Abstract:  Thermochemical conversion of lignocellulosic biomass utilizes high temperature chemical decomposition to produce liquids via pyrolysis, solids via torrefaction, or gases via gasification which are subsequently converted to liquid biofuels or biochemicals.  However, these systems are comprised of thousands of molecules and millions of chemical reactions within three phases, making them intractable by conventional research techniques.  In this seminar, three new research techniques are introduced including PHASR (Pulse-Heated Analysis of Solid/Surface Reactions), the Universal Carbon Detector (UCD), and DRiSP (Diffuse Reflectance in situ Spectroscopy of Particles) which enable the first molecular-level measurements of the millisecond kinetics of complex reacting systems.

Bio:   Paul J. Dauenhauer is the DuPont Young Professor and Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Minnesota.  He serves as Co-Director of the Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation.  He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin Madison and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota.  He worked for the Dow Chemical Company as a Senior Research Engineer in Midland, MI, and Freeport, TX.  His work on catalysis and reaction engineering of renewable feedstocks has been highlighted by numerous awards including the DOE Early Career, NSF CAREER, the Rutherford Aris Excellence in Reaction Engineering Award, and the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award.  His is the co-founder of Sironix Renewables and inventor of the flagship technology for Activated Research Company.