Process and Reaction Engineering

The Process and Reaction Engineering program supports fundamental and applied research on:Rates and mechanisms of important classes of catalyzed and uncatalyzed chemical reactions as they relate to the design, production, and application of catalysts, chemical processes, biochemical processes, and specialized materialsChemical and biochemical phenomena occurring at or near solid surfaces and interfacesElectrochemical and photochemical processes of engineering significance or with commercial potentialDesign and optimization of complex chemical and biochemical processesDynamic modeling and control of process systems and individual process unitsReactive processing of polymers, ceramics, and thin filmsInteractions between chemical reactions and transport processes in reactive systems, and the use of this information in the design of complex chemical and biochemical reactorsThe Process and Reaction Engineering program funds research in: chemical and biochemical reaction engineering, process design and control, and reactive polymer processing. Within these three areas, research supported is focused as follows:Chemical Reaction Engineering - the area encompasses the interaction of transport phenomena and kinetics in reactive systems and the use of this knowledge in the design of complex chemical and biochemical reactors. Focus areas include non-traditional reactor systems such as membrane reactors, microreactors, and reactions in supercritical fluids; novel activation techniques such as plasmas, acoustics, and microwaves; and multifunctional systems synthesis such as "smart" molecules, "chemical laboratory on a chip," "chemical factory on a chip" concepts, bioreactor design and bioprocess optimization, and fermentation technology. The program also supports new approaches for generating energy from renewable resources as well as optimizing new approaches in all areas such as developing atomic layer deposition for microelectronic devices.Process Design and Control - these areas encompass the design and optimization of complex chemical and biochemical processes and the dynamic modeling and control of process systems and individual process units. High priority research topics include simultaneous product and process design, including bioprocesses; increased plant efficiency by algorithms that communicate across design levels and incorporate multiple criteria such as profitability, safety, operability, environmental sustainability, and societal concerns; and new sensor development to measure composition, product properties, morphology, etc. Systems approaches that span and optimize across multiple scales, from nano to mega, and integrate planning and scheduling and the globalization of the industrial applications are also of interest to the program. Utilization of the latest in cyberinfrastructure resources including hardware at the tera- and peta-scale is encouraged.Reactive Polymer Processing - program scope is limited in the polymerization area to research that integrates synthesis (chemical reaction of monomers to form polymer chains or complexes) and processing steps (steps that orient and anneal polymer melts and affect the long range conformations and consequently their properties). Typical projects are in the areas of emulsion and miniemulsion polymerization, reaction injection molding, etc. Program focus is on addressing environmental concerns while producing tailor-made molecules and materials.Proposals should address the novelty of the concept being proposed, compared to previous work in the field. Also, it is important to address why the novelty might be important in terms of engineering science, as well as to also project the potential impact on society and /or industry of success in the research. The information requested in this paragraph should be included, as a minimum, in the Project Summary of each proposal.The duration of unsolicited awards is generally one to three years. The average annual award size for the program is $100,000. Any proposal received outside the announced dates will be returned without review.The duration of Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program awards is five years and the award maximum size is $400,000. The submission deadline for Engineering CAREER proposals is in July every year. Please see the following URL for more information: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503214 Proposals for Conferences, Workshops, and Supplements may be submitted at any time, but must be discussed with the program director before submission.Grants for Rapid Response Research (RAPID) and EArly-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) replace the SGER program. Please note that proposals of these types must be discussed with the program director before submission. Further details are available in the PAPPG download..