75 years after D-Day, we salute our veterans
Are There Really No Solutions to Climate Change and Clean Energy? Bob Anderson UOP retiree Adjunct Professor of Chemical Engineering Illinois Institute of Technology
Let’s examine a few ideas ? x Further improvements to automobile design and fuels production Solar–photovoltaic Solar thermal Wind Turbines Nuclear
Bud Schweppe is reaching for his checkbook
1934 Chevrolet Boxcar
First attempt at aerodynamics
Tail fins and fender skirts and 6 miles/gal
Toyota Prius, an early hybrid 55 miles/gal
Tesla all electric for ~$100 K
Automobile improvements Over 120 years cars have become safer, more comfortable, more reliable, more efficient, and more powerful Dozens of manufacturers worldwide compete fiercely Oil industry had to compete fiercely and keep up with demands of the car companies and government ◦ Increasing octane number of gasoline ◦ Creation of leadfree gasoline ◦ Chemical composition of reformulated gasoline ◦ Better lubricants
Historical Development of Electric Car Around 1900, electric automobiles were introduced ◦ Heavy lead acid batteries ◦ Mostly used for in-town use Gasoline powered cars were thought to be dangerous ◦ One state required a person to walk in front of a car carrying a red flag to warn others (wouldn’t work on the Eisenhower today, the walker would get downtown way ahead of the car) ◦ When they broke down somebody yelled “get a horse!”
Gasoline won the battle Electrics were not practical for long trips Many brands were introduced, often produced by buggy makers Henry Ford developed the idea of a production line with the goal of making cars affordable to the average citizen Before electric starters, the driver had to pull a crank that started the engine by rotating the flywheel and often broke arms
1920’s and 1930’s Engines became more powerful (bootleggers and gangsters loved it) Electric starters were invented The compression ratio/gasoline octane race began Cars were hard to steer, brakes were ineffective Manual transmissions required frequent shifting to accelerate or climb hills
1940’s and 1950’s World War II required production to meet military requirements – no civilian cars Gasoline, rubber, metals were “unavailable” Postwar demand created large markets for large manufacturers such as Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler Power and speed became the basis for competition Radio and heater were popular options
Technology Evolution 50’s and 60’s Automatic transmissions Power brakes Power steering Air conditioning Catalytic converters for conversion of Carbon Monoxide and hydrocarbons in the exhaust Big V-8’s and big bodies (with tail fins) Mostly steel, and about 1/2” thick
Fuel Economy 4000 pound cars with 425 horsepower averaged 6-8 miles/gallon ($.50/gallon) High octane gasoline used TEL (tetra ethyl lead) Combination of effect of lead on human brains and catalytic and catalytic converters required lead to be phased out Aerodynamics similar to railroad box car
Impact of Lead Elimination Octane rating dropped about 10 numbers Engine compression ratios were dropped from 11:1 to 8:1 Reduced vehicle weight was one way to regain performance Engine technology began rapid evolution ◦ Fuel injection for better air/fuel ratio control ◦ More sophisticated camshafts allowed for optimum valve opening and closing
Foreign Cars Became Popular Japanese manufacturers were expert in smaller, more efficient vehicles Original Hondas and Datsuns were not well suited to US driving conditions and were not very reliable – remember toys made in Japan? Japanese learned about quality from W. Edwards Deming, a US statistician who was ignored by US car companies
Technology to Improve Fuel Economy Aluminum used for many body parts Plastics used for inside Lighter weight engines Aerodynamic styling Friction reduction Multi-speed automatic transmissions Radial tires
Government-mandated Fuel Economy Debate was between government-mandated vehicle design and setting standards and letting competition loose 20 miles per gallon became routine 55 mph speed limits intended to reduce fuel consumption and CO 2 emission (unpopular in Texas) Japanese demonstrated 30 mpg Previous administration’s goal had been 54.5 mpg (now dropped)
Technology to improve safety Antilock brakes Side impact channels Energy-absorbing front end Seat belts Air bags Collision avoidance systems Safety glass Blind spot alarms
Birth of the Hybrid Gasoline engines are terribly inefficient from zero to about 20 mph Idling engines at stoplights and railroad crossings waste fuel and create emissions Brakes work by converting the kinetic energy of the moving automobile to frictional heat – total waste – now regenerative braking recharges battery Electric motors are efficient while gasoline engines are not (90% vs 28%)
Summary of automobile technology We have come a long way ◦ Performance ◦ Environmental impact ◦ Safety ◦ Comfort ◦ Electricity coming back for another round But it took 120 years! ◦ Big companies ◦ Racing teams ◦ Entrepreneurs ◦ Market pressure
How did the oil business keep up?
