These pages list the principal investigators and faculty associates who conduct research within the EMS Energy Institute. Detailed profiles for these researchers can be found at www.energy.psu.edu.
André Boehman, Professor
Energy and Mineral Eng.
Diesel fuels, diesel combustion, diesel emissions and emission control, alternative and advanced fuels, advanced fuels characterization techniques, soot nanostructure and reactivity, lubricant formulation and fuel-lubricant interactions, engine testing, emissions measurement, gasoline formulation, spark ignition combustion and emission control, flame materials interactions, and catalytic pollution control.
Caroline Burgess Clifford, Senior Research Associate
EMS Energy Institute
Coal liquefaction (thermal extraction and catalytic); conversion of lignin into fuels and valueadded materials/chemicals using water/gases/base reactions; thermal stability of jet fuel; and premium carbons from coal/petroleum based carbons by delayed coking and anthracite, to produce graphite, nuclear graphite, and anode carbons.
Yongsheng Chen, Assistant Professor
Energy and Mineral Eng.
Materials characterization, x-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (XANES/EXAFS), Raman, XPS, heterogeneous catalysis, catalyst sulfur poisoning mechanism, catalytic structure/ performance relationship, catalytic production of hydrogen, and solution chemistry.
Adri van Duin, Associate Professor
Mechanical and Nuclear Eng.
Atomstic-scale simulations of chemical reactions, combustion, coal chemistry, surface chemistry, catalysis, interface structure and chemistry, hydrogen storage, fuel cells, solar cells, high-energy materials, crack initiation and propagation, aqueous-phase chemistry, empirical force field development, quantum chemistry.
Derek Elsworth, Professor
Energy and Mineral Eng.
Computational mechanics, rock and fluid mechanics, and the mechanical and transport characteristics of fractured rocks with application to geothermal energy; the deep geological sequestration of radioactive wastes and CO2; the recovery of unconventional gas and volcano dynamics.
Semih Eser, Professor
Energy and Mineral Eng.
Metal surface effects on coke/deposit formation from petroleum derivatives; carbonization of petroleum feedstocks and mesophase development for needle coke manufacturing; microscopic, spectrometrics, and reactivity analysis of solid carbons; preparation and characterization of activated carbons; and molecular analysis of complex feedstocks.
Mark Fedkin, Research Associate
EMS Energy Institute
Electrochemical energy conversion systems, fuel cells, electrolytic processes in thermochemical cycles for hydrogen production, design of high temperature electrochemical cells and probes, design of hydrothermal reactors and processes, high temperature electrophoresis, and interfacial electrochemistry.
Joel M. Haight, Associate Professor
Energy and Mineral Eng.
Human factors eng., ergonomics and biomechanics, fire protection, and process optimization of complex industrial systems. Research dealing with these aspects of liquefied petroleum gas handling: sulfur recovery, hydrogen sulfide scrubbing, distillation, crude oil loading, waste and potable water treatment, ammonia refrigeration, batch specialty chemical reactions systems, and oil production and processing systems.
Michael Janik, Assistant Professor
Chemical Eng.
Computational chemistry for energy conversion processes and materials, catalysis, electrocatalysis, catalytic reforming, multiscale modeling, electrocatalysis of oxygen reduction, borohydride oxidation, SOFC direct hydrocarbon utilization, electrocatalysis in microbial fuel cells, and ionic polymer design for lithium-ion batteries.
Stephen Kirby, Research Associate
EMS Energy Institute
Diesel fuel formulation, combustion, and emissions analysis and control (gaseous and particulate); characterization of both conventional and alternative liquid and gaseous fuels; biofuel conversion and utilization.
Angela Lueking, Assistant Professor
Energy and Mineral Eng.
Hydrogen storage in carbon nanomaterials and metal-organic-frameworks, fundamentals of hydrogen spillover, synthesis and modification of carbon materials, energy storage, and applications of carbon materials for environmental engineering and sustainability.
Serguei Lvov, Professor
Energy and Mineral Eng.
Electrochemistry and electrochemical engineering; proton exchange and solid oxide fuel cells; low- and high-temp. electrolysis, electrochemical corrosion in high-temp. aqueous solutions, electrophoretic mobility of particulate materials in high-temp. water; and ion exchange membranes in fuel cells and electrolyzer, high-temp. pH/corrosion/ conductivity probes.
Xiaoliang Ma, Senior Research Associate
EMS Energy Institute
Adsorption/sorption for fuel processing; ultradeep desulfurization and denitrogenation of liquid hydrocarbon streams through adsorption, oxidation or hydrotreatment; CO2 separation from flue gas and fuel gas; clean up of biogas, landfill gas and syngas; and upgrading of coalliquid, heavy oil and biofuels for clean fuels.
Chris Marone, Professor
Geosciences
Rock deformation, friction, earthquake physics, fault mechanics and fluid flow in geologic materials. Studies include fracture permeability enhancement by dynamic stressing, granular jamming, fracture permeability, earthquake nucleation and dynamic rupture propagation, pressure solution, acoustic emissions, clay friction, and strength and stability of faults.
Jonathan Mathews, Assistant Professor
Energy & Mineral Eng.
