P2SAC Funded PhD Research Projects

Principal Investigator: Professor Vilas G. Pol 2021 - 2022 Funding

Project Title: Real-time Li-ion Battery Monitoring using Impedance Spectroscopy and Gas/Pressure Sensors for Early Thermal Runaway Detection

Project suggested/proposed by: Vilas Pol (Purdue); Edward Marszal, James Mcglone (Kenexis) and Erich Binder (Worley)

Accomplishments: The utmost goal of this project is to develop potential gas sensors that can effectively detect the toxic/flammable gases and volatile organic compounds (VOC) released from batteries during the initial period of the thermal runaway. Out of many gas sensing methods available, we are working on Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy as a detection technique. As Impedance Spectroscopy has the potential to provide in-depth information about the change in different material properties when it interacts with target gases/VOCs. 

In the First-step, we finalize the material to be used for the gas sensing. Out of multiple options, PEDOT: PSS is found to be a suitable conducting polymer as it is the most stable, commercially available conducting polymer. The advantage of the material is that the conductivity of the material can be tuned as well as it can be easily deposited using spin coating.  

Currently, we are using the developed sensors for the detection of VOCs released from the Li-ion batteries like Ethyl Methyl Carbonate, methyl formate, etc. Initially, the sensor was tested for its impedance response to the Ethanol for different concentrations (5-25PPM), which are observed to be quite significant. Later the sensor response was observed for the Ethyl Methyl carbonate and Methyl formate for similar concentrations. The response was observed for other VOCs as well. Developed sensor is observed to have a good response and recovery time. From the observed impedance response, we are trying to understand the change in material properties using equivalent circuits derived from the recorded data. 

In the next step, research experiments will be focused on the response of the sensor for the binary and tertiary mixtures. Further, the response of the sensor will be classified using a machine learning algorithm.

• Not yet

• PhD Students: 1
• Undergraduate students: 1

Principal Investigator: Professor Rajamani Gounder 2016 - 2022 funding

Project Title: Prevention through catalyst design for applications in the petrochemical industry

Project Duration: 2014-2022 (former project (2014-2016): Synthesis of Solid Lewis Acids for Safer Oxidation Reactions)

Accomplishments: The overarching goal of this project is to conduct basic scientific research on catalytic materials and reactions that can enable new opportunities for implementing “prevention through design (PTD)” concepts in the petrochemical industry. Zeolite catalysts are used in >60% of refining operations to produce base chemicals used for consumer goods, high volume energy carriers such as transportation fuels, and for pollution abatement in environmental protection applications. The elimination (by design) of side reactions reduces the formation of undesirable products and the potential for overpressures and/or explosions. Two examples that we have studied are the design of site-isolated Lewis acidic metals in solid oxide frameworks for safer oxidation processes that use aqueous hydrogen peroxides, and the design of solid acids for selective and stable hydrocarbon alkylation reactions to provide catalytic process alternatives to liquid HF-catalyzed alkylation. This project leverages the expertise of and collaboration among several catalysis-related faculty in Purdue ChE in the area of experiment and theory (Gounder, Ribeiro, Miller, Greeley), as well as external collaborators (academic groups at ETH-Zurich, University of Illinois, University of Florida). This project has resulted in 2 US patent application, several published papers in high-impact chemistry and chemical engineering journals, several presentations at local, national, and international meetings, and the training of undergraduate and graduate students on research projects in catalysis that are chosen for and motivated by challenges and opportunities arising from the chemical process safety industry.

• Publications: 15
• Presentations: 73
• Patents: 1 US patent issued, 1 US patent application

• Postdoctoral scholars: 1
• PhD Students: 5
• Undergraduate students: 5

Principal Investigator: Bryan W. Boudouris 2021 - 2022 funding

Project title: Low-Power, Low-Cost, and High-Performance Gas Sensors

PI: Bryan W. Boudouris, Davidson School of Chemical Engineering, Purdue University

Project suggested/proposed by: Bryan W. Boudouris (Purdue); Hariprasad Janakiram (Chevron)

Type of project:  Ph.D. Research     

Category:  Process/Advanced Sensing

Status/timing: New Project, Year 1 of 2.

