The Energy Institute kicks off its annual Energy Exchange series this fall, featuring speakers from our very own College of EMS, as well as speakers from industry and other research institutions. Topics will include the future of combustion power generation, x-ray microtomography imaging, the life cycle and environmental impact of steel and a variety of other high quality presentations from the energy field.
Jacqueline O’Connor, Ph. D, set the series on the right track with her presentation “Gas Turbine Operability: A Hot-Section Perspective.” O’Connor, an assistant professor and researcher within the department of mechanical and nuclear engineering, exclaimed, “the role of gas power in power generation is changing.” She went on to discuss an overview of the current state of combustion engine power generation, described the current dilemmas facing the industry and, via her research, prescribed potential solutions to these problems. O’Connor’s research boiled down to one fundamental question: is the flame inside the combustion engine where we think it is? Through her research, O’Connor has found different methods to increase efficiency inside the gas turbines, essentially decreasing emissions and costs.
O’Connor will not be the only speaker to wow the crowd this year. The next speaker in the Energy Exchange series presented on Thursday, October 1. Torsten Clemens, a Senior Reservoir Engineering Adviser for OMV Exploration & Production GmbH, will discuss the use of polymer flooding as a new method for increasing oil recovery in oil fields.
Following Torsten was Zuleima Karpyn, Associate Professor of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, Quentin E. and Louise L. Wood Faculty Fellow in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineernig, College of Earth and Mineral Science, presenting “Engineering Applications of X-Ray Microtomography Imaging”.
Join us on the following dates to hear and learn from some of the greatest minds in energy today:
Wednesday, November 4: “Energy and Steel: A Life Cycle Perspective”, Brandie M. Sebstian, LCACP, Life Cycle Assessment Manager, Steel Recycling Institute (a unit of American Iron and Steel Institute)
Wednesday, November 18: “Energy Analysis”: Mort Webster, Associate Professor of Energy Engineering, John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
Wednesday, December 2: “Characterization of Coal and Biomass Gasification Behavior in a High Pressure, High Temperature Entrained Flow Reactor”, Sarma V. Pisupati, Professor of Energy and Mineral Engineering, Undergraduate Program Chair of Energy Engineering, Director of Online Education, John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.