Henry Ford started it all
Clarence G. Gerhold, one of many UOP Pioneers For 105 years, UOP, the company I worked, for has been right in the middle of the fracas Larry Gerhold started at UOP in 1928 from U of Illinois with an MS ChE degree First year on the job he figured out how to raise the octane number of gasoline Went on to develop technologies that are the foundation of the petrochemical industry Served many years as technical advisor to senior management Does anybody here recognize him?
Vladimir Ipatieff kept it going Born in Moscow 1867 died in Chicago 1952 Czar Nicholas and his family were shot in Ipatieff family vacation house July 17, 1918 Became a General in the Army Chemistry professor and head of the Science Academy Father of petroleum chemistry, explosives, catalysts Came to Northwestern and UOP (escape story) More than 500 patents Famous for the Ipatieff sample container Teacher of Val Haensel
World War II drove invention o Fluid Catalytic Cracking o Natural clay catalyst o 1000°F reactor 1350°F regenerator o Coke combustion provided heat of reaction o HF Alkylation o Synthetic Rubber
o Multi-story vessels o Catalyst circulation rate thousands of tons per hour o Couple hundred million dollars capital cost o Major opportunity for energy recovery
o Late 1940s, Vladimir Haensel at UOP proposed using platinum as a catalyst for reforming naphtha to high octane gasoline o High temperature in presence of hydrogen - 950 ° F o Initial response was ridicule, using an expensive jewelry material in an oil refinery! o 145 US patents, 600 commercial units
o Everybody wanted a sample of the catalyst to see if they could steal the invention o Remember President Reagan’s jelly beans? o Our lab guys made up a batch of catalyst using cadmium, cobalt, molybdenum, zinc, chrome, and a tiny bit of platinum
Do you remember Ethyl? (leaded gasoline) – what happened? Think about Flint, Michigan with their lead in drinking water We used to paint our houses and metal furniture with paint containing lead We used to put 3cc of tetraethyl lead (TEL) into each gallon of gasoline (.08%) for about 10 octane boost In crowded cities where kids played near streets, they were found to have high lead levels – bad news Lead was taken out of paint and the EPA said “take the lead out of gasoline”. 10 numbers is a lot to achieve by changing the refining processes, but we did and by early 70’s The government never fails to amuse me – while lead was being removed from our gasoline under force of law, the Chinese were allowed to sell their gasoline in the US with 4.6 cc/gal TEL (1970s)
Why must we buy gasoline with 10% ethanol Thank the EPA for that one, their solution to smog in LA, Chicago, Denver etc. Doesn’t it poke a finger in the Arab’s eye? Nope. Isn’t it great that we make it in America? Nope. Isn’t it cheaper? Nope. Does it clean up the exhaust? No. So who benefits? I’ll let you think about that one for a few minutes. What are the economics? Farmers looked at growing corn, taking it to a fermenter, and transporting. Farmers are smart. They found that the price they could sell ethanol for did not cover the cost of seed, plowing, planting, irrigating, cultivating, fertilizer, herbicides, insecticides, and harvesting labor. So the EPA said “How about we give you a bribe incentive of $.50 per gallon?” Oil doesn’t mix with water but it is fully miscible with politics
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