Chemical Engineering:
The UIC Department of Chemical Engineering offers outstanding, well-balanced
consulting and development services. We have recognized expertise in the
disciplines of dynamics of complex fluids, catalysis, combustion and gas-phase
kinetics, and process design/development and optimization. These areas are
supported by world-class laboratory facilities, instrumentation and a cohesively
integrated, multiscale palette of computer simulation techniques, covering abinitio quantum chemistry, molecular dynamics (MD), mesoscale modeling
techniques such as Brownian dynamics (BD) and smoothed particle
hydrodynamics (SPH), continuum fluid mechanics and heat/mass transfer, and
plant-scale process simulation. Our consulting represents a high-impact, costeffective leverage of UIC resources and expertise for corporate/industrial
research and development.
TECHNOLOGY SERVICES
The Chemical Engineering Department has the capability and resources to
provide industry support in the following interdisciplinary areas.
Membrane Separations Modeling
Microporous and nanoporous membranes act as molecular and ionic sieves for a
broad palette of chemical, biochemical and pharmaceutical separations.
Modeling and design expertise in Chemical Engineering spans from MD of ionic
rejection and gas separations to continuum flow and mass transfer inside
membrane modules, to the analysis and optimization of plant-scale flowsheets.
Covering both ordered molecular sieves (e.g., zeolites) and disordered
nano/microstructure (e.g., polysulfone asymmetric membranes).
Sohail Murad
Ludwig C. Nitsche
Lewis E. Wedgewood
(www.uic.edu/depts/chme/professors/murad.htm)
(www.uic.edu/depts/chme/professors/nitsche.htm)
(www.uic.edu/depts/chme/prof/wedgewood.htm)
Specific Expert Services
Dsalination technology
Srategies to mitigate concentration polarization
Gas separations
Ion exchange
Pervaporation.
Applicable Software
Aspen Plus
Aspen Icarus Process Evaluator
Advanced, grid-free MD, BD, and SPH simulation software developed in-house
Catalyst Preparation and Optimization and Gas-Phase Kinetics
A novel approach to catalysis has turned an industrial art into a systematic
methodology for controlling surface chemistry nanostructure for optimal chemical
activity. Advanced characterization and preparation techniques are combined
with ab initio quantum chemistry simulations to minimize laboratory development
time of new heterogeneous catalysts. Gas-phase kinetics are studied in worldclass shock laboratory, directed by the inventor of the laser-schlieren technique.
John Regalbuto
Randall J. Meyer
(http://www.uic.edu/depts/chme/prof/regalbuto.htm)
(http://www.uic.edu/depts/chme/professors/meyer.htm)
Specific Expert services
Catalyst characterization
Synthesis of novel catalysts
Chemical kinetics at high temperatures
Computational catalysis / cluster catalysis
Catalyst testing
Labs and Special Equipment
Electron microscope
X-ray photo electron spectrometer
X-ray diffraction
Physi- ad chemisorption
Shock tube with laser-schlieren diagnostics
Process Design and Development
Our methodology emphasizes the combination of detailed unit-operations
modeling with plant simulations and economic analysis for designing and
optimizing sustainable and environmentally benign processes. Applications range
from traditional chemical industry to biochemical and pharmaceuticals.
Sohail Murad
Ludwig C. Nitsche
(www.uic.edu/depts/chme/professors/murad.htm)
(www.uic.edu/depts/chme/professors/nitsche.htm)
Specific Expert services
Process simulation
Process optimization
Parametric sensitivity analysis
Economic analysis
Applicable Software
Aspen Plus
Aspen Icarus Process Evaluator
ChemCAD
Matlab
Transport and Thermodynamic Behavior of Complex Fluids
The behavior of complex fluids is determined by nonlinear interactions
between local fluid micro/nanostructure, bounding flow geometry and
applied external fields (electrical, magnetic, acoustic). Our multi-scale
modeling and simulation expertise empowers design, modeling, optimization
and data analysis for engineered fluids (e.g., dilute polymer solutions,
entangled polymer melts, electro- and magneto-rheology), biomedical
systems (e.g., blood flow and mechanisms of atherosclerosis, artificial
organs), electrolyte solutions, and microfluidic lab-on-chip systems.
Reliable estimates of thermophysical properties and transport coefficients
(especially useful for extreme conditions) are based upon first-principles
molecular modeling and corresponding states correlations.
Sohail Murad
Ludwig C. Nitsche
Lewis E. Wedgewood
Raffi M. Turian
(www.uic.edu/depts/chme/professors/murad.htm)
(www.uic.edu/depts/chme/professors/nitsche.htm)
(www.uic.edu/depts/chme/prof/wedgewood.htm)
(www.uic.edu/depts/chme/prof/turian.htm)
Specific Expert services
Thermophysical property estimation
Material property characterization
Measurement of flow kinematics
Computational modeling of flow and heat/mass transfer
Labs and Special Equipment / Techniques
Laser-doppler velocimetry system
Anton Paar DSR 4000 cone-plate rheometer
Software
Molecular dynamics simulations
Brownian dynamics simulations
Grid-free smoothed particle hydrodynamics codes
Monte-Carlo techniques
Corresponding states theory
CONTACT INFO
Ralph Pini Corporate Relations Office