Coal structure and coal behavior, including solvent swelling, pyrolysis, coal drying, and chemical and physical transitions; coal characterization by advanced and novel approaches; coal and char molecular modeling and use of molecular models; carbon dioxide sequestration in coal, experimental analyses and modeling.
Bruce Miller, Senior Research Associate
EMS Energy Institute
Coal and biomass utilization (combustion, gasification, pyrolysis), advanced fuels characterization techniques, solid fuel preparation and handling, hardware development and testing, ash deposition, and emissions characterization and control, including SO2, NOX, fine particulate matter, trace elements, and dioxin/furan TEQs.
Sharon Falcone Miller, Research Associate
EMS Energy Institute
Coal and biomass utilization (combustion, gasification, and pyrolysis); advanced fuels characterization techniques specializing in inorganic analysis; ash chemistry, formation and deposition; effect of ash on utilization processes; and emissions characterization in utilization systems including SO2, NOX, and inorganic hazardous air pollutants.
Gareth Mitchell, Research Associate
EMS Energy Institute
Coal utilization (carbonization, liquefaction, combustion, pyrolysis); petrographic characterization of coals, cokes and carbons; petrographic application for prediction of coal quality; evaluation of organic sediments; and petroleum exploration. Manage operations of the Penn State Coal Sample Bank and Database.
Joel Morrison, Research Associate
EMS Energy Institute
Energy sciences with early experience in mine overburden characterization, sorbent characterization for fluidized-bed boiler systems, and coal water slurry fuel preparation. Manage DOE/ NETL’s Gas Storage Technology and Stripper Well Consortia. Director of the West Penn Power Sustainable Energy Fund which invests in and deploys clean energy technologies in PA.
Kwadwo Osseo-Asare, Distinguished Professor
Materials Science and Eng.
Energy and Mineral Eng.
Aqueous processing. Materials synthesis and processing: particle design, nano-/micro-particle synthesis and assembly; separation science and tech.: hydrometallurgy, envtl. systems, solvent extraction, membrane separations; applied aqueous chemistry: interfacial and colloidal phenomena, surfactant science, microemulsions, semiconductor electrochemistry, thermodynamic modeling.
Paul Painter, Professor
Materials Science and Eng.
Spectroscopic studies coal structure and synthetic polymers; studies of coal/solvent interactions and coal swelling; sulfur dehydrogenation process applied to the carbonization of coal; removal of sulfur and mercury from coal using water treatment under critical or near-critical conditions; hydrogen bonding in coal and synthetic polymers; vibrational relaxation phenomena in macromolecular systems.
Sarma Pisupati, Associate Professor
Energy and Mineral Eng.
Computational fluid dynamic modeling of combustors, coal/biomass gasification, biomass based materials for emission reduction, gasification behavior of coals, oxy coal combustion fundamentals, and reduction of NOX and SO2 from stationary combustion sources.
Tim Ryan, Associate Professor
Anthropology
Research interests involve high resolution x-ray computed tomography, three-dimensional analysis of complex structures, finite element analysis, and scientific visualization.
Demian Saffer, Associate Professor
Geosciences
Understanding factors that control the distribution and magnitude of fluid pressure, particularly at active plate boundaries, and constraining the flow pathways and fluid budgets in these dynamic hydrologic and tectonic settings.
Robert Santoro, Guillet Professor
Mechanical Eng.
Combustion of coal-based fuel, soot formation in flames, liquid spray combustion, laser diagnostics, gas turbine combustion, combustion instability, chemical kinetics, rocket propulsion, and rocketbased combined cycle engines.
Harold Schobert, Professor
Energy and Mineral Eng.
Conversion of coal to clean liquid and gaseous fuels, carbon materials, or specialty chemicals; behavior of ash and slag in coal conversion and combustion systems; carbon capture and storage processes; chemical reactions of coals and other heavy hydrocarbons; and graphitic carbons.
Chunshan Song, Professor
Energy and Mineral Eng.
Dept. of Chemical Eng.
Catalysis and adsorption for fuel processing, desulfurization of fuels and biogas, reforming of hydrocarbons and biofuels for hydrogen production and fuel cells, shape-selective catalysis for chemicals, synthetic clean fuels from coal, heavy oil and biomass, and CO2 capture and utilization.
Randy Vander Wal, Associate Professor
Energy and Mineral Eng.
Developing metal oxide semiconductors for gas sensing and catalyst development for microreactors; carbon nanomaterials as lubricants for polymer composites and as anode material for Li ion batteries; flame synthesis of materials, laser based optical diagnostics and applying electron microscopic and spectroscopic techniques to carbonaceous particulate.
Xiaoxing Wang, Research Associate
EMS Energy Institute
Catalysis in reforming of liquid hydrocarbons (e.g. diesel fuel) for hydrogen production and fuel cells; gas cleanup and separation, including desulfurization of fuel gases (e.g. biogas) and CO2 capture from flue gas; and synthesis, characterization and evaluation of novel materials for above mentioned processes.
Yaw Yeboah, Professor
Energy and Mineral Eng.
Electrocatalysis in fuel cells; coal and biomass thermochemical conversion; combustion and emission control; catalysis in fuel processing/ conversion; oilfi eld scale formation; and flow visualization.