A team of faculty members from the College of Engineering, in collaboration with researchers from Iowa State University and Northwestern University, has been awarded a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The four-year project aims to develop sustainable, electrified processes for manufacturing key industrial chemicals, including ethylene and ammonia, using renewable electricity and waste materials.
WSU’s involvement is led by Dr. Shuang Gu, the co-principal investigator (co-PI) on the overall project and the PI for WSU’s portion of the work. The WSU team also includes Dr. Bayram Yildirim, who is a co-PI, and Dr. Eylem Asmatulu, who serving as a senior researcher. WSU has been awarded $900,000 of the total funding. Dr. Wenzhen Li of Iowa State University (ISU) is serving as the project’s PI. Dr. Mark Mba-Wright from ISU and Dr. Ted Sargent from Northwestern University are additional co-PIs on the project.
The project focuses on advancing electro-manufacturing technologies that reduce reliance on energy-intensive chemical processes. By targeting green ammonia production from waste nitrogen and green ethylene production from waste carbon dioxide, the research seeks to significantly cut industrial carbon emissions and energy use. In addition to groundbreaking scientific work, the project will also support education and workforce training in STEM fields, aiming to build a future-ready manufacturing workforce.
