Process and Reaction Engineering

Description

The Process and Reaction Engineering program supports fundamental and applied research on:

• Rates and mechanisms of important classes of catalyzed and uncatalyzed chemical reactions as they relate to the design, production, and application of catalysts, chemical processes, biochemical processes, and specialized materials
• Chemical and biochemical phenomena occurring at or near solid surfaces and interfaces
• Electrochemical and photochemical processes of engineering significance or with commercial potential
• Design and optimization of complex chemical and biochemical processes
• Dynamic modeling and control of process systems and individual process units
• Reactive processing of polymers, ceramics, and thin films
• Interactions between chemical reactions and transport processes in reactive systems, and the use of this information in the design of complex chemical and biochemical reactors

The Process and Reaction Engineering program funds research in: chemical and biochemical reaction engineering, process design and control, and reactive polymer processing.  Within these three areas, research supported is focused as follows:

• Chemical Reaction Engineering - the area encompasses the interaction of transport phenomena and kinetics in reactive systems and the use of this knowledge in the design of complex chemical and biochemical reactors.  Focus areas include non-traditional reactor systems such as membrane reactors, microreactors, and reactions in supercritical fluids; novel activation techniques such as plasmas, acoustics, and microwaves; and multifunctional systems synthesis such as "smart" molecules, "chemical laboratory on a chip," "chemical factory on a chip" concepts, bioreactor design and bioprocess optimization, and fermentation technology.  The development of non-polluting sources of energy such as fuel cells, are also of interest.
• Process Design and Control - these areas encompass the design and optimization of complex chemical and biochemical processes and the dynamic modeling and control of process systems and individual process units.  High priority research topics include simultaneous product and process design, including bioprocesses; increased plant efficiency by algorithms that communicate across design levels and incorporate multiple criteria such as profitability, safety, operability, environmental sustainability, and societal concerns; and new sensor development to measure composition, product properties, morphology, etc.  Utilization of the latest in cyberinfrastructure resources including hardware at the tera- and peta-scale is encouraged.
• Reactive Polymer Processing - program scope is limited in the polymerization area to research that integrates synthesis (chemical reaction of monomers to form polymer chains or complexes) and processing steps (steps that orient and anneal polymer melts and affect the long range conformations and consequently their properties).  Typical projects are in the areas of emulsion and miniemulsion polymerization, reaction injection molding, etc.  Program focus is on addressing environmental concerns while producing tailor-made molecules and materials.

Available Funding

The duration of unsolicited awards is generally one to three years.  The average annual award size for the program is $100,000.  Any proposal received outside the announced dates will be returned without review.

Key Dates

Deadline: September 15, 2009  -  at 5:00 pm submitter's local time.

More Info + Submissions

Agency: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Expires: September 15, 2009

Submissions for this opportunity are not handled by RI STAC or RI EPSCoR. Please follow the link below for more information on the opportunity and how to submit a response.

›› More Info  or  Submit a Response