Conference Session #A12
Paper #2074
PALM METHYL ESTER: IMPROVING EMISSIONS AND REVOLUTIONIZING
THE FUTURE OF FUELS
Hannah Wardo (hbw@pitt.edu) and Gabrielle Campbell (gac31@pitt.edu)
chemicals into the air which is commonly known as smog.
Smog is particularly a problem in urban regions and has
even caused many problems in air quality in the great city
of Pittsburgh. In 2008 it was deemed as “America’s Most
Polluted City” [3]. Smog is a mixture of greenhouse gases.
Figure 1 below lists the greenhouse gases.
Abstract- As the years progress and fossil fuel supplies
deplete, we are faced with the need for an alternative
source of fuel. Viable alternatives to fossil fuels are
biodiesels, specifically the biodiesel palm methyl ester.
Palm methyl ester is currently being produced and further
developed by creating and testing new methods of
production. This paper will focus on palm methyl ester by
describing new methods of production for this biodiesel as
well as comparing the new methods of production to the
old methods. The effects that palm methyl ester has on
engines and the environment will also be included.
Information will be provided on the usage of this biodiesel
in various countries, focusing on Malaysia, due to their
large involvement in palm oil-based research and
development [1]. In addition this paper will look towards
the future and question whether this form of biodiesel could
someday be used as regularly as fossil fuels are today. The
paper will examine the high production costs of palm methyl
ester and see if the new methods being researched can be
used to reduce the cost of production to make this new
alternative profitable.
FIGURE 1
GREENHOUSE GASES [2]
Key Words- Batch Processing, Continuous Production,
Diesel engine, Malaysia, Palm Methyl Ester (PME),
Transesterification,
Nitrogen oxide is the major byproduct of combustion of
machines. This compound can eventually turn into nitrogen
dioxide then to acid rain. In addition nitrogen dioxide
(NOx) reacts with highly reactive organic compounds found
in the air to create ozone. Ozone is one of the most harmful
pollutants and can have damaging effects on the
environment [2]. The need for an alternative to fossil fuels
has led to intensive research on biodiesels, one of these
biodiesels being Palm methyl ester. Palm methyl ester has
been recently researched and has presented data that proves
palm methyl ester can be an effective alternative fuel.
THE NEED FOR AN ALTERNATIVE FUEL
As gas prices continue to rise and pollution becomes more
of a problem for the heath of human beings and the
environment, the need for an alternative energy source
becomes a major issue. The main energy sources used at
this time are fossil fuels which occupy almost 80 percent of
all the energy used globally [2]. Although there is some
evidence of fossil fuels improving people’s lives there is
more evidence of fossil fuels ruining and hurting people’s
lives.
The process of retrieving the fossil fuels from the ground
causes many problems to people’s well-being and their
environment. Some of the causes of the problems include
but are not limited to oil spills; transportation, which
requires even more fossil fuels; and accidents on the
extraction sites. It is proven that the drilling of oil causes
the sinking of bodies of water and provokes earthquakes
and eruptions of mud volcanoes near the drilling sites.
Emissions from machines that use fossil fuels create a huge
problem for human life and the environment. One of these
problems is that combustion outputs a mixture of harmful
WHAT IS PALM METHYL ESTER?
Palm methyl ester (PME) is a biodiesel produced from
esterification of crude palm oil and the mixing of methanol.
For one mole of methanol, three moles of palm oil are
added to produce palm methyl ester [4]. The chemical
formula for Palm Methyl Ester can be seen below.
R-COO-CH3
Palm methyl ester is the most promising alternative to
diesel fuel because it is the most similar to diesel fuel, but
has more environmental benefits and requires no
modifications on diesel engines. Palm oil is also a likely
Swanson School of Engineering
April 14, 2012
University of Pittsburgh
Twelfth Annual Freshmen Conference
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Hannah Wardo
Gabrielle Campbell
alternative because palm trees have a very high oil yield
compared to other oil producing crops. A country that has
recognized its encouraging future in the biodiesel sector is
Malaysia.
type of biofuel. It required the mandatory mixing of this
biofuel with regular petroleum diesel for industries. In
addition it required all oil palm producing plants to have a
license to do so. Eventually the licensing process was taken
over by the International Trade and Industry.
