The Future of Liquid Hydrocarbons as Fuels and Chemicals  

Julia Valla, Northeast Utilities Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering Education
University of Connecticut

Abstract
While more electric, hybrid and other energy-efficient vehicles are expected to join the market in the near future (as a means to reduce CO2 emissions), overall demand for energy and fuels in the transportation sector is also expected to increase dramatically. This is especially true in developing regions, where a growing population will require more commercial transportation by bus, rail, plane, truck and marine vessels. Hydrocarbons has been the predominant transportation fuel so far. According to projections, affordable, clean and widely available liquid hydrocarbons, either derived from fossil or renewable fuels, are expected to remain in high demand for the years to come, especially for aviation and heavy vehicles. Furthermore, other impurities in liquid transportation fuels, such as sulfur, can also result in irreversible environmental pollution and health problems for our society. Thus, developing efficient and effective technologies to make clean, carbon-based fuels remain still a major challenge.

In this seminar we will discuss how adsorptive desulfurization has the potential to reduce sulfur concentrations in current gasoline, diesel and jet fuels without the use of hydrogen and severe operating conditions, currently used in refineries. We will also discuss how biomass resources can be a promising alternative to the fossil resources for the production of carbon-based renewable fuels. Specifically, we will discuss the potential of thermochemical conversion of biomass, via catalytic fast pyrolysis and hydropyrolysis.

Bio-Sketch
Dr. Ioulia (Julia) Valla is Associate Professor at the Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering Department and Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Center of Clean Energy Engineering (C2E2) at the University of Connecticut (UConn). Prior to joining UConn, she held a leadership position at Rive Technology, Inc. for the development and commercialization of mesoporous zeolites for refinery applications, and before that she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Chemical Process Engineering Research Institute (CPERI) in Greece. She received her diploma and PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece. Dr. Valla’s research is focused on the production of clean and renewable energy and fuels. She has been studying the thermochemical conversion and upgrading of lignocellulosic biomass to energy and fuels, the development of mesoporous zeolites for various catalytic and adsorption applications and the removal of sulfur from fuels. Dr. Valla is the recipient of the NSF/CAREER Award, the ACS/PRF Young Investigator Award and the European “Recovery & Utilization of Carbon Dioxide” Young Investigator Award for her study on “An Intelligent Use of Carbon Dioxide.”