Hybrid Membrane–Adsorption Process for Efficient Direct Air Capture
TS-073184 —
Direct air capture (DAC) technologies are essential for meeting global carbon‑reduction goals, yet most current systems remain limited by high energy demand, high cost, and materials with insufficient stability. Traditional solid‑sorbent DAC approaches require significant thermal input for reg…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Ho, W.S. Winston; Han, Yang; Huang, Yi-Chen
- Licensing Officer: Ashouripashaki, Mandana
Sustainable Ammonia and Hydrogen Production via Biomass-Fueled Chemical Looping
TS-072583 — The Need
The ammonia industry is a major contributor to global CO₂ emissions, primarily due to its reliance on fossil fuels for hydrogen production and the energy-intensive air separation process for nitrogen. With over 500 million tons of CO₂ emitted annually from ammonia synthesis, there is a …
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Fan, Liang-Shih; Joshi, Rushikesh Kishor; Kudva, Ishani Karki; Shinde, Shekhar
- Licensing Officer: Ashouripashaki, Mandana
Method to Identify Optimal Conditions for Continuous Fixed-Bed Chemical Looping
TS-072582 — The Need
Current hydrogen production methods, such as steam methane reforming, are energy-intensive and emit significant CO₂, posing challenges for industries seeking low-carbon solutions. There is a critical need for scalable, efficient processes that enable continuous hydrogen generation while a…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Fan, Liang-Shih; Akulwar, Falguni; Jawdekar, Tanay
- Licensing Officer: Ashouripashaki, Mandana
Integrated Chemical Looping System for CO2 Capture and High-Purity Syngas Generation
TS-072579 — The Need
Industrial processes that utilize syngas (hydrogen and carbon monoxide) often generate tail gas streams rich in CO₂ and other byproducts. Conventional carbon capture methods, such as acid gas removal units, are highly energy-intensive and reduce overall plant efficiency. There is a critic…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Fan, Liang-Shih; Joshi, Rushikesh Kishor; Kudva, Ishani Karki; Shinde, Shekhar
- Licensing Officer: Ashouripashaki, Mandana
Advanced Chemical Looping Strategies for Efficient Solid Fuel Utilization and Hydrogen Production
TS-072577 — The Need
The transition to sustainable energy is hindered by the limitations of current hydrogen production methods, which rely heavily on fossil fuels and struggle with efficient, low-emission processing of solid fuels like biomass and coal. Existing chemical looping systems face challenges such as…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Fan, Liang-Shih; Joshi, Rushikesh Kishor; Kudva, Ishani Karki; Shinde, Shekhar; Wang, Dawei
- Licensing Officer: Ashouripashaki, Mandana
Transforming Alum Sludge into a Sustainable Solution for Organic Contaminant Removal
TS-072576 — The Need
Drinking water utilities face mounting challenges in managing alum sludge, a byproduct of water treatment, as landfill options dwindle and disposal costs rise. Simultaneously, utilities must address increasingly stringent regulations for organic contaminants such as disinfection byproducts …
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Elliott, Dane; MacKay, Allison
- Licensing Officer: Randhawa, Davinder
High-Throughput Cellulose Acetate Nanofiber Mats for Oil Spill Remediation
TS-071746 — The Need
Oil spills continue to pose significant threats to aquatic environments, public health, and economies worldwide. Existing sorbent technologies struggle to efficiently capture thin oil sheens and often lack buoyancy, limiting their effectiveness in real-world conditions. There is a critica…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Gouma, Pelagia "Perena"
- 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
Novel Operational Strategies for Fixed-Bed Redox Chemical Looping Systems
TS-070630 — The Need
Fixed bed chemical looping systems offer operational simplicity and minimal attrition compared to moving bed systems, but they suffer from transient behaviors like feed breakthrough, uneven solid conversion, and coking. These issues compromise efficiency, scalability, and product consistenc…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Fan, Liang-Shih; Joshi, Rushikesh Kishor; Sunny, Ashin
- Licensing Officer: Ashouripashaki, Mandana
Self-Powered In-Pipe UV Water Treatment System