Unlike the International Trade and Industry group, the
Malaysian Biodiesel Association is the only agency that is
interested in the well-being and future developments in the
biodiesel industry. The Malaysia Biodiesel Association has
been pushing for a nationwide B5 mandate on commercial
palm methyl ester. B5 mandate is the mandatory blending
of five percent palm methyl ester with 95 percent
petroleum diesel [1]. However, the cost of crude palm oil
is currently too high to make the production of biodiesels
profitable. This causes the mandate to be constantly
pushed back until it is shown to be comparable to
petroleum diesel in price. A way of lowering the price of
palm methyl ester is to research and develop new ways of
production. The current process being used is batch
transesterification, and presently there is thorough research
being done to improve this process, possibly through
continuous production.
Malaysia: The Growing Power behind Palm Methyl
Ester
Malaysia’s large oil palm cultivation covers 14% of the
total area of their country. This allows Malaysia to be the
world’s largest exporter and second largest producer of
crude palm oil [1]. Due to their large amount of crude palm
oil they have invested much time and research into
developing this biodiesel further. A summarized timeline
of Malaysia’s advancements with biodiesel can be seen in
Figure 2.
BATCH TRANSESTERIFICATION
Palm methyl ester is currently produced by a process known
as one or two- step batch transesterification [5].
Transesterification is an equilibrium reaction where an ester
is produced into another ester through the exchange of an
alkoxy moiety (-OR’) [5]. This leads to creating monoalkyl
esters of vegetable oils; in this case, it leads to producing
monoalky esters of palm oil. The reaction rate is increased
by the addition of an acid or base catalyst. There are various
types of catalysts used in transesterification.
Acidic Catalyzed Batch Tansesterification
The first type is an acidic catalyst. The advantage to this
catalyst is that it outputs a high yield of biodiesel and the
disadvantage to this catalyst is that it is very costly and is
slower than the alkaline catalyst method, with reaction
times ranging from three to 48 hours [6]. This type of
transesterification requires a high alcohol to oil molar ratio
to obtain high percent yields of the products.
FIGURE 2
MALAYSIA’S TIMELINE OF PME DEVELOPMENT [1]
In 2006 Malaysia launched the “National Biofuel
Policy” which was supposed to bring long term benefits to
the country and its biofuel industry. Some of the benefits
included reducing the usage and dependency on fossil fuels,
creating a stable price for crude palm oil, reducing
greenhouse emissions, and making the palm oil industry
boom. Following this national policy, Malaysia
implemented “The Malaysian Biofuel Industry Act” which
had a main goal to help further development in the biofuel
industry. The act regulated palm methyl ester and no other
Alkaline Catalyzed Batch Transesterification
The second type of catalyst is an alkaline catalyst which has
a 99 percent yield of biodiesel after only two hours of
reaction. The most common alkaline catalyst is sodium and
potassium hydroxide. The transesterification process while
using an alkaline catalyst begins when the catalyst is
dissolved into an alcohol, which is methanol, by continuous
stirring in a small reactor vessel. Then the palm oil is
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Gabrielle Campbell
mixed with the combined methanol-alkaline catalyst
mixture. Finally, the mixture is stirred forcefully for two
hours. One disadvantage to these catalysts is that there is a
formation of calcium foam at the initial stage of
transesterification. This calcium foam reduces the yield of
the biodiesel and makes it very difficult for product
separation between the ester and the glycerol [7]. Figure 3
shows the batch transesterification process when a basic
alkaline process is used.
alkaline catalyst reactions, which have FFA interference.
This interference is what leads to the calcium build up that
makes it hard to obtain the produced palm methyl ester in
the solution.
The Downfalls of Batch Transesterfication
FIGURE 3
BATCH TRANSESTERIFICATION USING AN ALKALINE
CATALYST [8]
CONTINUOUS PRODUCTION: AN ALTERNATIVE
Batch transesterification has numerous downfalls which
have led to more developments for continuous processing.
A downfall of this reaction is that since it’s an equilibrium
process and a reversible reaction only a certain amount of
the product can be made without removing the product
made before that batch. Also batch processes require large
reactor volumes which lead to a high cost of raw materials
needed to create the reactors. In turn this causes a domino
effect and everything associated with this process also rises
in price. Plus these large reactor volumes require large startup and shut-down energy expenditures which lead to major
deviations in the efficiency of this process. A significant
downfall to batch transesterification is that it is only meant
for small scale production where they do not work around
the clock. If palm methyl ester is to compete with diesel
fuel it must be able to be produced at high volumes, which
batch transesterifcation cannot provide.
