Yaw Yeboah
Penn State Poised to Become Energy U
The much talked about hydrogen economy has a number of challenges to overcome if hydrogen fuel cells are to become viable alternatives to fossil-based fuels for transportation, explained Dr. Yaw Yeboah, head of the Energy and Geo-Environmental Engineering Department (EGEE). One of the major challenges is the high cost.
Yaw Yeboah, Professor and Head, Department of Energy and Geo-Environmental Engineering
"Most catalysts for fuel cell applications are made of platinum, a precious metal, which makes fuel cells very expensive," said Yeboah about his current primary area of research. "We are looking to either reduce the amount of platinum or to get rid of it altogether."
The search for better catalysts is largely a materials issue. "We are exploring different combinations of catalysts that will have the same kind of performance in terms of catalytic activity as platinum. For example, we are trying to make an alloy of platinum and, say, iron, molybdenum and other compounds that will have the same catalytic effect. There are a number of issues - first is the activity of the catalyst itself. A second issue is poisoning of the catalyst. Also, in the case of methanol fuel cells, we have a problem of methanol crossover. The methanol goes from the anode to the cathode, a process which wastes fuel and degrades fuel-cell performance and is not something you want. We want to be able to find catalysts and membrane materials that will overcome some of those problems."
Their work on fuel cells is at the nanoscale, a place where energy and materials frequently intersect. One of the faculty in his department, Angela Lueking, is using nanomaterials to try and overcome one of the major stumbling blocks of hydrogen energy: the issue of storage. For this problem, "nanotubes and nanofibers may be the way," he said. Another colleague, Serguei Lvov, is developing new composite proton-conducting membranes that will be more temperature stable and less expensive. Also, Chunshan Song is developing sorbent materials for a new selective adsorption process for removing sulfur from liquid fuels without using hydrogen. The research has provided new ways to remove organic sulfur compounds at room temperature from conventional liquid fuels for fuel cell applications. They are also developing new catalytic materials that are carbon and sulfur-resistant for low-temperature steam reforming of hydrocarbon fuels for hydrogen production and fuel cell applications. Yeboah recently completed a DOE demonstration project on hydrogen production from biomass for urban transportation.
Yeboah's interests extend far beyond the topical subject of hydrogen fuel cells. He received bachelor degrees from MIT in chemical engineering, chemistry, and management, followed by a masters in chemical engineering practice, all within the space of four years, a first for any student at MIT. He followed up with a Ph.D. in chemical engineering, also from MIT, in 1979. His range of interests fits nicely with a department that was created over the last few years out of several smaller programs in fuel science, mining, petroleum and natural gas, environmental systems, and industrial health and safety. The newest addition is a program in Energy, Business and Finance (EBF), which combines core courses in physical science and the science of energy with an understanding of the economics of mineral resources and energy. The program is taught in conjunction with the Smeal College of Business.
"Ours is a very comprehensive department. We deal with energy issues involving the production, processing, and utilization of fuels and minerals. At the undergraduate level, students can get bachelor degrees in mining engineering, petroleum and natural gas engineering, environmental systems engineering, industrial health and safety, and energy business and finance. At the graduate level, we offer two programs: Energy and Geo-Environmental Engineering, and Petroleum and Mineral Engineering. There really is no other program nationwide to compare us to."
The EGEE department has close ties with the Energy Institute in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. In December of 2006, the university launched the new energy initiative based on the recommendations from the university-wide Energy Task Force, and the Penn State Institutes of the Environment was expanded in scope to include the allied fields of energy and became the new Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment (PSIEE).
"Most of the faculty associated with the EMS Energy Institute are in our department," Yeboah remarked. "If you combine this department and the Energy Institute, which is like the research arm of the department, that collaboration handles most of the fossil energy related work at Penn State. We work in coal, petroleum, natural gas, as well as biomass, biofuels and hydrogen. About the only area we don't work in extensively is nuclear, but that is covered by our colleagues in the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering at Penn State. Even in this area, Serguei Lvov has some projects with the nuclear divisions of EPRI and DOE and recently submitted a joint proposal with faculty in nuclear engineering. Our colleagues in other colleges at Penn State are also working on biomass as well as renewable energy options. Collectively, we have the faculty and expertise to make Penn State the 'energy university'."
Asked about his concerns for the environment and peak energy, Yeboah sat quietly for a moment before responding. "The issue of oil being a nonrenewable resource means there is a limit to how long we can use petroleum before we run out. Clearly it means we need to find alternative sources. With the issue of security, we can no longer depend only on foreign sources.
"On the other hand, we have the environmental issue of using fossil fuel, especially coal. About fifty percent of our electricity comes from coal. Along with coal come more problems with carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and particulates. Each is associated with severe health and environmental problems. But I think with technology and proper policies, we can overcome those problems. Since the Clean Air Act was implemented, all of those pollutants have gone down. You will not eliminate them completely, so it becomes a risk/benefit analysis. You don't want to not be able to turn on your lights."
Much of the technology for developing alternative fuels and ameliorating the pollution from fossil fuels is not so new, Yeboah explained. A lot of it emerged in the 1970s after the oil shortages brought on by the OPEC embargo. At that time a great deal of research was done in coal, the subject of his own Ph.D. research. In fact, in the seventies, he said, the easiest way to get funding for research was to study coal. Now we are just going back to that research that was abandoned and finding new ways of reviving and using it. Policy, economics, and the public views will need to come together to make energy research a priority, he believes.
To that end EGEE's highly popular general education courses educate nearly 4,000 Penn State students each year on issues that relate to energy and the environment, health, and safety. Energy and environmental issues have gone mainstream, becoming part of a national debate. Yeboah's department is giving Penn State students an important and informed voice in that debate. That, as much as research and faculty expertise, could indeed make Penn State the energy university.
