Download Summer Engineering Research Internship for US Students (SERIUS)  2016    Host Department: Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering  

 Summer Engineering Research Internship for US Students (SERIUS) 2016 Host Department: Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering (www.chbe.nus.edu.sg) CHBE Project 1 Project title Project description Nature of project eg exploratory, experimental, etc What participants are expected to achieve at the end of 8‐week attachment No. of students able to host Supervisor Any other information/ requirements (eg programming skills, prerequisites, reading list, etc) Engineering hierarchal porous and hetero‐structural metal‐organic framework nanoparticles for gas adsorption and catalysis Metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) are an emerging class of crystalline hybrid materials composed of organic linkers and metal ions. Because of possessing the diversity of coordinated models of metal ions and functional organic linkers, MOFs are surely to fill a niche in the search of porous materials for gas separation and heterogeneous catalysis. This project mainly deals with synthesizing hierarchal porous and hetero‐
structural metal‐organic frameworks for gas adsorption and catalysis. In specific, by tuning the chemical reaction kinetics and programmable ramping and cooling, binary or tertiary core‐shell structured MOF nanoparticles are expected to be obtained and act as highly efficient gas adsorbents and selective heterogeneous catalysts. Experimental The students will be highly involved in research methodology, inorganic chemistry, nanotechnology, catalysis and safety training. At the end of the project, the students are expected to write a publishable manuscript which is subject to the research results. 2 Assist. Prof. Dr. ZHAO Dan http://www.chbe.nus.edu.sg/faculty/chezhao N.A. CHBE Project 2 Project title Project description Nature of project eg exploratory, experimental, etc What participants are expected to achieve at the end of 8‐week attachment No. of participants able to host Supervisor Any other information/ requirements (eg programming skills, prerequisites, reading list, etc) Experimental study on utilization of biomass waste in a two‐stage system: Anaerobic Digestion and Gasification Anaerobic digestion and gasification are two leading technologies in biomass disposal in Waste‐to‐Energy field. In terms of energy density, the gas fuel produced from anaerobic digestion, with approximately 60 vol% CH4, has an advantage over gasification, with approximately 20 vol% H2 and 20 vol% CO. However, in terms of volume reduction, gasification shows an advantage, which means the solid residue produced from the anaerobic digestion is much more than gasification. Therefore, to further deal with the solid residue produced from anaerobic digestion, gasification is introduced as a second‐stage treatment process in this project. This two‐
stage system focuses on the conversion of biomass waste into energy, namely gas fuel in this project, in which CH4 is produced from anaerobic digestion process and CO/H2 is produced from gasification process. Typical biomass, like yard waste, food waste, sewage sludge and animal manure, will be analyzed in this system. Chemical test, like TGA, elemental analysis and ICP, will be done before conducting experiment in the two‐stage system. The produced gas in each stage will be collected and sampled for GC analysis. Comparison between different feedstocks will be made based on the overall energy converting ratio and the performance in each stage. Experimental Master related experimental skills and strengthen research abilities Give a report on the comparison between different feedstocks based on the performance in this two‐stage system 1 Prof WANG Chi‐Hwa http://cheed.nus.edu.sg/stf/chewch/index.htm Chemical engineering background Basic idea about anaerobic digestion and gasification CHBE Project 3 Project title Project description Mathematical Modeling of Nanoparticle Mediated Drug Delivery to Brain Tumor Cancer is one of the life‐threatening diseases among the world. Effective delivery of therapeutic agents to tumor cells is essential to the success of chemotherapies, especially the brain tumor treatment because of the blood‐brain barrier and blood‐tumor barrier. Nanoparticle encapsulated anticancer agents are developed as a controllable drug delivery system to enhance the treatment outcome. The transport of drug in brain tumor involves multiple biophysical and biochemical processes which are strongly dependent on the physicochemical properties of the drug and biological properties of the tumor. Owing to the complexities involved, mathematical models are adopted to identify the factors leading to effective drug delivery to brain tumors. In this study, a numerical platform will be developed to describe the hydraulic environment in brain tumor and drug transports through tumor microvasculature and interstitial space. The predicated drug concentrations will be used to evaluate the treatment effectiveness and compare the impact of each factor. Nature of project eg exploratory, experimental, etc What participants are expected to achieve at the end of 8‐week attachment No. of participants able to host Supervisor Any other information/ requirements (eg programming skills, prerequisites, reading list, etc) Exploratory, Mathematical Modeling 1. Basic achievement: examining the impacts of tumor and drug properties on drug delivery in brain tumor 2. Additional achievement: modeling the drug transport in real brain tumor reconstructed from medical images 1 Prof WANG Chi‐Hwa www.chbe.nus.edu.sg/faculty/chewch Literature summarizing and tracking skill Programming skills ChBE Project 4 Project title Project description Nature of project eg exploratory, experimental, etc What participants are expected to achieve at the end of 8‐week attachment No. of participants able to host Supervisor Any other information/ requirements (eg programming skills, prerequisites, reading list, etc) Utilization of Crab/Shrimp Shells There are three major components in shells, namely chitin, protein and CaCO3. We target to develop some method for the separate of the three components. In addition to that, we will look into various possible ways on how these fractions can be used in value‐added applications. Experimental He/she will know how to conduct basic experiments in separation, product analysis over GC and HPLC, and basic characterizations of the organic/inorganic components. 2 Asst Prof YAN Ning http://cheed.nus.edu.sg/stf/cheyann/index.html NA Host Departments: Department of Mechanical Engineering / Centre for Offshore Research & Engineering (me.nus.edu.sg) / (www.eng.nus.edu.sg/core) ME Project 7 Project title Project description Nature of project eg exploratory, experimental, etc What participants are expected to achieve at the end of 8‐week attachment No. of participants able to host Supervisor Any other information/ requirements (eg programming skills, prerequisites, reading list, etc) Multiphase Flow in Oil & Gas Pipelines In oil & gas production, a multiphase mixture of oil, water and gas flows through a pipeline for long distances. Due to differences in densities, viscosities, and other physical properties, various flow regimes, i.e. stratified, wavy, bubbly, slug, annular and dispersed flows, can develop as a result, depending on the superficial velocities of the fluids. Different flow regimes have different effects on the pressure drop, flow pattern, etc., and ultimately on the stability of the flow. This projects looks into the fundamentals of multiphase flow and multiphase equipment. Experimental. The work is carried on the NUS Multiphase Oil‐Water‐Air Flow Loop Facility. Students will have a better appreciation of multiphase flow in pipelines and a understanding of multiphase equipment used in oil and gas transportation. 2 Assoc Prof LOH Wai Lam http://www.me.nus.edu.sg/about‐us/academic‐groups/fluid‐mechanics
http://www.eng.nus.edu.sg/core/ http://news.nus.edu.sg/highlights/8230‐new‐r‐d‐thrust‐in‐offshore‐
engineering Understanding of fluid mechanics is necessary. Hence, both Mechanical Engineering as well as Chemical Engineering students can apply.