However,
continuous production can.
The last type of catalyst is the lipase based catalyst, also
referred to as an enzyme catalyst, which yields 95% of
biodiesel after 105 hours of reaction. Although these
catalysts are very slow and more expensive, these catalysts
have the benefit of allowing the reaction to proceed at room
temperature. Another benefit is that glycerol produced
using this method can easily be obtained.
It is obvious that improvements have to be made to the
batch transesterifcation way of producing palm methyl ester
for it to be cost efficient and be competitive with petroleum
diesel. Continuous production could be an alternative to
batch transesterification. Developed in the early 1990s in
Germany, specifically for biodiesel production, continuous
processing allows companies on an industrial scale to
produce biodiesel. Continuous production is a process that
is operated 24 hours a day, and seven days a week.
Semiannual or annual inspections are usually performed,
which is usually the only day that production is shut down.
Overall Analysis on Catalyzed Batch Transesterification
Continuous Transesterification
Through evidence it has been shown that alkaline catalyst
are the best catalysts to use at this time due to the short
amount of time needed to complete the process and the
cheapness of the catalyst used in this type of
transesterification. However, if more research was involved
in trying to better the ways of producing palm methyl ester,
there could be advancements in the other forms of
transesterification, such as transesterification using acidic
catalysts. If it was possible to lower the cost of acidic
catalyst, or to develop a cheaper acidic catalyst, then it
would be a better method of producing palm methyl ester
and in general any type of biodiesel. This is because if an
acidic catalyst is used, free fatty acids, also known as FFAs,
do not interfere with the overall reactions, unlike the
In 2000 the first research of its kind was done to develop a
method of continuous transesterification of palm oil to
produce palm methyl ester. This was done by using a
continuous stirred-tank reactor (CSTR) and pumps, which
supplied the palm oil and catalyst and also removed the
produced palm methyl ester.
If continuous transesterification was used to produce
palm methyl ester, there would be many benefits. This
includes the reduction in the size of the reactor volume and
the reduction of the cost. It is also easier to control product
quality and has more consistency in the created product.
Lipase Based Catalyzed Batch Transesterification
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Gabrielle Campbell
membrane; the highest yield for palm methyl ester using
this reactor was 95 percent [9].
Improving continuous transesterification using these
methods could help launch the production of palm methyl
ester into a larger scale. By having a larger scale of
production of palm methyl ester while decreasing the cost
of production could help make PME a competitive fuel
option.
Ways to Improve Continuous Transesterification
Production
If continuous transesterification production is improved, it
could lead to a way for biofuels such as palm methyl ester
to be produced on a large scale, making it easier to compete
with petroleum diesel. Research has been done more
recently on ways to improve continuous transesterification.
Some of the most promising research was conducted in
2010 on modifications to the reactors and mixers used in
the continuous production process.
PETROLEUM DIESEL VS. PME
A major benefit of Palm Methyl Ester is that is essentially
requires very little to no modifications on the diesel engine.
In addition, PME has been shown to obtain the highest
energy content per volume compared to that of other
alternatives fuels. Studies have been thoroughly conducted
to prove why PME is a viable alternative based on these
benefits.
Ways to Improve Continuous Transesterification
Processing: Micro-Channel Reactors
The first modification was to replace the normal reactors
with micro-channel reactors.
Micro-channel reactors
improve upon the efficiency of heat and mass transfer, by
utilizing high surface area/ volume ratio and short diffusion
distances [9].
The specific type of continuous
transesterification studied using micro-channel reactors was
transesterification using an alkaline based catalyst, which is
the most commonly used type of transesterification both in
batch and continuous processes. When a zigzag microchannel reactor was used at a temperature of 56 degrees
Celsius and used for 28 seconds the yield of palm methyl
ester was recorded to reach 99.5 percent [9]. When
compared to the original reactor used in the continuous
process the use of the micro-channel reactor led to less
energy being used.
