Jennifer Wilcox, Ph.D.
School of Earth Sciences
Stanford University

NOVEL CATALYSIS FOR MINIMIZING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF
COAL-TO-ELECTRICITY CONVERSION PROCESSES

With the United States generating over half of its electricity from coal combustion, and more than five-hundred 500 megawatt coal-fired power plants existing in the U.S. with an average age of 35 years, coal as a significant future energy source is inevitable. With imminent plans for CO₂ regulations, coal gasification in the U.S., China, India, and Australia may play a more prominent role. Due to the high pressure of the fuel gas stream from the gasification process, membrane technology becomes an attractive option for effective CO₂ separation and subsequent H₂ production. Within our lab, inorganic membranes are designed with high H₂ permeabilities. Structural properties and sulfur resistance of these membranes is also investigated. These catalytic materials are computationally designed using density functional theory-based energetics. In a similar manner, materials are also designed within our group for Fischer-Tropsch (FT) applications. Alloying traditional FT materials, such as cobalt and iron can potentially enhance CO activation while simultaneously leading to effective sulfur-resistant FT catalysts that can withstand the harsh conditions associated with coal-to-liquid processes. Additionally, coal-to-electricity conversions will be discussed since they dictate the mitigation strategies associated with pollutant scrubbing, from trace metals to CO₂. In total, our research efforts are aimed at minimizing the environmental effects associated with energy conversion from coal, the most abundant energy resource in the U.S.