Events

Resource‑efficient separations sit at the center of challenges across the energy, water, climate, and critical‑minerals sectors. Addressing these problems requires a cross‑scale, fundamentals‑first framework in which models and experiments develop together: simple process‑concept models guide early ideas; molecular modeling, thermodynamics, and transport analysis refine mechanisms; and experiments feedback to deepen and validate the models as systems mature.

This framework has shaped work across membrane, adsorption, and hybrid separations. Early vignettes from ExxonMobil and Algenol Biofuels illustrate how mechanistic insight, transport analysis, and multiscale modeling guide decisions from material selection to process configuration.

Hybrid Direct Air Capture serves as the central case study. The platform couples atmospheric‑water extraction with humidity‑swing CO₂ capture, reducing energy and water use relative to first‑generation DAC systems. Results from laboratory development through pilot operation show how adsorbent chemistry, humidity‑driven equilibria, integrated process design, and evolving models combine to enable rapid performance gains and deployment potential in water‑limited environments.

The seminar concludes by outlining the elements required to make this translational approach effective and how it defines a path toward scalable, resource‑efficient separation systems aligned with the future directions of chemical engineering.

Dr. Ben McCool is a technology and R&D executive whose work spans membranes, adsorption, absorption, hybrid separations, and the translation of molecular and transport fundamentals into scalable systems. He has led research and engineering organizations across the energy, chemicals, and climate‑tech sectors, most recently serving as Senior Vice President of Technology at Avnos, where he built the technology organization that advanced Hybrid Direct Air Capture from concept to multiple field deployments. Before Avnos, he spent more than a decade at ExxonMobil directing global innovation in separations and process chemistry and earlier led engineering and scale‑up efforts at Algenol Biofuels. His work integrates materials science, thermodynamics, and transport analysis to design separation systems that operate under real‑world industrial, environmental, and economic constraints.