Event date:
Oct 12 2021 4:00 pm

CCEW-5: The History of Refrigerants: What’s Next?

Speaker(s)
Professor Mark B. Shiflett
Venue
Zoom/Online
Abstract
The Montreal Protocol phased out chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerants because of their ozone depletion potential. The replacements, typically mixtures of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), are safe for the Earth's ozone layer, but some have been found to have high global warming potentials (GWPs). As a result, 197 countries signed the Kigali agreement in 2016 to phase out the use of high GWP HFCs. There are thousands of tons of refrigerant mixtures that contain low GWP compounds along with high GWP compounds, but there are no good methods for separating and reclaiming these mixtures, given that many are azeotropic or near-azeotropic. The lecture will begin with a historical background on the development of refrigerants and lead into a discussion on advanced separation methods for recycling and repurposing HFC refrigerant mixtures such as R-410A used in residential and commercial cooling systems.

Professor Mark B. Shiflett will be talking about “The History of Refrigerants: What’s Next?” in the next CCEW-5 organized by the Department of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering at SBASSE, LUMS. The session will take place via Zoom on October 12, 2021, at 4:00 pm PKT (GMT+5).

Professor Mark B. Shiflett is currently working at the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Kansas, USA.

Please REGISTER for the session via this link: https://forms.gle/E4rSHECvphAq8Mc67

About the speaker:

Mark B. Shiflett is a Distinguished Foundation Professor in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Kansas (KU). Professor Shiflett joined KU as a Foundation Professor in August 2016 after retiring from the DuPont Company. Professor Shiflett worked for DuPont for 28 years and was a Technical Fellow in the Central Research and Development organization which is located at the Experimental Station in Wilmington, Delaware. Professor Shiflett was also an adjunct professor at the University of Delaware in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Professor Shiflett received his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware in 2001 and 1998. He received his B.S. degree in chemical engineering from N.C. State University in 1989. Professor Shiflett is an inventor on 45 U.S. patents and has published 115 articles on his research in both academia and DuPont. He was awarded the DuPont Bolton Carothers award in 2005, the ACS Hero of Chemistry award in 2006 and the University of Delaware presidential citation in 2007 for his development of hydrofluorocarbon refrigerant mixtures to replace chlorofluorocarbons which were linked to the depletion of the Earth’s ozone layer. Professor Shiflett was elected in 2014 to be a Fellow in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, in 2016 to be a Division Fellow in the American Chemical Society, and in 2018 to be a Fellow in the National Academy of Inventors for his significant professional accomplishments and contributions to the chemical engineering profession. Professor Shiflett received the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Institute award for Industrial Research in 2016 for the development of non-ozone-depleting refrigerants which have led to the healing of the Earth’s ozone layer, new applications using ionic liquids, an environmentally friendly TiO2 process and mentoring and educating chemical engineers. Professor Shiflett is a licensed professional engineer in the State of Delaware and his research at KU focuses on developing environmentally friendly, energy efficient processes and products for the chemical industry. Professor Shiflett is also the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Ionic Liquids published by Elsevier. To learn more about Professor Shiflett and his research group you can visit their website: www.shiflettresearch.com.