Project Scope.

Gas detection is a crucial element in the safety surrounding many industrial settings, including manufacturing and refining operations. As such, significant investments have been made with respect to the purchase of gas sensors and the iterative refinement of the placement and operation of these devices. However, key challenges still exist with respect to developing low-cost, energy-efficient sensors that operate well over large concentration ranges, environmental conditions, and across long timespans. In particular, hydrogen gas sensors are of significant importance currently as the presence of hydrogen gas in established processes will continue to increase and its implementation in next-generation industrial applications will necessitate the adoption of hydrogen gas sensors in emerging industrial settings as well. However, current hydrogen leak detectors are based on low-performance and/or high-cost sensing methods. Therefore, there is a clear need to develop a low-cost, low-power hydrogen gas sensor in a rapid manner. Here, we will address this opportunity by building from our established high-performance gas sensing device platforms that selectively detect gases such as carbon dioxide, formaldehyde, and flammable refrigerants in a high-fidelity manner.

Specifically, we propose to acquire commercially available quartz planar resonators, which were originally developed for electronic timing applications and are commonly available at low cost, as surface mount devices. These devices will be locally integrated on printed circuit boards (PCBs) with drive and sensing circuitry, and decapped to allow for environmental exposure. Of course, the detection of hydrogen gas (i.e., simulated hydrogen leaks) is key to the sensing process as a whole; however, the detection of these molecules represents a distinct challenge as there is no natural chemical handle by which to necessarily drive binding and/or adsorption events that will alter the resonant frequency of the quartz planar resonators. Therefore, the selection of the surface chemistries utilized in this effort must occur in a judicious manner. Fortunately, we have been highly successful in our previous work with respect to sensing myriad other gases in a selective manner (i.e., even in the presence of distractant gases at much higher concentrations). This was accomplished using the same quartz planar resonator platform described above with specific surface chemistries deposited on the resonator surface using simple inkjet printing technologies.

Here, we will advance this overarching concept to design, synthesize, and evaluate polymers and supramolecular structures that will have specific interactions with (and uptake of) hydrogen gas such that the mass added when the resonators interact with hydrogen leaks causes significant shifts in the resonant frequency of the devices. This shift can then be correlated to a concentration of hydrogen gas present through a simple calibration profile. In previous efforts, the resolutions of our sensors have pushed the bounds of the detection limit to as low as ~10 ppm while still operating at concentrations as high as ~10,000 ppm. This large range is of utility in many scenarios, and we anticipate that it will be of interest in hydrogen leak sensing as well.

Principal Investigator: Professor Brett Savoie - 2019 - 2022 Funding

• Publications: 3
• Presentations: 8

• PhD students: 1

Principal Investigator: Professor Carl Laird - 2018

Project Title: Optimal Placement of Gas Detectors in Process Facilities: Bringing optimization-based gas detector placement into practice

Accomplishments: Reliable detection of toxic and flammable gas leaks forms a key layer of protection in process facilities. Our research group has developed rigorous numerical techniques for optimal placement of gas detectors in process facilities.   For example, for offshore facilities, the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reported that less than half of the known releases are detected by the existing gas detection systems. Rapid detection requires effective design of the entire gas detection system, including placement, number, and type of detectors used. Current practice and standards recommendations for placement of gas detectors are based on qualitative or semi-quantitative approaches.  There is a need to advance the state of the art and design gas detection systems that can use computational resources to provide the best level of protection possible.

Making use of facility specific leak dispersion simulations, we formulate discrete optimization problems that determine optimal placements over a number of objective functions, including minimizing the average time to detection across a suite of scenarios or maximizing scenario coverage (likelihood of detecting a leak). We have compared these approaches with a number of common techniques recommended in the literature and standards. On test cases examined, our numerical approach outperformed all of these recommended approaches [1]. Furthermore, these optimization techniques outperform the commonly used volumetric approach by as much as 60-85% in terms of average time -to-detection. In recent research, we have focused on rigorously considering sensor failure. The probability computations introduce significant nonlinearity, and we have developed computationally efficient techniques for solving these nonlinear, discrete optimization problems. We have developed our data analysis and optimization formulations in Python to allow for ready application of these techniques on new data sets.

