Plasma-assisted CO2 to methanol at ambient conditions
Partners: CanmetMaterials, NRCan
Carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the main components of greenhouse gases, enables the creation of a warm environment for living creatures on earth. Canada is committed to not only meet, but also exceed its 2030 emissions reduction goal, and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The technologies of effective re-utilization of CO2 for manufacturing value-added chemicals or fuel products will play a major role in mitigating CO2 emissions and creating a new carbon circle. One of the most important products that can be synthesized from CO2 is methanol, which is an important chemical feedstock and can be used as a building block to produce chemicals and served as a fuel for fuel cells and internal combustion engines. An interdisciplinary team is assembled to develop a novel technology for synthesis of methanol from CO2 at ambient conditions, superior to the technologies on the current market that requires harsh reaction conditions (high temperature and high pressures). The proposed technology expects to function in a plug-and-play mode to provide on-site and on-demand CO2 reduction. In addition to be applied to centralized processes, such as refineries, the proposed system is excellent for remote operations, such as, emission reduction from landfills, biogas.
Researcher Biography
Prof. Zheng is a professor and a Canada Research Chair (Tier I) in Chemical Reaction and Intensification with the Department of Chemical Engineering, Western University. She is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, the Engineering Institute of Canada, and the Chemical Institute of Canada as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of chemistry (UK) and the Institution of Chemical Engineers (UK). Her research interests lie in the field of catalysis and catalytic processes for clean energy innovations. New catalytic materials along with catalytic processes are developed for application in CO2 utilization, N2 fixation, H2 production and clean/biofuel upgrading.
She is an enthusiastic teacher and have trained many graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. Professor Zheng also actively serves the Chemical Engineering Society, serving as the Chair of the Catalysis Division of the Chemical Institute of Canada (2018-2020), as a member of journal editorial boards and grant selection committees, and as editors and guest editors of various scientific journals. She has received numerous awards, including the 2018 Applied Catalysis Awards (the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK), the Award in Design and Industrial Practice in 2018, and the 2010 Syncrude Canada Innovation Award.
