Heather D. Willauer (born 1974) is an American
analytical chemist
Analytical chemistry studies and uses instruments and methods to separate, identify, and quantify matter. In practice, separation, identification or quantification may constitute the entire analysis or be combined with another method. Separati ...
and
inventor working in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, at the
United States Naval Research Laboratory
The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. It was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, applied research, technological ...
(NRL). Leading a research team, Willauer has patented a method for removing dissolved
carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is trans ...
(CO
2) from
seawater
Seawater, or salt water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has appr ...
, in parallel with
hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic ...
(H
2) recovered by conventional
water electrolysis
Electrolysis of water, also known as electrochemical water splitting, is the process of using electricity to decompose water into oxygen and hydrogen gas by electrolysis. Hydrogen gas released in this way can be used as hydrogen fuel, or remi ...
. Willauer is also searching to improve the
catalyst
Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...
s required to enable a continuous
Fischer–Tropsch process
The Fischer–Tropsch process is a collection of chemical reactions that converts a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, known as syngas, into liquid hydrocarbons. These reactions occur in the presence of metal catalysts, typically at temperatu ...
to recombine
carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simple ...
(CO) and
hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic ...
gases into complex
hydrocarbon
In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic, and their odors are usually weak or ...
liquids to
synthesize jet fuel for Navy aircraft.
Especially significant for the Navy is the possibility of maintaining
naval air operations in remote areas without depending too much on long-distance transport of jet fuel across oceans. The Navy is also studying the feasibility of constructing on-shore facilities capable of synthesizing
kerosene
Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...
from
hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic ...
and
CO2, both extracted from
seawater
Seawater, or salt water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has appr ...
constituents. Because of the very high electrical power required by
water electrolysis
Electrolysis of water, also known as electrochemical water splitting, is the process of using electricity to decompose water into oxygen and hydrogen gas by electrolysis. Hydrogen gas released in this way can be used as hydrogen fuel, or remi ...
to produce considerable amounts of hydrogen, nuclear power plants or
ocean thermal energy conversion
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) uses the ocean thermal gradient between cooler deep and warmer shallow or surface seawaters to run a heat engine and produce useful work, usually in the form of electricity. OTEC can operate with a very hi ...
(OTEC) are necessary to fuel the industrial installations built on-shore on remote islands close to the sea in strategic locations.
Education
Willauer attended
Berry College in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
, graduating with a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1996.
In mid-1999 she participated in the 11th International Conference on Partitioning in Aqueous Two-Phase Systems, held in
Gulf Shores, Alabama
Gulf Shores is a resort city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 9,741.
Geography
Gulf Shores is located on the Gulf of Mexico at 30°16'4.069" North, 87°42'5.285" West (30.267797, −87.7 ...
. In 2002, she earned a doctorate in
analytical chemistry
Analytical chemistry studies and uses instruments and methods to separate, identify, and quantify matter. In practice, separation, identification or quantification may constitute the entire analysis or be combined with another method. Separati ...
from the
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...
, writing her thesis on "Fundamentals of phase behavior and solute partitioning in ABS and applications to the paper industry," the "ABS" an abbreviation for "
aqueous biphasic systems". She began working with the NRL as an associate, then in 2004 she advanced to the position of research chemist.
[
]
Career
Willauer started researching biphasic systems and phase transition
In chemistry, thermodynamics, and other related fields, a phase transition (or phase change) is the physical process of transition between one state of a medium and another. Commonly the term is used to refer to changes among the basic states o ...
s after graduating from Berry College. In 1998 she studied aqueous biphasic systems (ABS) for the potential of recapturing valuable dyes from textile manufacturing effluent. She investigated ion
An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge.
The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by conve ...
s and catalyst
Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...
s.
In the 2000s, Willauer began studying methods for extracting CO2 and H2 from seawater, for the purpose of reacting these molecules into hydrocarbons by using the Fischer–Tropsch process
The Fischer–Tropsch process is a collection of chemical reactions that converts a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, known as syngas, into liquid hydrocarbons. These reactions occur in the presence of metal catalysts, typically at temperatu ...
. She also investigated modified iron
Iron () is a chemical element with Symbol (chemistry), symbol Fe (from la, Wikt:ferrum, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 element, group 8 of the periodic table. It is, Abundanc ...