Evaluation and Improvement of Fire and Gas Detector Placement

Accomplishments: Various layers of protection exist in process facilities to protect people and infrastructure from toxic and flammable gas leaks, and fire. Placement of flame detectors and/or heat detectors can be particularly challenging since there is no common industry standard. This research considers extensions of our existing gas detector optimization approaches to develop rigorous numerical methods for optimal fire detector placement. In particular, we are focusing on the application of optimization techniques for technology selection and placement to maximize effectiveness of fire detection systems.

• Publications: 5
• Presentations: 1

• PhD Students: 3

Principal Investigator: Professor Zoltan Nagy - 2019

Project Title: Fault Tolerant Control for Safe Plant Operation

Accomplishments: The paradigm shift in the pharmaceutical industry to continuous manufacturing has recently progressed from conceptual demonstration to pilot production. Four drugs using continuous manufacturing technologies have recently been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This also stimulates the urgent demand for science-led and risk-based approach toward a safe plant operation when the powder-related manufacturing facilities are running continuously, which is never the case in traditional batch manufacturing process. Our group has an increased prestige in developing and implementing advanced fault tolerant control strategies in improving the process safety and product quality in continuous manufacturing of drug substance and drug product. For example, we developed a systematic framework for a fault-tolerant control design and risk analysis in continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing. On the other hand, the uncertainties in the sensor measurement due to process operation disturbance or material properties variance were investigated under our proposed data reconciliation framework using the redundancy in sensor network design. These two frameworks have been applied and demonstrated in Purdue Pharmaceutical Continuous Manufacturing Pilot Plant to detect the fouling sensors or imbalance of powder flows.

With joint support from P2SAC for the past years, our group is also initiating a new paradigm of Quality-by-Control (QbC) in pharmaceutical manufacturing, leveraging the importance of high-level product and process intelligence and control strategies in the next-generation pharmaceutical manufacturing technologies. Our recent joint proposal with Rutgers University on “Industry 4.0 Implementation in Continuous Pharmaceutical Manufacturing” to support sensor network maintenance, control performance monitoring, risk management, and systematic continuous improvement was awarded by the US FDA a grant amount of $2.0 million/per year from 2018-2022. As progress is being made, we are encouraged and optimistic that more and more awareness of safety issues in continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing are brought up to the forefront.     

• Publications: 7 (4 published or accepted, 3 under review)
• Presentations: 4

• Postdoctoral scholars: 1
• PhD Students: 1
• MS Students: 3
• Undergraduate students: 3

Principal Investigator: Professor Osman A. Basaran

Project Title: Computational analysis of drop (bubble) coalescence in emulsions to reduce retention times in oil-water (oil-water-gas) separators

Accomplishments: Water is injected in a water flood to maintain reservoir pressure and improve oil recovery.  As more and more oil is produced from mature wells, efficient separation of oil from water becomes increasingly more important.  Indeed, large retention times in oil-water separators for breaking oil-water emulsions become a bottleneck in crude oil production.  Furthermore, produced water from separators must be treated before disposal or discharge.  In the separators, a variety of techniques are used to force the dispersed (i.e. droplet) phase to coalesce and separate the emulsion into distinct layers.  Moreover, to decrease retention times and to accelerate the rate of coalescence, demulsifiers, which are primarily surfactants, are added to the emulsions.  Industry desires to understand the coalescence process from a more fundamental level and also uncover new methods to reduce retention times.

The primary goal of the research has been to carry out an in-depth study of the fluid dynamics of drop-drop coalescence with surfactants to provide accurate estimates of the retention times involved in separators.  To achieve our goals, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) algorithms and computer codes based on finite element methods were developed to analyze (a) the collision and coalescence of two drops in an exterior liquid (e.g. two water drops in oil) as well as (b) two bubbles in an exterior liquid, both in the absence as well as the presence of surfactants.  In the prior phase of this work, we had already modeled by means of finite element-based simulators the coalescence of two water drops in oil (as well as two oil drops in water).  Fundamental knowledge gained from such simulations, including coalescence times, can be and are already being utilized in industry to build process models based on population balances that can provide accurate estimates of the timescales of the process and provide a rational basis for designing and/or operating separators.

