Propagation-Based Fault Detection and Sensor Optimization for Complex Industrial Systems
TS-072175 — The Need
Modern industrial and energy systems are increasingly complex, making timely fault detection and discrimination critical for safety, reliability, and cost control. Existing fault diagnosis methods often struggle with transient states, require extensive historical data, or lack interpretabil…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Smidts, Carol; Diao, Xiaoxu; Li, Boyuan
- Licensing Officer: Giles, David
Mesoporous Support-Immobilized Metal Oxide Nanoparticles for High-Purity Syngas Generation
TS-071809 — The Need
Syngas is an essential intermediate for producing high-value chemicals such as gasoline, methanol, and dimethyl ether. Current industrial methods (steam reforming, autothermal reforming, and partial oxidation) are energy-intensive, costly, and environmentally burdensome. Moreover, these met…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Fan, Liang-Shih; Cheng, Zhuo; Liu, Yan; Qin, Lang
- Licensing Officer: Ashouripashaki, Mandana
Redox Chemical Looping System for CO2 Capture and Syngas Generation
TS-071808 — The Need
Industrial syngas and hydrogen production processes are highly energy-intensive and contribute significantly to carbon emissions due to reliance on fossil fuel combustion. Existing methods require multiple unit operations, resulting in low efficiency and high operational costs. There is a c…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Fan, Liang-Shih; Baser, Deven Swapneshu; Cheng, Zhuo; Shah, Vedant
- Licensing Officer: Ashouripashaki, Mandana
Stable Phase Metal Oxide Syngas Generation without Molecular Oxygen
TS-071806 — The Need
Current syngas production from methane relies on energy-intensive air separation units (ASUs) to supply molecular oxygen, driving up capital and operating costs. Conventional catalysts also suffer from carbon deposition at low oxidant concentrations, limiting process flexibility and efficie…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Fan, Liang-Shih; Baser, Deven; Cheng, Zhuo; Kathe, Mandar; Kong, Fanhe "Frank"; Nadgouda, Sourabh; Tong, Andrew
- Licensing Officer: Ashouripashaki, Mandana
Reversible Shape-Changing Amorphous Polymers via Liquid Crystal Templating
TS-071745 — The Need
Current two-way shape memory polymers (SMPs) require expensive, crystalline or liquid crystalline monomers and complex synthesis, limiting their use in cost-sensitive and biocompatible applications. Widely used amorphous polymers (e.g., polystyrene, PMMA) are inexpensive and common in con…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Wang, Xiaoguang "William"; Dupont, Robert; Zhang, Meng
- Licensing Officer: Randhawa, Davinder
Modular Unit for Liquid Fuel Production from Natural Gas
TS-070633 — The Need
Stranded natural gas (SNG), a by-product of crude oil extraction, is often flared due to the high cost and logistical challenges of pipeline transport. Approximately 15 tons/day of SNG is flared from one oil well. This results in significant greenhouse gas emissions and wasted energy. With …
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Fan, Liang-Shih; Gun, Sudeshna; Jawdekar, Tanay; Joshi, Anuj; Kumar, Sonu; Lu, Cong-Wen; Paulson, Joel
- Licensing Officer: Ashouripashaki, Mandana
Fixed-Bed Redox Chemical Looping for Clean Energy Syngas and Hydrogen
TS-070629 — The Need
Current industrial processes for hydrogen and syngas production—such as steam methane reforming and autothermal reforming—are energy-intensive, prone to catalyst coking, and economically viable only at large scales. These methods also struggle with CO₂ emissions and integratio…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Fan, Liang-Shih; Joshi, Anuj; Joshi, Rushikesh Kishor; Kumar, Sonu; Sunny, Ashin
- Licensing Officer: Ashouripashaki, Mandana
Next-Gen 3D Nanostructures for Solar-Powered Chemical Processes
TS-070030 — The Need
Current photocatalytic technologies often require UV light for activation, limiting their efficiency and applicability under natural sunlight. Additionally, the short lifespan of photogenerated electrons and holes in TiO₂ nanoparticles hinders effective utilization. There is a need for a…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Gouma, Pelagia "Perena"
- Licensing Officer: Randhawa, Davinder
Novel Efficient Butanol Production without CO2 Emission
TS-068795 —
The Need
Renewable energy resources have gained global interest due to environmental issues, climate change, oil price and supply volatility, and decreasing nonrenewable fossil fuel sources. Butanol is a biofuel alternative that can provide a higher heating value, lower volatility, polarity, cor…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Yang, Shang-Tian "ST"
- Licensing Officer: Randhawa, Davinder
Methods to produce high purity tritium gas
TS-067793 — The technology is a device and method for producing high purity tritium gas by irradiating a lithium composition within a gas cell that selectively allows tritium to diffuse while blocking other byproducts, ensuring efficient and direct collection
of pure tritium without extensive purification. This system is designed to enhance the purity, efficiency, and scalability
of tritium production for various industrial and research applications.
