When gasoline and diesel hydrocarbon compounds are burned, naturally occurring sulfur forms compounds that damage respiratory health and contribute to toxic acid rain. For this reason, the government regulates the amount of sulfur allowed in fuel. In diesel, this limit is as low as 50 parts per million. To comply with these standards, oil refineries must remove sulfur before the diesel can be sold and used.

Hydrodesulfurization is the primary removal method. In this process, hydrocarbons from other parts in the refinery, e.g. straight-run gas oil and light cycle oil, are reacted with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst at high temperatures and pressures to separate sulfur from the hydrocarbon chain and create hydrogen sulfide gas.

The team designed a reactor and a separation system to remove hydrogen sulfide and other gases from the diesel stream. An amine unit processes the gases to absorb hydrogen sulfide and recycle hydrogen back to the reactor. The diesel product is stabilized and separated from lighter hydrocarbons before being sold as a product.

The team simulated and optimized the hydrodesulfurization unit in Aspen HYSYS software. The goals were to reduce sulfur content in the final diesel product to a maximum of 50 parts per million to minimize energy usage, cost and the environmental impact of this process.

The energy production industry demonstrates a rising need for renewable infrastructure to replace aging equipment and increase system resilience. Microgrid technologies are an effective tool for combating these challenges. The combination of renewable resources and energy storage allows microgrids to provide energy to support demand despite the intermittency of solar and wind. However, energy storage remains a challenge. Hydrogen is an emerging energy storage solution that may offer higher efficiency and environmental sustainability than conventional batteries.

The team designed a neighborhood microgrid in Tucson that uses solar power from photovoltaic cells. To ensure reliability, the grid is backed up by hydrogen technology, which can supply further electricity when needed. Combining solar panels, an electrolyzer, hydrogen storage and a fuel cell allows the microgrid to provide energy to residents under any weather conditions. The team created a DERMS model to visualize energy flows and address challenges of widely fluctuating energy inputs and load requirements.

This design pioneers scalability and safe implementation of novel hydrogen technology. The team created tools and developed models that are designed for easy adaptation to diverse microgrid applications. Similar systems can be implemented in data centers, electric vehicle charging stations and universities.

The demand for liquid fuel has risen in the last decade while environmental standards for greenhouse gas emissions have become stricter. In response, the fuel production industry developed an innovative alternative to conventional refinery methods known as methaforming. This process converts full range naphtha – a by-product of crude oil distillation – and ethanol into gasoline, blending stock to reduce costs and a lower environmental impact.

This project aims to help meet the growing demand for fuel by developing a methaforming unit within an existing refinery in Texas. The unit utilizes full range naphtha and ethanol to create the methaformate product, and the main byproducts are hydrogen rich gas and liquefied petroleum gas. The process uses a catalytic bed reactor to increase the gasoline blending stock’s research octane number to 90 with an output rate of 5,000 barrels per standard day.

The team used modeling software to simulate the reactions that take place in a methaforming unit: dehydration of alcohol, aromatization of olefins, alkylation of aromatics, aromatization of paraffins, and isomerization of paraffins. The team iterated the unit operation conditions to meet market specifications of liquefied petroleum gas and hydrogen-rich gas and adhere to product specifications for gasoline blending stock. Introducing expander/compressor pairs – for pressure integration and maximizing the heat flux values of heat exchangers – further optimized energy efficiency.

Semiconductor manufacturing requires cleanrooms that maintain precise environmental conditions regardless of conditions outside the facility. This includes strict control over temperature, humidity and air quality. These conditions are essential for ensuring the quality and reliability of sensitive semiconductor products. HVAC systems in these facilities are primary contributors of energy consumption and thus environmental degradation. With the goal of minimizing energy consumption and environmental impact, the team set out to optimize the recirculation of air while ensuring industry standards are met.

The team designed and calculated energy consumption of the HVAC system for several different air configurations. The focus was on maximizing the use of recycled air in each system. The team used Matlab to automate hourly energy calculations over an entire year using historical weather data. They then compared each configuration and determined the most energy efficient designs that met the strict air quality needs of semiconductor cleanrooms considering outside conditions. At the end of this process, the team extrapolated climate change data to predict how the energy consumption needs and cost of HVAC systems in semiconductor fabrication facilities will change in the future.

This project centers on designing an NRU model with helium recovery to process nitrogen-rich natural gas and meet strict product specifications. The goal is twofold: deliver pipeline-quality natural gas with minimal nitrogen and produce a crude helium stream at a high recovery rate. To achieve these targets, the team employed a double-column cryogenic distillation cycle – first removing most hydrocarbons at high pressure, then separating helium from nitrogen at lower pressure.

The design utilizes the cold nitrogen and helium output streams to pre-cool incoming feed gas. This reduces the need for external refrigeration, lowers overall power consumption and maximizes heat recovery. It also decreases operating costs and enhances the overall efficiency of the cryogenic separation cycle.

The team used modeling software, focusing on recapturing energy using turboexpanders and lowering the operating pressures of the two columns. The model successfully achieved a high helium recovery rate while maintaining low nitrogen content in the pipeline gas. The team then conducted extensive sensitivity analyses to fine-tune column pressures, optimize heat exchanger performance and evaluate the impact of different process configurations. Additionally, trade-off studies between turboexpanders and Joule-Thomson valves identified the most efficient method for reducing power consumption without compromising separation efficiency. Through these efforts, the team successfully developed a robust and energy-efficient NRU design that meets all specifications while balancing performance, cost and feasibility.