Computationally analyzing coalescence requires being able to model in one simulation fluid dynamical phenomena that occur over length scales that differ by five to six orders of magnitude, e.g. if the size of the drops is of the order of millimeters but the thickness of the thin film separating two approaching drops has to become of the order of ten nanometers before two drops can coalesce, this disparity in scales corresponds to a difference of five orders of magnitude in length.  Accurately carrying out such multi-scale simulations is beyond the capability of virtually all commercially available simulators.  Early simulation results have revealed that in the presence of inertia, two approaching drops can bounce multiple times due to inertia (an effect that cannot be accounted for in academic simulators based on boundary integral simulators) before finally coalescing, which can result in an order of magnitude increase in film drainage and coalescence times compared to situations when inertia is negligible.  Simulations in the presence of surfactants have shown that surface-active species can yet further retard coalescence, increasing film drainage and hence coalescence times by up to a factor of ten.  Clearly, engineering models and process simulators to design and/or operate separators cannot be reliable without input from fundamental simulation results obtained in this research program.

During the course of this work, based on input received from several industrial representatives, the research was extended to also model the collision and coalescence of two bubbles and a bubble with a wall.  Once again, the profound role of inertia in giving rise to bouncing and retarding coalescence was also captured using the new simulators.

• Publications: 3
• Presentations: 5

• PhD Students: 2
• MS Students: 3
• Undergraduate students: 3

Principal Investigator: Professor N.-H. Linda Wang - 2018

Project Title: Design Efficient and Inherently-Safe Separation Processes for Rare Earth Recovery and Purification

Accomplishments: The separation and purification of rare earth elements (REEs) is the most expensive and environmentally hazardous step in the production process of rare earth elements. Traditional processing of rare earth ores using liquid-liquid extraction requires thousands of mixer settlers that utilize toxic organic solvents along with acids and bases to achieve separation. Our group has developed a new alternative chromatographic method for REE purification, called ligand-assisted displacement (LAD) chromatography, which utilizes polymeric cation exchange resins and a ligand (EDTA) to perform separations of REE earth with high purity, high yield, and high productivity. This method reduces the processing volume by two orders of magnitude, compared to the conventional liquid-liquid extraction method. Thousands of mixer-settler units in the extraction method can be replaced by just 4 or 5 chromatography columns. Furthermore, toxic organic solvents are no longer required to produce pure rare earth products. EDTA is generally regarded as safe, and it can be recycled to prevent the generation of chemical waste.

The efficient LAD method is developed based on a major breakthrough in displacement chromatography theory over the past 70 years. Although the feasibility of ligand-assisted displacement chromatography for the separation of three REEs was first reported in the 1950’s, the design of this process has been based on trial and error. Since there are 20 or more parameters controlling the purity, yield, and productivity of LAD and each experimental trial can take weeks or months, it is unlikely to find the optimal design by trial and error. We developed for the first time a constant-pattern design method to find, for a desired product purity and yield, the optimal design to achieve the highest sorbent productivity and solvent efficiency.

There are two key elements in the design method. First, we developed a general correlation to enable one to design a displacement system to reach the constant-pattern state for systems with significant mass transfer effects (or non-ideal systems). Two key dimensionless groups were first developed by strategic combinations of the various parameters to reduce the multidimensional design space into two dimensions. Systematic rate model simulations were used to find the transition points from non-constant-pattern states to the constant-pattern states. The transition points were connected to form a curve, which divided the multi-dimensional design parameter space into two regions: the constant pattern region and the transient region. This curve was represented using a simple exponential correlation, which can be used to find the minimum column length to reach the constant pattern state for a given feed mixture and operating conditions (loading fraction and linear velocity). Operating in the constant pattern state using the minimum column length can maximize sorbent productivity and the yield of high purity product.

