Research Report 2010-2011 - College of Engineering - University of ...

Personnel
THEME 3 – ENERGY: PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING, TRANSPORT,
ELECTRICAL ENERGY AND UTILIZATION
In 2010-2011, energy research involved 25 faculty members in the College of
Engineering, 5 emeritus professors and 172 high quality personnel (93 graduate
students, of which 35 were Ph.D. students, 27 summer students, 13 postdoctoral
fellows, and 39 research engineers, research associates, and visiting scholars).
Funding
This past year, the energy group received $4.32 M, of which $1.12 M (26%) was from
NSERC, to pursue research in all four topics of the theme area, including: (1) energy
production (bio-energy from animal and agricultural wastes, clean coal technology,
alternative energy, solar, and wind); (2) energy processing (bio-ethanol, bio-diesel,
biomass conversion, bio-technology applications, and improved oil and gas processing);
(3) energy transport and distribution (multi-phase flow transport systems, oil and gas
transport, power grid and power reliability, and development of efficient transmission
and distribution systems); and (4) energy utilization and conservation (building science,
heat recovery systems, moisture control, and high-efficiency high voltage systems).
Results
During 2010-2011, the energy group contributed to progress in science and technology
by publishing 63 refereed journal papers, 19 conference papers, 20 technical reports,
and 1 book chapters; delivering 63 conference presentations, 1 keynote conference
presentation, and 13 invited lectures. In addition, 25 graduate students (5 Ph.D. and 19
M.Sc.) completed degrees in the energy theme area.
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering: The research under Biological
stream of this department includes the development of methods for the storage and
densification of biomass for delivery to the biorefinery. The research projects in the past
year in the Department included: 1) densification and processing of biomass as
feedstock for bioenergy and biochemicals; 2) modeling the collection of material for an
agricultural-based industry; 3) milling feed-grade cereal grains and pulses to be used as
feedstock for ethanol fermentation; and 4) development of novel micro-wave assisted
drying and extraction systems for bioprocessing. Research focus has been to reduce
energy usage during drying, baking, and heat treatment for value-added processing of
agricultural materials into food or industrial products. Novel processing technologies
have been investigated to extract biological material, improve food safety, and reduce
energy consumption during processing. Organizations funding this research include:
AAFC, Alberta Livestock Industry Development Fund, Alberta Odor Control, AUCC,
Theme 3 – Energy – Research Report 2010-11 Page 16