TS-070306 — The Need
In many under-resourced or remote regions, access to safe drinking water is compromised by the lack of reliable electricity needed to power standard point-of-use (POU) treatment systems, such as UV disinfection units. Where clean water infrastructure is absent or unreliable, communities fac…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Hull, Natalie; Belloni, Clarissa; Ma, Daniel; Nassar, Georgio
- Licensing Officer: Randhawa, Davinder
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
Method of repurposing spacecraft dust as an agricultural material
TS-067535 — The Need
In future decades, more people than ever will be spending time in space. Current crop production systems onboard spacecraft are not self-sustainable, relying on fertilizer and substrate materials that must be launched from Earth. These resupply missions can cost thousands of dollars per po…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Nastasi, Nicholas; Dannemiller, Karen
- Licensing Officer: Ashouripashaki, Mandana
Color Correction System for Accurate Colorimetric Smartphone Measurements
TS-066957 — The Need
Colorimetric tests and remote image analysis are used in a wide range of industrial and medical applications. Digital image-based measurements made with smartphones are a promising platform to quantify colors at low cost, but suffer from inconsistency and errors caused by lens quality, sen…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Dannemiller, Karen; Panescu, Jenny; Qin, Rongjun; Song, Shuang; Zhang, Guixiang
- Licensing Officer: Ashouripashaki, Mandana
Rare Earth Element Trap-Extract-Precipitate (REE-TEP) Process
TS-061849 — The Rare Earth Element Trap-Extract-Precipitate (REE-TEP) process is a cost-effective and environmentally benign approach to recover rare earth elements (REEs) from acidic waste streams. It involves beneficial reuse
of readily available industrial by-products and a naturally occurring organic ligand resulting in REE concentrate that can be commercially processed to produce rare earth oxides (REOs).
The Need
Rare earth elements are critical components of many emerging technologies. Because conventional sources of REEs in the United States are limited, identifying alternative sources is important. Many mining and industrial waste streams have elevated concentrations of REEs and can be potential…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Cheng, Chin-Min "Jason"; Bielicki, Jeffrey "Jeff"; Butalia, Tarunjit; Lenhart, John
- Licensing Officer: Randhawa, Davinder
Amine-Containing Facilitated Transport Membranes For Carbon Dioxide/Nitrogen Separation
TS-041856 — Novel membrane technology utilizing active transport for carbon dioxide/nitrogen separation. The membrane exhibits high permeance and selectivity
Improved separation of by-product carbon dioxide from nitrogen in power plants and industrial exhaust systems would considerably decrease greenhouse gas emissions. The current method of separation that is most often used in industry is amine absorption, however this method is costly, has a large c…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Ho, W.S. Winston; Han, Yang
- Licensing Officer: Ashouripashaki, Mandana
Oxidatively Stable Membranes for Gas Separations
TS-015228 — Carbon dioxide capture from synthesis gas or hydrogen and methane containing mixtures
Industrial processes, such as cement, steel, pulp and paper, chemicals and natural gas processing, are significant emitters of carbon dioxide, which accounts for nearly 25% of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions. The current standard for carbon capture membranes are amine-based, which are susc…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Ho, W.S. Winston; Salim, Witopo; Vakharia, Varun
- Licensing Officer: Ashouripashaki, Mandana
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
Carbon Dioxide Capture
TS-015004 — Modified zeolite Y membranes for high-performance CO2 separation.
Supported zeolite films/membranes with controlled microstructures are important in applications as diverse as catalysis, ion-exchange, nuclear waste disposal, light harvesting devices, chemical sensing, and gas separations. Separation by zeolite membranes are controlled by two factors. The first i…
- College: College
of
Engineering
(COE)
- Inventors: Shqau, Krenar; Dutta, Prabir; Verweij, Hendrik; White, Jeremy
- Licensing Officer: Dahlman, Jason "Jay"