The second key element of the design method is a yield equation. To ensure specific product purity and yield can be achieved in a separation process, an equation for the yield of the target component was derived as a function of the key dimensionless groups controlling the constant pattern mass transfer zone length. One can achieve the desired yields and the constant pattern state by solving the minimum column length and the linear velocity from the yield equation and the general correlation. A selectivity weighted composition factor was developed to allow the design method to specify a minimum target yield for one or multiple components. The design method was verified using simulations and experiments for different target yields, ligand concentrations, and feed compositions. The targeted yields were achieved or exceeded in all cases tested. The minimum column length required to achieve a constant pattern-state and the productivity of LAD are limited by the lowest selectivity or by a minority component with a low concentration in the feed, even when it does not have the lowest selectivity. Sacrificing the yields of minor components can increase the total productivity significantly. The productivities achieved using this design method are 839 times higher than the literature LAD results for ternary separations with the same purity and similar yields.

• Publications: 3
• Presentations: 8
• Patents: 2 US Patent Application

• PhD Students: 1
• Undergraduate students: 7

Publications & Students

Principal Investigator: Professor Rajamani Gounder 2016 - 2022 funding

Research Publications (P2SAC Funding Acknowledged)

1. Vega-Vila, J. C., Gounder, R., “Quantification of Intraporous Hydrophilic Binding Sites in Lewis Acid Zeolites and Consequences for Sugar Isomerization Catalysis.” ACS Catalysis, 10 (2020) 12197-12211.
2. Bates, J. S., Gounder, R., “Clustering of Alkanols Confined in Chabazite Zeolites: Kinetic Implications for Dehydration of Methanol-Ethanol Mixtures.” Journal of Catalysis, 390 (2020) 178-183.
3. Harris, J. W., Bates, J. S., Bukowski, B. C., Greeley, J., Gounder, R., “Opportunities in Catalysis over Metal-Zeotypes Enabled by Descriptions of Active Centers Beyond their Binding Site.” ACS Catalysis, 10 (2020) 9476-9495.
4. Cordon, M. J., Vega-Vila, J. C., Casper, A., Huang, Z., Gounder, R., “Tighter Confinement Increases Selectivity of D-Glucose Isomerization Toward L-Sorbose in Titanium Zeolites.” Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 59 (2020) 19102-19107.
5. Bates, J. S., Bukowski, B. C., Greeley, J., Gounder, R., “Structure and Solvation of Confined Water and Water-Ethanol Clusters within Microporous Brønsted Acids and their Effects on Ethanol Dehydration Catalysis.” Chemical Science, 11 (2020) 7102-7122.
6. Bukowski, B. C., Bates, J. S., Gounder, R., Greeley, J., “Defect-Mediated Ordering of Condensed Water Structures in Microporous Zeolites.” Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 58 (2019) 16422-16426.
7. Bates, J. S., Bukowski, B. C., Harris, J. W., Greeley, J., Gounder, R., “Distinct Catalytic Reactivity of Sn Substituted in Framework Locations and at Defect Grain Boundaries in Sn-Zeolites.” ACS Catalysis, 9 (2019) 6146-6168.
8. Cordon, M. J., Hall, J. N., Harris, J. W., Bates, J. S., Hwang, S.-J., Gounder, R., “Deactivation of Sn-Beta Zeolites Caused by Structural Transformation of Hydrophobic to Hydrophilic Micropores During Aqueous-Phase Glucose Isomerization.” Catalysis Science & Technology, 9 (2019) 1654-1668.
9. Bregante, D. T., Johnson, A. M., Patel, A. Y., Ayla, E. Z., Cordon, M. J., Bukowski, B. C., Greeley, J., Gounder, R., Flaherty, D. W., “Cooperative Effects Between Hydrophilic Pores and Solvents: Catalytic Consequences of Hydrogen-Bonding on Alkene Epoxidation in Zeolites.” Journal of the American Chemical Society, 141 (2019) 7302-7319.
10. Cordon, M. J., Harris, J. W., Vega-Vila, J. C., Bates, J. S., Kaur, S., Gupta, M., Witzke, M. E., Wegener, E. C., Miller, J. T., Flaherty, D. W., Hibbitts, D. D., Gounder, R., “The Dominant Role of Entropy in Stabilizing Sugar Isomerization Transition States within Hydrophobic Zeolite Pores.” Journal of the American Chemical Society, 140 (2018) 14244-14266.
11. Harris, J. W., Liao, W.-C., Di Iorio, J. R., Henry, A. M., Ong, T.-C., Comas-Vives, A., Copèret, C., Gounder, R., “Molecular Structure and Confining Environment of Sn Sites in Single-Site Chabazite Zeolites.” Chemistry of Materials, 29 (2017) 8824-8837.
12. Vega-Vila, J. C., Harris, J. W., Gounder, R.*, “Controlled Insertion of Tin Atoms into Zeolite Framework Vacancies and Consequences for Glucose Isomerization Catalysis.” Journal of Catalysis, 344 (2016) 108-120.
13. Cybulskis, V. J., Harris, J. W., Zvinevich, Y., Ribeiro, F. H.*, Gounder, R.*, “A Transmission Infrared Cell Design for Temperature-Controlled Adsorption and Reactivity Studies on Heterogeneous Catalysts.” Review of Scientific Instruments, 87 (2016) 103101.
14. Wolf, P., Liao, W.-C., Ong, T. C., Valla, M., Harris, J. W., Gounder, R., van der Graaff, W. N. P., Pidko, E. A., Hensen, E. J. M., Ferini, P., Dijkmans, J., Sels, B., Hermans, I., Copèret, C.*, “Identifying Sn Site Heterogeneities Prevalent Among Sn-Beta Zeolites.” Helvetica Chimica Acta, 99 (2016) 916-927.
15. Harris, J. W., Cordon, M. J., Di Iorio, J. R., Vega-Vila, J. C., Ribeiro, F. H., Gounder, R.*, “Titration and Quantification of Open and Closed Lewis Acid Sites in Sn-Beta Zeolites that Catalyze Glucose Isomerization.” Journal of Catalysis, 335 (2016) 141-154.

