Ah-Hyung Alissa Park
1038A Mudd Hall, Mail Code: 4711
Phone: +1 212 854 8989
Fax: +1 212-854-7081
Email:
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Research interests:
Carbon capture and storage; Clean fossil energy conversion
systems; Waste-to-Energy; Alternative energy production; Particle technology;
Electrostatic tomography; Multiphase flow systems.
Carbon mineral sequestration
Predictions
of global energy usage suggest a continued increase in carbon emissions and
rising concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere unless major changes
are made to the way energy is produced and used. The containment of CO2 involves CO2 separation, transportation, and storage. Until
now these technologies have been developed independently of one another, which
has resulted in complex and economically challenged large scale designs. In
particular, the energy consumption during mineral processing for the
carbonation of Mg-bearing minerals has posed a significant hurdle for carbon
mineral sequestration’s development. Despite its current shortcomings, by
producing thermodynamically stable magnesium carbonate, this method is the only
carbon sequestration technology that would provide truly safe and permanent
carbon storage. In light of this, our
research group first attempts to combine carbon mineral sequestration with a Municipal
Solid Wastes (MSW)-to-Liquid process to achieve process intensification and
synergetic net reduction of carbon emissions. The overarching concept is the
shift of the Water Gas Shift (WGS) reaction equilibrium via constant removal of
CO2. This approach is investigated by injecting engineered mesopored
Mg-bearing sorbent into the WGS reactor. The new insights into the synthesis of Mg-bearing sorbent for the
enhanced WGS reaction for H2 production could provide the
fundamental basis to resolve the main bottleneck currently limiting carbon
mineral sequestration. This could ultimately lead to the development of a
viable energy conversion system integrated with in-situ carbon mineral
sequestration.
Sustainable energy conversion of solid
wastes
A large percentage of the United States
energy demands are currently met using liquid fuel imported from politically
unstable parts of the world. Such imports pose a potential threat to our
national security and, therefore, finding an alternative source to supply our
country’s ever growing energy demand is critical. One of the less investigated domestic sources
of alternative energy is non-recyclable plastics. Although we are recycling a
large quantity of plastic bottles (~34%), the actual fraction of all plastics
being recovered and recycled is less than 6%. Thus, our research group is
investigating an energy conversion system that converts the now landfilled
petrochemical portion of municipal solid wastes (MSW) to value added liquid
fuel which is very attractive in terms of environmental sustainability and
national security.
Electrostatic phenomenon in multiphase
flow systems
Electrostatic
charging frequently influences flows containing dielectric solids and/or
liquids (including synthetic liquid fuel), however, this is still very much a
nascent field. At Columbia, we are building a laboratory
specialized in electrostatic phenomena, to study in depth a system containing
non-conductive liquid fuel and fine particles.
The fundamental findings from this study related to electrostatic charge
generation and dissipation in various multiphase flows will contribute to the understanding
of the particle-particle interactions and interparticle forces, the development
of the non-invasive measurement technique, and the improvement in the computational
fluid dynamics (CFD).
Selected
Publications:
“Eliminating
Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Coal Fired Power Plants,” K. S. Lackner, A.-H.
A. Park & B. Miller, Electricity Generation in a Carbon
Constrained World, Ed. F. P. Sioshansi, (in preparation). – Invited Book Chapter
“Novel
Applications of Chemical Looping Technologies,” A.-H. A. Park, P. Gupta & L.-S. Fan, Chemical Looping Technology, (in preparation).
– Book Chapter
“Synthesis of Iron-Based Chemical Looping
Sorbents during Carbon Mineral Sequestration,” Hyung Rae Kim, A.-H. A. Park, D. H. Lee & L.-S. Fan, Journal
of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, (in review).“
Carbon sequestration,” A.-H. A. Park, K. Lackner & L.-S. Fan, Hydrogen Fuel: Production, Transport
and Storage, Edited by Ram Gupta, CRC Press, pp.
569-601, 2008. – Invited Book Chapter.
“Particle
Technology,” A.-H. A. Park, C.
Zhu & L.-S. Fan, Kirk-Othmer
Encyclopedia, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2008. – Invited
Encyclopedia
Chapter
“Electrostatic
Charging Phenomenon in Gas-Liquid-Solid Flow Systems,” A.-H. A. Park
& L.-S. Fan, Chemical
Engineering Science, 62, pp. 371-386, (2007).