ETA 2021 Strategic Plan - Flipbook - Page 28
Circular Economy
A second exemplar focus application for this
initiative is the Circular Economy, and specifically
plastics. The goal of this application is to develop
a deeper, more quantitative understanding of
which types of new polymers and systems-level
strategies are best suited to address each major
component of plastic waste, including material
sent to landfills and material that is released
into the environment. Again, the targets to
be explored and synthesized will be informed
by combining technology development with
systems modeling of waste management and
recycling infrastructure. ETA will improve the
rapid characterization of new polymers, focusing
on their compatibility with waste management
infrastructure and their fate in the environment.
Science of Synthesis
In the circular economy, efficient and complete
deconstruction is just as important as efficient
synthesis. We will design processes for
producing, reclaiming, and recycling drop-in and
novel polymers. We also will conduct in-depth
analysis to understand how complementary
and competing strategies can be leveraged to
reduce the unsustainable generation, landfilling,
and environmental release of plastic waste. We
will explore the impacts of utilizing different
chemical and waste feedstocks for polymer
synthesis, and understand how different
solvents can be used, and systems can be tuned,
to deconstruct and recover composite materials
into pure constituents for resynthesis.
Science of Scale-up
In 2019, Americans used 56 million metric tons
of plastic resins, ranging from specialized highperformance thermosets to large-volume plastic
film and food packaging applications. The recent
increase in demand for disposable personal
protective equipment (PPE) has only increased
demand and waste generation. Novel polymers
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and recycling solutions, whether aimed at
increasing biodegradability, enabling recovery of
virgin-quality monomers, or achieving particular
specifications, need to undergo rapid screening
to understand how they will perform in the real
world, at scale. ETA scientists are developing
laboratory degradation tests in a controlled
environment and use modeling and simulation
to understand the scaling effect in a large waste
management facility. Using both advanced
characterization and predictive modeling, we
will establish an exemplary framework, including
polymer properties characterization, to provide
quantitative insight into the fate of different
variants of biodegradable/compostable plastics.
This framework will span from collection and
sorting through recycling and/or release into
different environments (e.g., marine). We will
leverage the lab’s analytical capabilities to
identify suitable plastic differentiation methods
and work with instrumentation partners to
integrate and automate the process. This effort
will provide critical data to inform the synthesis
targets and scaling issues. In addition to base
polymers, because microplastics pose human
health and ecological risks, we also will analyze
the intermediate products of the degradation.
Intelligent, Adaptive Analysis
To understand the current state of the art and
relevant industry practices, we will conduct a
comprehensive, systematic inventory of in-use
sorting, recycling, and bioplastics composting
technologies, building on prior work. We
will identify a set of potential strategies for
improving the separation and recovery of novel
polymers. We also will conduct techno-economic
analysis and life-cycle GHG assessment to
determine the relative cost-competitiveness
and net GHG footprint of each strategy, given
its potential to divert waste from landfills and
reduce the presence of persistent plastics in the
environment.
Decarbonization of Industrial Heat
A third exemplar focus application for this
initiative is the Decarbonization of Industrial
Heat, which accounts for ~20% of CO2 emissions
globally. In order to decarbonize manufacturing,
it will be necessary to find carbon-free means
of providing this industrial process heat,
ranging from
2,000°C depending
on the application. To accomplish this, we will
consider the full connected energy chain from
source to sink: The nature of each synthesis
process dictates what quality of thermal energy
it requires and in what form that heat needs to
be supplied; higher up in the chain, the scale of
a process dictates which renewable feedstocks
can supply its required quantity and rate of heat;
and at the top of the chain, holistic technical and
economic analyses of each process will reveal
the viability of meeting their thermal energy
requirements using each candidate form of
renewable heat.
Science of Synthesis
The first step in replacing hydrocarbon
feedstocks with renewable sources of heat for
industrial manufacturing is to understand what
quantities and delivery methods of thermal
energy are required for different synthesis
processes. Therefore, in the Decarbonization
of Industrial heat application, the Science of
Synthesis focus area will prioritize increasing
understanding of how different thermochemical
synthesis pathways require thermal energy input
or extraction. We will couple high-performance
computing simulations with experimental
validation to study how different synthesis
pathways can accept heat in different forms
or at different process stages. For example, a
process requiring 2,000°C heat from a blast
furnace might be compatible with the controlled
combustion of green and blue hydrogen. On the
other hand, improved thermal fluids for heat
transport will be necessary for processes such
as the Food & Beverage sectors that require
megawatt-hours of