Patents and Patent Applications

1. Gounder, R., Cordon, M. J., LaRue, A. M., Huang, Z., “Processes of Preparing Sorbose from Glucose.” U.S. Patent Application No. 15/297,707, Filed Feb. 10, 2020.
2. Gounder, R., Vega-Vila, J. C., Harris, J. W., “Processes for Producing Materials Having a Zeolite-Type Framework with Heteroatoms Incorporated Therein.” U.S. Patent No. 10414664, Issued Sep. 17, 2019.

Principal Investigator: Professor Zoltan Nagy - 2019

Research Publications

1. Su Q, Moreno M, Giridhar A, Reklaitis GV, Nagy ZK. A systematic framework for process control design and risk analysis in continuous pharmaceutical solid-dosage manufacturing. Journal of Pharmaceutical Innovation. 2017;12: 327-346. (2017 Baxter’s Young Investigator Award)
2. Su Q, Moreno M, Ganesh S, Reklaitis GV, Nagy ZK. Resilience and risk analysis of fault-tolerant process control design in continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing. Journal of Lost Prevention in the Process Industries. 2018; 55: 411-422.
3. Liu J, Su Q, Moreno M, Laird C, Nagy Z, Reklaitis G. Robust state estimation of feeding-blending systems in continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing. Chemical Engineering Research and Design. 2018; 134: 140-153.
4. Moreno M, Liu J, Su Q, Leach C, Giridhar A, Yazdanpanah N, O'Connor T, Nagy ZK, Reklaitis GV. Steady-state Data Reconciliation Framework for a Direct Continuous Tableting Line. Journal of Pharmaceutical Innovation. 2018. Accepted.
5. Moreno M, Ganesh S, Shah Y, Su Q, Gonzalez M, Nagy ZK, Reklaitis GV. Nonlinear steady-state data reconciliation for continuous tableting process. Journal of Pharmaceutical Science. 2018. In review.
6. Su Q, Ganesh S, Moreno M, Bommireddy Y, Gonzalez M, Reklaitis GV, Nagy ZK. A perspective on Quality-by-Control (QbC) in pharmaceutical continuous manufacturing. Computer & Chemical Engineering. 2018. In review. (P2SAC Funding Acknowledged)
7. Su Q, Bommireddy Y, Shah Y, Ganesh S, Moreno M, Liu J, Gonzalez M, Yazdanpanah N, O’Connor T, Reklaitis GV, Nagy ZK. Data reconciliation in the Quality-by-Design (QbD) implementation of pharmaceutical continuous tablet manufacturing. 2018. International Journal of Pharmaceutics. In review. (P2SAC Funding Acknowledged)