Light-Duty Diesel Engines with PME
A study was done in 2011 on replacing diesel fuel with
blends of diesel fuel and palm methyl ester in light-duty
diesel engines. A single-cylinder, naturally aspirated, fourstroke direct injection 347 cc diesel test engine was used to
conduct the experiments [10]. The experiments were
divided into two sections which were observing engine
operational speed and determining emissions.
The
experiment involved observing engine operation speed when
three types of fuels were used. These fuels included fossil
diesel fuel, 100 percent PME, and B50, which is a mixture
of half PME and half diesel. All three of these fuels were
tested under various conditions of speed and weight exerted
on the engine. Responses from the engine that were carefully
examined were exhaust temperature, specific fuel
consumption, efficiency of the charge input and output of
the cylinders, the molar fuel to air ratio, exhaust gas
emissions and cloudiness of smoke emitted.
The results of the first section of the experiment
when comparing 100 percent palm methyl ester to fossil
diesel concludes that the three types of fuel used perform at
similar trends. In all three types of fuel nitric oxide was
shown to increase with speed as more fuel was burned. The
general trend is that more time for combustion is given
when a maximum temperature is used and the engine
sustains a high load while performing at low speeds. The
results for volumetric efficiency show that as engine speed
increases volumetric efficiency weakens because a shorter
amount of time is available to get air to the engine. One test
that shows that palm methyl ester is a greener alternative to
conventional diesel fuel was the smoke opacity test or the
test to determine the cloudiness of the smoke emitted. It
shows that the smoke opacity level for diesel fuel is much
higher than that of fuel using palm methyl ester. Figure 4
illustrates these results.
Other Reactors Which Improve Continuous
Transesterification
Another modified reactor that was tested was an oscillatory
reactor. This reactor improved the mixing process by
refining radical mixing and the transport process. This was
done by both independently and controlled oscillatory
motion. It was recorded that the conversion of palm oil to
palm methyl ester in 99 percent concentration took
approximately 30 minutes at 50 degrees Celsius [8]. This
was done using an alkaline based catalyst transesterification
process. One of the huge benefits of this type of reactor is
that it significantly lowers the molar ratio of methanol to
oil.
Cavitational reactors were also shown to improve the
process of continuous production by using the collapse of a
cavity or the collapse of bubbles. This in turn produces
high temperatures, pressures, and turbulence leading to a
fast reaction rate. Microwave reactors also obtained a high
reaction rate. The higher reaction rate occurred because it
replaces the normal thermal heating being used with the
heat caused by microwave radioactivity. Another reactor
that achieved a high reaction rate was a membrane reactor.
This was done by selectively removing glycerin by using a
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Hannah Wardo
Gabrielle Campbell
fossil diesel in both pure and blended forms. In light-duty
diesel engines palm methyl ester essential showed the same
results in performance as fossil diesel with improvements in
emissions without modifications to the engine itself.
PME in Combustion Experiments
Studies have also been conducted on the use of 100 percent
palm methyl ester in gas turbines. In this study a
comparison of 100 percent palm methyl ester and fossil
diesel is performed by analyzing the combustion of the two
fuels.
A combustion chamber, air supply line, fuel supply line,
and an exhaust gas analyzer were used to perform the
experiments [4]. The temperature of the fuel that was
supplied to the combustion chamber was regulated by an
electric heater and the concentrations of the CO, NOx, and
O2 were measured by the gas analyzer.
The soot was
measured by a smoke tester that was connected to the
combustion chamber. The fuel temperature for palm methyl
ester was set at 325 K and 303 K for diesel fuel for all
experiments except for the experiment involving nitrogen
dioxide emissions as a function of fuel kinematic viscosity,
which is ratio of absolute viscosity to density [4].
A combustion experiment was performed to compare the
ease of combusting palm methyl ester compared to that of
fossil biodiesel. When this experiment was performed it was
observed that there were no differences in the ignition of
palm methyl ester, performing at the same level as diesel
fuel. During this experiment it was observed that palm
methyl ester did not accumulate soot while diesel fuel did.
This occurs because palm methyl ester has no aromatic ring,
but contains a large amount of oxygen.
When emission tests were done it was observed that palm
methyl ester and diesel fuel follow the same trend which is
that NOx emission levels increase with a decreasing
atomizing pressure. However, palm methyl ester has lower
NOx emissions than diesel fuel at every air ratio measured.