The production of high purity tritium gas is critical for applications in nuclear fusion, radioluminescent devices, and scientific research. Current methods for tritium production often result in contaminants like helium and other gases, requiring additional purification processes that are costly …
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Cao, Lei Raymond; Van Zile, Matthew
- Licensing Officer: Ashouripashaki, Mandana
Highly Efficient Light Olefin Selectivity & Production Process
TS-065422 — Light olefins, such as ethylene and propylene, are essential building blocks in the petrochemical industry and have a wide range
of uses in various applications. The most common uses for olefins include polymers, chemical intermediates, solvents, rubber, and nanomaterials, among others.
Although Light olefins are used globally in many products, the catalytic processes to produce them are energy intensive with a large carbon footprint and the production of greenhouse gases and water pollution. As a result, substantial efforts are being made in the industry to develop more sustain…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Ozkan, Umit; Gunduz, Seval; Kim, Jaesung
- Licensing Officer: Randhawa, Davinder
Heteroatom doped Carbon Nanostructures for Electrocatalytic Chlorine and Bromine Production
TS-062692 —
Chlorine is used in production of many products, such as many polymers like polyvinyl chloride, polyurethanes and chloroaromatics. It is also used extensively in pharmaceuticals, pesticides, fiber optics, hypochlorite bleaches, and other commodities. However, the current method of producing chlori…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Ozkan, Umit; Jain, Deeksha; Mamtani, Kuldeep
- Licensing Officer: Zinn, Ryan
Activity Enhancement of Perovskite-Type Cathode Material
TS-044391 — A new ammonia production technology using an oxygen ion conductive solid oxide electrolyte cell (SOEC) reactor and a novel cathode material.
Ammonia is utilized in a variety of industries with 80% of produced ammonia used for fertilizer production. Most commercial ammonia is produced using the Haber-Bosch (HB) process, which requires high temperatures and pressures, resulting in high operational/production costs. The process typically us…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Ozkan, Umit; Deka, Dhruba Jyoti; Gunduz, Seval
- Licensing Officer: Zinn, Ryan
N-Proanol and Propionic Acid Producing Propionibacteria
TS-037515 — New method
of producing n-propanol and propionic acid using a metabolically engineered propionibacteria.
Propionibacteria are well-known for their various industrial applications including the manufacturing of Swiss cheese, vitamin B12, and propionic acid. However, not much is known about their genetics, and few studies have been conducted utilizing them for metabolic engineering, mostly in vitamin B…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Yang, Shang-Tian "ST"; Ammar, Ehab
- Licensing Officer: Panic, Ana
Low temperature oxidation of carbon monoxide on Co/ZrO2 catalysts
TS-015047 — Catalytic conversion
of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide.
Air pollution is a serious global problem and has received a great deal of attention over the last few decades. Industrial plants and automobiles release a significant amount of pollution into the atmosphere, principally in the form of unburned or partially burned fossil fuels, carbon monoxide, ni…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Ozkan, Umit; Holmgreen, Erik; Yung, Matthew
- Licensing Officer: Zinn, Ryan
Synthesis of Hydrogen Gas
TS-014807 — Production
of Hydrogen gas using economical and environmentally friendly catalysts.
Stable and reusable catalysts improve the efficiency of industrial scale material production. However, hexavalent Chromium (VI) and other common catalysts are known to cause various health effects. Furthermore, there are substantial risks associated with greater concentrations of chromium in the w…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Ozkan, Umit; Natesakhawat, Sittichai; Wang, Xueqin; Zhang, Lingzhi
- Licensing Officer: Zinn, Ryan