BATON ROUGE, La. (press release) — Future Use of Energy in Louisiana (FUEL) has awarded six projects in a second round of use-inspired research and development (UIRD) investments across five different calls for proposals ranging from hydrogen production to carbon dioxide (CO2) conversion into high-value products. These projects strategically position FUEL on an upward trajectory to create new technologies around energy innovation in Louisiana.
Louisiana State University Agricultural Center
1) Title: Conversion of CO2 into Higher Value Products using Microwave-Driven Plasma
Lead Investigator: Dorin Boldor
Partner Institution Investigators: Abha Verma, Xavier University of Louisiana
Industry/Corporate Partner: Encore CO2, Baton Rouge, LA
Total Award: $207,833
This funding enables Dr. Boldor and his team to develop a scalable and efficient methodology to convert carbon dioxide into high-value products, such as acetic acid, formic acid, methanol, ethanol, ethyl acetate, and other volatile fatty acids and alcohols, by leveraging a microwave-generated plasma reactor.
Louisiana Tech University
2) Title: CO2 Monitoring via an Integrated Robotic and Sparse Sensor System
Lead Investigator: Lingxiao Wang
Partner Institution Investigators: Vasanth Iyer, Grambling State University
Industry/Corporate Partner: Parish Controls LLC, Ruston, LA
Total Award: $124,799
This funded project enables the investigators to develop a hybrid system of collaborating robots and stationary sensors that can achieve effective sparse seismic surveillance for CO2 monitoring. This hybrid system provides reliable data coverage with reduced sensor density, lowering operational costs while accurately detecting CO2 leaks and subsurface movement.
3) Title: Room Temperature Production of H2 from H2S using Lithium-cycling Strategy
Lead Investigator: Shengnian Wang
Partner Institution Investigators: Haeyeon Yang, Grambling State University
Industry/Corporate Partner: PolyKala Technologies LLC
Total Award: $149,918
This funded project leverages a lithium-cycling strategy to dissociate hydrogen sulfide (H2S) to hydrogen (H2) and sulfur (S) at room temperature cost-effectively and with a higher H2 yield. This project also conducts a techno-economic analysis and comparison with existing systems.
Louisiana State University
4) Title: Technology for Mitigation of Hydrogen Embrittlement
Lead Investigator: Michael Khonsari
Partner Institution Investigators: Congyuan Zeng, Southern University at Baton Rouge
Industry/Corporate Partner: Baker Hughes
Total Award: $200,000
Through this funding, Dr. Khonsari and his team aim to address and mitigate hydrogen embrittlement in austenitic stainless steels (SS) by controlled strain hardening, mainly through additive manufacturing (AM) techniques. This controlled mechanism balances mechanical strength with hydrogen resistance and offers a long-term solution for enhancing the reliability of operation in sour service environments, hydrogen storage infrastructure and transportation systems.
5) Title: Techno-economics of Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) in Louisiana
Lead Investigators: Anurag Mandalika, Joanna Walker and Greg Upton
Partner Institution Investigators: Lutfu Sagbansua, Southern University at Baton Rouge, and Dan Groft, McNeese State University
Industry/Corporate Partner: Gulf Coast Sequestration (GCS)
Total Award: $165,863
This funded project aims to analyze the techno-economic (TE) feasibility of CCS, allied clean hydrogen production and its impact on Louisiana’s industrial economy. Additionally, policies incentivizing the adoption of CCS have the potential to advance the state’s goals in industrial decarbonization while creating opportunities for industrial sustainability, workforce development and global competitiveness.
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
6) Title: Direct Air Capture (DAC) of CO2 via Microalgal-based Photosynthetic Mechanisms
Lead Investigators: Mark Zappi
Partner Institution Investigators: Caroline Telles, Southern University at Baton Rouge
Industry/Corporate Partner: H2O, Lafayette, LA
Total Award: $213,408
This funding award allows Dr. Zappi and the team to enrich their innovation further to directly capture CO2 from the air exiting wastewater treatment plants, which contains high CO2 levels generated from the aerobic bacteria degrading the wastes in the aeration tanks. A photobioreactor housing microalgae will be developed to capture the CO2 from the exiting wastewater treatment plants.
“FUEL truly unlocks the potential of use-inspired research by fostering meaningful partnerships between academic institutions of diverse classifications and industry or small businesses across the state of Louisiana,” said Dr. Ashwith Chilvery, FUEL’s Director of Use-Inspired Research and Development. “This funding provides the much-needed support for technologies that could be translated into impactful and investable innovations.”
“By creating a place-based innovation ecosystem for real-time collaboration between academic research and industry, we are ensuring that the research from our university labs translates into tangible benefits for the residents of Louisiana and for the energy industry across the world,” said Mike Mazzola, FUEL’s Executive Director. “This reflects our core mission of positioning Louisiana for a future of global energy innovation.”