Figure 6 shows these trends. This is also true for kinematic
viscosity. This is because the average particle size decreases
with decreasing kinematic viscosity when a pressure-type
atomizer is used [4].
FIGURE 4
SMOKE OPACITY LEVELS [10]
In the second section of the experiment fossil fuel diesel,
100 percent PME, and eleven blends of diesel and PME in
10 percent intervals were used. A modified European
Stationary Cycle (ESC) was used to test pollutant emissions,
not only at non-idle positions, but at idle positions too.
Results obtained from the second section of the experiment
conclude that fuel blended with palm methyl ester had an
overall reduction of the tailpipe emissions. The overall
reduction of nitric oxide emissions showed a 5 percent drop
of nitric oxide comparing 100 percent PME to fossil diesel.
Results also show that there is a 26.2 percent lower
concentration of unburned hydrocarbons when comparing
100 percent palm methyl ester to fossil diesel and only a .89
percent difference CO concentration found between 100
percent palm methyl ester and fossil diesel. When all four
emissions test are compared it can be seen that smoke
opacity levels shows the biggest support of palm methyl
ester as an alternative. It shows that when 100 percent palm
methyl ester is compared to fossil diesel there is a 66.7
percent reduction due to the amount of oxygen present in
palm methyl ester and its impurity levels. Figure 5 illustrates
the reduction of smoke opacity.
FIGURE 5
SMOKE OPACITY LEVELS AS BIODIESEL CONTENT INCREASES
[10]
In conclusion, the experiments performed provide strong
evidence as to why palm methyl ester is a good alternative to
FIGURE 6
DECREASING NOX LEVELS [10]
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Gabrielle Campbell
From these experiments it can be concluded once again
that palm methyl ester is a very promising alternative fuel
for turbines. This is due to palm methyl ester having around
the same efficiency as diesel fuel, which for both was nearly
100 percent in all cases. This research also shows that palm
methyl ester as a fuel has lower NOx emissions. With lower
NOx emissions, palm methyl ester is a more environmentally
friendly fuel than diesel fuel.
nationwide in 2014. The reason for the long time between
introducing and implementing the mandate is because
Malaysia needs to allow more time to get more biodiesel
plants up and running. It is reported that once the mandate is
set in place palm methyl ester will cost the same amount as
petroleum diesel. However, the future of Malysia’s overall
biodiesel industry strictly depends on whether or not the
government provides incentives and subsidies for the
industry. Some suspect that the B5 implementation will
likely not have enough of a demand to keep the industry
going [1]. The main reason for the lack of demand would be
the cost of palm methyl ester overall which is caused by
three major factors: cost of crude palm oil, selling price of
biodiesel, and the cost of production of biodiesel. If
petroleum diesel prices continue to rise, like they are now,
then this biodiesel can become competitive with petroleum
diesel in the energy industry. When the prices are
competitive then a biodiesel, palm methyl ester, can be
available which costs the same or even less than petroleum
diesel but with many more benefits.
THE POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES OF PME
Palm methyl ester is considered to be one of the most
environmentally friendly sources of fuel due to its reduction
in emissions of greenhouse gases and NOx. The studies
described above provide evidence on the reduction of these
emissions compared to the emissions found by diesel fuel.
By reducing NOx, the amount of ground ozone that is
harmful to animals and humans will be reduced. Reducing
NOx also will reduce the occurrence of acidic rain. Palm
methyl ester as a biofuel is biodegradable with an
expectancy to degrade 98 percent within three weeks
whereas diesel fuel only degrades 50 percent in three weeks.
This type of biofuel can also be used as a renewable energy,
which can be seen in Figure 7. The production and
consumption of Palm Methyl Ester can be described as a
closed carbon cycle. This cycle begins with palm trees
which then eventually produce palm biodiesel. Once it is a
biodiesel it is consumed by vehicles which release carbon
dioxide into the air. Carbon dioxide is then absorbed by
palm trees making the total amount of carbon added by palm
biodiesel zero.
Palm Methyl Ester’s Future in Other Asian Countries
Malaysia isn’t the only country taking large strides in the
biodiesel industry. Other counties that use palm methyl ester
as the main biodiesel are Indonesia, Korea, and Thailand.
