Details
Speaker: Bhavik Bakshi, PhD
Wrigley Professor, Arizona State University | Director, Center for the Future of Material Cycles | Emeritus Professor, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, The Ohio State University
Talk Title: Discovery and Design of Reaction, Process and Life Cycle Networks for Guiding Industry Transition to Sustainability
Abstract:
Businesses and nations are vulnerable to environmental and economic changes caused by depletion of natural resources, a changing climate, and ecological degradation. The chemical, material and energy industries contribute about 80% to global greenhouse gas emissions and are among more than 11,000 businesses that aim to reduce emissions toward net-zero (NZ). Businesses that can transform themselves to meet such goals in a sustainable and resilient manner will enhance their competitiveness, while simultaneously improving the quality of the environment and society for their stakeholders. To guide this transformation, we are developing methods, models, and tools to discover and design the most promising reaction, manufacturing process, and life cycle networks and transition pathways. Our Materials, Chemicals and Energy Systems (MatChES) model includes hundreds of current and emerging process technologies and products at scales ranging from global and national averages to facility-level spatial scales. It combines knowledge about material flows, chemistry, costs, and technology readiness levels. Our framework for guiding industry transitions can develop cost-effective transition roadmaps and identify technologies that deserve further attention. To enable innovation and guide experimental research, we use generative AI methods with retrosynthetic analysis for constructing circular reaction networks from the literature and knowledge of fundamental chemistry. A hierarchical screening approach discovers chemical reactions and networks that hold promise for meeting economic and environmental goals. Promising reactions are selected for further study by molecular simulation and reaction engineering research. Application to the global industry identifies renewable energy, chemical recycling and electrification to be promising for the transition to NZ. Application to polyethylene terepthalate (PET) bottles identifies novel reaction networks and promising reactions in need of further research.
Bio:
Bhavik Bakshi holds the Wrigley Professorship at Arizona State University with appointments in the School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, School of Sustainability and School of Complex Adaptive Systems. He directs the Center for the Future of Material Cycles at ASU, and is an emeritus professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at The Ohio State University. His research is developing systematic methods to ensure that engineering enables an effective transformation toward sustainability. This is resulting in novel solutions that respect nature’s limits, are socially just, and contribute to economic prosperity. He has published extensively, including a textbook on Sustainable Engineering. His many recognitions include the highest awards from the Computing, Environmental, and Sustainability divisions of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). His Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree is from the Institute of Chemical Technology in Mumbai, MS in Chemical Engineering Practice and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with a minor in Technology and Environmental Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.