Produced water is a key byproduct of oil and gas extraction via hydraulic fracturing. This process injects water at flow rates of 100 barrels per minute and pressures of up to 15,000 psi to release hydrocarbons trapped in underground formations, primarily shale. If not handled properly, produced water poses environmental risks through spills, leaks or excessive use. Its complex composition – which includes various chemicals, salts, minerals, and additional additives and varies based on a company’s fracturing process and location – is a significant concern that makes managing produced water a critical challenge for the industry.

Hazardous materials – such as heavy metals and naturally occurring radioactive substances, as well as high salinity levels – make this water unsuitable for reuse without purification. Saltwater disposal wells (SWDs) are the primary treatment solution, but they come with limitations. The sheer volume of produced water can overwhelm SWDs, creating inefficiencies and delaying purification. Hydraulic fracturing can be particularly costly in arid regions where water is scarce. This makes water recycling essential.

The shale gas industry is increasingly focused on converting produced water into profitable byproducts before it reaches SWDs to offset purification costs. Extracting constituents such as sodium chloride, potassium chloride, calcium chloride, strontium chloride and strontium sulfate represent valuable opportunities for sustainable resource management.

Two problems often plague disaster sites: an excess of plastic waste and lack of fuel. This project simultaneously solves both using pyrolysis – breaking down a substance by heating it in an oxygen-deprived atmosphere to prevent combustion. Plastic polymers are ideal for pyrolysis because they break down into a combustible liquid that is much more volatile than their plastic source. This liquid can be distilled into usable fuel.

This multi-year project already has a portable device for pyrolyzing plastic in disaster areas to produce emergency liquid fuel. It reaches temperatures of up to 500°C while maintaining an inert environment to produce gaseous and liquid products by pyrolyzing a pure polypropylene plastic sample.

This year’s team focused on refining this crude product into fuel for use in combustion engines. The team conducted research and lab testing to characterize the product and determine its chemical composition. Simulations on ASPEN software revealed the best distillation methods and parameters. Through these simulations, the team developed a batch distillation column to separate the product oil into different keys based on molecular weight. These separate keys, along with the necessary additives, have potential as fuels for different purposes – e.g. lighter key for gasoline engines and heavier key for diesel engines. Findings from this project also advised Team 25051’s experimental design and execution.

Ethanol is a renewable energy source commonly used as a fuel and fuel additive in cars. Currently, ethanol is not produced or used on a large enough scale to challenge fossil fuels’ dominance. This is largely due to its technically challenging and inefficient production process, which results in lower energy density, higher production cost and limited availability.

The team identified a method of converting agricultural waste into bioethanol that improves efficiency and sustainability. The goal was to find a solution that simultaneously addresses the harmful emissions produced by fossil fuel consumption and the wasteful disposal of agricultural byproducts.

The proposed process serves as an outlet for 82,500 metric tons of corn waste annually sourced from farms in southeastern Nebraska. The stover – leftover inedible material – undergoes pretreatment, where a rolling disc mill physically breaks it down, then a steam explosion further breaks down lignin. The cellulose and hemicellulose contained in the treated stover are then hydrolyzed into glucose and xylose. Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or baker’s yeast, then ferments this mixture to produce ethanol in an aqueous solution. Finally, this solution passes through a series of distillation columns and a molecular sieve. The final product is fuel-grade ethanol.

This project’s aim was to create an enjoyable, nonalcoholic (≤0.5% ABV) social beverage that produces a calming effect for the consumer. The drink uses only natural ingredients, has no aftertaste and contains supplements backed by research. The team chose Ashwagandha, L-Theanine and Lion’s Mane after thorough evaluation for calming and mood effects, safety, natural occurrence and taste profile. An at-home procedure extracted the supplements by dehydrating, pulverizing, soaking and boiling. The team tested the extracts using high-performance liquid chromatography to determine the efficiency of the extraction process and ensure a safe, effective and high-quality tincture.

Once the tincture was optimized, the team designed an industrial-sized, scaled-up processing plant based on experimental findings and Aspen simulations. The design was structured around parallel extraction lines. Each line’s product can be combined, carbonated and packaged for sale. The team optimized the design so that the active compounds could be effectively extracted while keeping the drink nonalcoholic. This portion of the project had additional profitability, scalability, and limited water and energy consumption criteria. The team also aimed to adhere to OSHA guidelines and produce a product that would be approved by the FDA.

This project aims to develop a treatment system for water contaminated with PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.” These synthetic chemicals were once commonly used in firefighting foams at Arizona’s Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and are still used in many products that resist heat, grease or water. However, PFAS – particularly perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) – have been linked to serious health risks, including cancers and infertility, and are found throughout the environment in concentrations far exceeding EPA safety limits. The team addressed these rising concerns by designing a scalable groundwater treatment plant in Summit, Arizona, an area that is heavily affected by PFAS pollution.

The complete groundwater treatment plant includes a dedicated PFAS removal zone and incorporates advanced treatment methods such as UV oxidation and granular activated carbon (GAC) filtering. The team worked to understand the adsorption kinetics of PFOS and PFOA on GAC, which are essential for scaling the treatment plant to meet regulatory standards. Additionally, the team emphasized engagement with the local community, particularly those involved with the Unified Community Advisory Board, who have long advocated for addressing PFAS contamination in the region.