Research Presentations

1. Su Q, Moreno RM, Ganesh S, Giridhar A, Reklaitis GV, Nagy ZK. Fault-tolerant control design and risk MAP based resiliency analysis of continuous solid dose manufacturing. The AIChE Annual Meeting. San Francisco, USA, 2016.
2. Su Q, Moreno M, Reklaitis GV, Nagy ZK. Resilience and risk analysis of fault-tolerant control design in continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing. The Mary Kay O’Conner Process Safety Center International Symposium. College Station, TX, USA, 2017.
3. Su Q, Moreno M, Liu J, Ganesh S, Bommiready Y, Gonzalez M, Reklaitis GV, Nagy ZK, O’Connor T, Tian G. A fault-tolerant control design for real-time release in continuous manufacturing of solid dose using direct compaction. The AIChE Annual Meeting. Minneapolis, MN, USA, 2017.
4. Su Q, Bommireddy Y, Gonzalez M, Reklaitis GV, Nagy ZK. Variation and risk analysis in tablet press control for continuous manufacturing of solid dosage via direct compaction. The 13^th International Symposium on Process Systems Engineering-PSE 2018. San Diego, CA, USA, 2018.
5. Su Q, Bommireddy Y, Gonzalez M, Reklaitis GV, Nagy ZK. Variation and risk analysis in tablet press control for continuous manufacturing of solid dosage via direct compaction. The 15^th Annual Garnet E. Peck Symposium. West Lafayette, IN, USA, 2018.

Mentoring and Education Outcomes

Postdoctoral scholars: 1

1. Qinglin Su

PhD students: 1

1. Clair Liu

MS students: 3

1. Yash Dharmesh Shah
2. Alessandra Anderson-Lewis
3. Anushaa Nukala

Undergraduate students: 2

1. James McColloch
2. Dan Bao Le Vo
3. Nicholas Strat

Principal Investigator: Professor Osman A. Basaran

Research Publications

1. Garg, V., Kamat, P., Anthony, C. R., Thete, S. S., and Basaran, O. A.  2017 Self-similar rupture of thin films of power-law fluids on a substrate.  J. Fluid Mech. 826, 455-483.
2. Anthony, C. R., Kamat, P., Thete, S. S., Munro, J. P., Lister, J. R., Harris, M. T., and Basaran, O. A.  2017 Scaling laws and dynamics of bubble coalescence.   Phys. Rev. Fluids 2, 083601.
3. Sambath, K., Garg, V., Thete, S. S., Subramani, H. J., and Basaran, O. A., Inertial impedance in coalescence of colliding drops.  Manuscript to be submitted to J. Fluid Mech. (November 2018).
4. Garg, V., “Dynamics of thin films near singularities under the influence of non-Newtonian rheology.”  PhD thesis, Purdue University (defense date: 9 October 2018).

Research presentations

Invited industrial presentations/seminars:

1. Basaran, O. A., “Interplay between safety and assurance,” Eli Lilly Global Safety Conference, Indianapolis, Indiana, August 24, 2018.

Invited academic seminars:

1. Basaran, O. A., “Finite time singularities in film rupture and their role in drop/bubble impact and coalescence,” Department of Mechanical Engineering seminar, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, November 9, 2018.

Contributed conference presentations:

1. Garg, V. and Basaran, O A., “Bubble coalescence in a Newtonian fluid,” 70th Annual Meeting of the Division of Fluid Dynamics (DFD) of the American Physical Society (APS), November 19-21, 2017, Denver, Colorado.
2. Anthony, C., Harris, M. T., and Basaran, O. A., “The initial regime of drop coalescence,” 70th Annual Meeting of the Division of Fluid Dynamics (DFD) of the American Physical Society (APS), November 19-21, 2017, Denver, Colorado.
3. Garg, V., Sambath, K., Thete, S., Subramani, H. and Basaran, O. A., “The role of inertia in coalescence of drops in liquid-liquid emulsions,” 71st Annual Meeting of the Division of Fluid Dynamics (DFD) of the American Physical Society (APS), November 18-20, 2018, Atlanta, Georgia.

