12th Annual Reed M. Izatt & James J. Christensen Lecture
Guest speaker and awardee Thomas F. Edgar, University of Texas at Austin
Sponsored by BYU Department of Chemical Engineering (College of Engineering) and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences)
Thurs. Feb. 20 | 11 AM
Brigham Young University, Joseph Smith Building Auditorium (140)
Energy Systems of the Future: Perspectives on Efficiency and Storage
Energy efficiency is beginning to receive increased attention as a way to reduce the use of fossil fuels and the resulting production of greenhouse gases. Sometimes coined as “negawatts” (vs. megawatts), increased energy efficiency also provides an avenue to reduce the carbon footprint and address the expected future legislation of cap and trade or a carbon tax. Process control and optimization are necessary technologies to operate plants in the most efficient way. Examples of where optimization can be used to minimize plant energy consumption will be presented. The increased use of renewable energy such as solar or wind power reduces carbon usage but adds a dynamic element to power production alternatives. Increased usage of thermal and other energy storage systems will also give industrial energy users some degrees of freedom to deal with the dynamic power conditions.
About Thomas F. Edgar
Thomas F. Edgar is Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Edgar received his B.S. degree in chemical engineering from the University of Kansas and Ph.D. from Princeton University. He has concentrated his academic work in process modeling, control, and optimization, and has authored over 500 articles and book chapters. Edgar has co-authored Optimization of Chemical Processes (McGraw-Hill, 2001) and Process Dynamics and Control, 4th Ed. (Wiley, 2016) and has received major awards from AIChE and ASEE. Dr. Edgar was the 1997 President of AIChE, is co-founder of the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition, and was previously Director of the UT Energy Institute. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.