for Engineers Without Borders and their Guatemala project. She is also an officer at the Chi Omega fraternity and a member of the Asian-American Association. In her free time, Allison teaches ballet to students (ages 6 - 21) at a local dance studio. For summer and fall of 2022, she has secured a Co-op with ICL Group in Laurence, Kansas, manufacturing phosphate compounds as additives for the food industry.
Research Category
Sciences
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Document Type
Presentation
Award
Sciences – section 3 oral presentation, Second place
Location
Ozark Room
Presentation Date
14 Apr 2022, 1:30 pm - 2:00 pm
NMR Relaxometry of Syngas-to-Methanol Conversion
Ozark Room
Methanol is an important raw material for many industrial and laboratory processes. It is synthesized by converting natural gas to a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen gas. This mixture, called syngas, is then converted with help of a Cu-ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst to produce methanol. Only about 7% of methanol is yielded in a one-turn conversion. NMR relaxometry will be conducted in a specialized toroid-cavity probe to better understand the reactivity of the active sites of the catalyst. The toroid-cavity probe can record NMR relaxation times under industrial reaction conditions. A computational algorithm will be used to analyze multiexponential decay data and extract their correlated relaxation times. The relaxation times are associated with chemical environments for different reactive components of the methanol synthesis, such as freely moving molecules versus locally fixed molecules. The relaxometry results are used to identify yield-inhibiting processes such as water deposition on the catalytically active sites.