Mentoring and Education Outcomes

PhD students: 2

1. Sumeet Thete: Vishrut Garg did an internship at Air Products (AP, member of P2SAC’s SAB) and will be joining AP in November 2018.
2. Vishrut Garg: Sumeet Thete did internships at Shell (current P2SAC member) and GSK (future P2SAC member), and now works at AP.

Principal Investigator: Professor N.-H. Linda Wang - 2018

Research Publications

1. Harvey, D., Weeden, G., Wang, N.H.L., “Speedy standing wave design and simulated moving bed splitting strategies for the separation of ternary mixtures with linear isotherms.” J. Chromatogr. A, 1530 (2017) 152-170
2. Choi, H., Harvey, D., Ding, Y., Wang, N.H.L., “Key parameters controlling the development of constant-pattern isotachic trains of two rare earth elements in ligand-assisted displacement chromatography.” J. Chromatogr. A, 1563 (2018) 47-61
3. Choi, H., Harvey, D., Ding, Y., Wang, N.H.L., “Constant-pattern design method for the separation of ternary mixtures of rare earth elements using ligand-assisted displacement chromatography.” J. Chromatogr. A, (In Press).

Research Presentations

*denotes presenting author

1. Choi H.*, Harvey, D., Ling, L., Wang, N.H.L. “Ligand-Assisted Displacement Chromatography for Rare Earth Elements Separations.” AIChE Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, October 2017.
2. Harvey, D.*, and Wang, N.H.L., “Effects of Operating Parameters, Equipment Parameters, and Material Properties in Ternary Separations in SMB.” AIChE Meeting, Minneapolis, Mn, Oct 2017.
3. Choi. H.*, Harvey, D., Ding, Y., Wang, N.H.L. “Constant-Pattern Design Method for Separating Ternary Mixtures of Rare Earth Elements Using Ligand-Assisted Displacement Chromatography.” GSO Symposium, West Lafayette, IN, August 2018.
4. Harvey, D.*, Ding, Y., Choi, H., Wang, N.H.L., “Constant-Pattern Design of Displacement Chromatography.” AIChE Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, November 2018.
5. Choi, H. Harvey, D., Ding, Y., Wang, N.H.L., “Constant-Pattern Design Method for Separating Ternary Mixtures of Rare Earth Elements Using Ligand-Assisted Displacement Chromatography.” AIChE Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, October 2018.
6. N.-H. Linda Wang, “Simulated Moving Beds: Fundamental Principles, Enabling Technologies, and Applications,” Plenary lecture, CHEMPOR, Aveiro, Portugal, Oct. 2, 2018.
7. Harvey, D.*, Choi, H., Ding, Y., Wang, N.H.L., “Constant Pattern Design of Ligand-Assisted Displacement Chromatography for the Separation of Rare Earth Elements.” GSO Symposium, West Lafayette, IN, August 2018. (Poster)
8. Choi, H.*, Harvey, D.*, Wang, N.H.L., “Efficient, Economical, and Environmentally Beneficial Separation Technologies from Producing Rare Earth Elements and Other Valuable Products from Coal Ash.” GSO Symposium, West Lafayette, IN, August 2017. (Poster)

Patent Applications

1. Provisional patent application, 68073-01, entitled “Methods for designing an efficient chromatographic separation process,” filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on Oct. 28, 2017.
2. Provisional patent application, 62/588,685, entitled “Preparation of rare earth metals and other chemicals from industrial waste coal ash,”  filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on November 21, 2017. 

Mentoring and Education Outcomes

PhD students: 1

1. David Harvey

Undergraduate students: 7

1. Dylan Rolfes
2. Shabrina Nurfitriani
3. Chandani Patel
4. Nicholas Swanberg
5. Patrick Smith
6. Chee Mun Ng
7. Jeremy Weinstock