Indonesia requires a mixing of 10 percent PME with
petroleum diesel, which is the highest mandate in any
country as of right now. The biodiesel industry is expected
to grow because of its strong energy policy which includes
biofuels as a renewable energy source and not only wind and
hydraulic energy. Indonesia expects its mandate to increase
to a 20 percent blending by 2025 [12].
Korea imports palm methyl ester. Their biodiesel
involvement began in 2007 with a B0.5 voluntary blending
and every year since then has increased the blending by 0.5.
In 2010 they reached the B2 blending which was mandatory.
As of 2012 they are still on the B2 blending but are working
this year to make the voluntary blending now a mandate.
Korea’s goal for the blending of biodiesel and petroleum
diesel is B20. They look to fulfill this goal by gradually
increasing the blending by 0.5 every year or so [12]. In
addition, in Korea, there are many taxes on petroleum diesel
such as a traffic tax, an education tax, a driving tax and a ten
percent value added price tax overall on the fuel.
Consequently, biodiesels in this country are on only taxed
with the ten percent value added tax.
Thailand currently requires a B2 blending of palm methyl
ester and fossil fuel diesel. In 2012 Thailand plans to reduce
overall diesel consumption in their country by 10 percent.
The National Energy Policy Council has come up with ways
to promote usage of biodiesel. This council has provided
incentives for companies wishing to produce blends of palm
methyl ester. These incentives include a tax and payment
exemption for the purchase of pure palm methyl ester. They
FIGURE 7
PME POTENTIAL RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES [11]
A FUTURE OUTLOOK FOR PME
Malaysia is taking the biggest steps in the palm methyl
industry for the future. They introduced a B5 mandate in
2008 which shows promise of being implemented
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Hannah Wardo
Gabrielle Campbell
continuous biodiesel production.” Chemical Engineering and Processing:
Process
Intensification.
[Online]’
Available:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0255270110000589
[10] J. Ng, H. Ng, and S. Gan. (2011) “Characterization of engine-out
responses from a light-duty diesel engine fuelled with palm methyl ester
(PME).”
Applied
Energy.
[Online].
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[11] “Outlook of Palm Biodiesel in Malaysia.” [Online]. Available:
http://www.unapcaem.org/Activities%20Files/A0801/0202.pdf
[12] M. Oguma, Y.J. Lee, and S. Goto. (2012) [Online]. Available:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/734h22hg18j31524/fulltext.pdf
also plan on implementing a B5 mandate, which will
actually cost less than petroleum diesel. The reduced cost is
because in this country palm methyl ester is essentially tax
free. By 2022 Thailand plans to use 4.5 million liters per day
of biodiesel, specifically palm methyl ester [12].
NATURE’S GIFT TO THE WORLD: PALM METHYL
ESTER
While palm methyl ester isn’t economically efficient, this
biodiesel is well worth the effort to put more time and
research into it to make it more cost efficient. Proven
through research, palm methyl ester is confirmed to require
essentially no modifications on the ordinary diesel engine
while showing more benefits than petroleum diesel. It
performs at the same level as petroleum diesel in terms of
performance and also benefits the environment by showing
less harmful emissions. Malaysia is the country that is most
interested in this biodiesel realizing palm methyl ester’s full
potential. Countries surrounding Malaysia have caught onto
the idea of using palm methyl ester; however, no significant
developments in this biodiesel have been shown in the
United States. Although the United States has shown no
significant developments in palm methyl ester, they have
launched a program called twenty in ten which means they
want to achieve twenty percent displacement of petroleum
diesel in ten years. If the United States used its scientific
resources to help in the further developments of palm methyl
ester then there’s a possibility that a solution could be made
to help this biodiesel become more cost efficient. By
allowing the presence of palm methyl ester in the United
States, it could lead to an overall greener world.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
[1] D. Darnoko and M. Cheryan. (2000) “Continuous Production of Palm
Methyl
Esters.”
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[3] (2011) “B5 Programme Will Strengthen CPO Price, Says MPIC
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[5] N.N.A.N. Yusuf, S.K. Kamarudin, Z. Yaakub. (2011) “Overview on the
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to take this time to thank all of those who
helped us along the way to complete this conference paper to
the best of our ability. Specifically the people we would like
to thank are Janine Carlock, our writing center advisor;
Katie Brown, the co-chair of our conference section; and
Mark Jeffrey, the chair of our conference section. Thank you
all so much for providing constructive criticism along the
way.
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