Position Title
Chevron
Dr. Joel Schmidt
Abstract
Leveraging a petroleum refinery to make circular and renewable fuels and chemicals a reality
The world is currently faced with the global scale challenges of decarbonization and a rapid transition to more renewable energy sources. In order to accomplish this in the most rapid manner possible, it will be necessary to leverage existing infrastructure and equipment due to their long lifecycles and high capital costs. This talk will give an overview of current efforts to use existing petroleum refineries and the equipment they contain to manufacture circular and renewable fuels and chemicals. Topics covered will include refinery integration points, types of feedstocks under consideration, and specific examples of projects in progress. Along with these examples, I will describe some of the technical challenges faced, as well as the equally challenging regulatory and logistical barriers.
Biography
Joel E. Schmidt obtained his BS and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering at The University of Dayton (Dayton, OH, USA), and at this time did research in the Thermal Sciences and Materials Branch of the US Air Force Research Labs. He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA, USA) in 2015 in the group of Mark E. Davis where he researched zeolite synthesis, including the bulk synthesis of enantiomerically enriched chiral zeolites. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Utrecht University (The Netherlands) in the group of Bert M. Weckhuysen on projects using advanced characterization techniques to study zeolite catalysts such as atom probe tomography and X-ray microscopy. In 2018 he began working at Chevron Energy Technology Company (San Francisco, CA, now Chevron Technical Center) as a member of the Catalytic Materials technical team where he worked on projects related to the development and testing of heterogeneous catalysts. In 2020 he started a position in the FCC catalyst testing and characterization laboratory where he supports refinery operations and works on projects related to the energy transition including biofuels, plastics recycling and sustainable aviation fuel.