(Fe) catalyst
Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...
s and studied zeolite
Zeolites are microporous, crystalline aluminosilicate materials commonly used as commercial adsorbents and catalysts. They mainly consist of silicon, aluminium, oxygen, and have the general formula ・y where is either a metal ion or H+. These p ...
(nanoporous aluminosilicate
Aluminosilicate minerals ( IMA symbol: Als) are minerals composed of aluminium, silicon, and oxygen, plus countercations. They are a major component of kaolin and other clay minerals.
Andalusite, kyanite, and sillimanite are naturall ...
) catalyst supports for recombining these molecules into jet fuel.
Previous studies had concluded that CO2, under the form of the bicarbonate anion (HCO3–) dominant (96% mole fraction
In chemistry, the mole fraction or molar fraction (''xi'' or ) is defined as unit of the amount of a constituent (expressed in moles), ''ni'', divided by the total amount of all constituents in a mixture (also expressed in moles), ''n''tot. This ex ...
) in the seawater inorganic carbon species could not be economically removed from seawater.[ ] However, by acidifying seawater by means of an adapted electrolysis cell with cation permeable membranes (dubbed a three-chambered electrochemical acidification cell), it is possible to economically convert HCO3– into CO2 at a pH lower than 6 and to increase the extraction yield. In January 2011, the NRL installed a prototype of seawater electrolysis cell at Naval Air Station Key West
Naval Air Station Key West , is a naval air station and military airport located on Boca Chica Key, four miles (6 km) east of the central business district of Key West, Florida, United States., effective 2007-10-25
NAS Key West is an air ...
in Florida.
In 2017, Willauer ''et al.'' were granted a patent for a extraction device from seawater, in the form of an electrolytic- cation exchange module (E-CEM). The E-CEM is seen as a "key step" in the production of synthetic fuel from seawater. Other researchers named in the patent are Felice DiMascio, Dennis R. Hardy, Jeffrey Baldwin, Matthew Bradley, James Morris, Ramagopal Ananth and Frederick W. Williams.
Feasibility of jet fuel synthesis
Willauer ''et al.'' (2012) estimated that jet fuel could be synthesized from seawater in quantities up to per day, at a cost of three to six U.S. dollars per gallon. Willauer ''et al.'' (2014) showed that the Fischer-Tropsch catalyst could be modified to synthesize various fuels such as methanol and natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
, as well as the olefins that can be used as the building blocks for jet fuel.
Willauer ''et al.'' calculated that about of seawater must be driven through the process to obtain the quantities of hydrogen and CO2 necessary to synthesize one gallon of jet fuel.
Seawater was chosen because it contains 140 times more CO2 by volume than the atmosphere, and conventional water electrolysis also yields H2. The equipment for processing seawater is much smaller than that for processing air. Willauer considered that seawater was the "best option" for a source of synthetic jet fuel. By April 2014, the Willauer's team had not yet made fuel to the quality standard required for military jets, but they were able in September 2013 to use the fuel to fly a radio-controlled model airplane powered by a common two-stroke internal combustion engine.
Because the process requires a considerable input of electrical energy (~ 250 MW electricity mainly for the H2 production by water electrolysis and also to a lesser extent for the CO2 recovery from seawater), it cannot be performed on a large ship, even on a nuclear aircraft-carrier. The installations processing seawater to obtain H2 and CO2 (in fact CO), the two essential ingredients necessary for the Fischer–Tropsch process
The Fischer–Tropsch process is a collection of chemical reactions that converts a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, known as syngas, into liquid hydrocarbons. These reactions occur in the presence of metal catalysts, typically at temperatu ...
, must be constructed on-shore, close to the sea, on islands in strategic remote locations (''e.g.'', Hawai, Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
, Diego-Garcia) and powered by a nuclear reactor, or by ocean thermal energy conversion
Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) uses the ocean thermal gradient between cooler deep and warmer shallow or surface seawaters to run a heat engine and produce useful work, usually in the form of electricity. OTEC can operate with a very hi ...
(OTEC).
Publications
Papers
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Patents
* Filed: December 2, 2010. Granted: November 17, 2011.
* Filed: June 25, 2009. Granted: November 20, 2012.
* Filed: October 28, 2010. Granted: February 25, 2014.
* Filed August 10, 2012. Granted March 4, 2014.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willauer, Heather
1974 births
Analytical chemists
Berry College alumni
Living people
University of Alabama alumni
Place of birth missing (living people)
Date of birth missing (living people)
People from Fairfax Station, Virginia
21st-century American inventors