Iowa State University has plans to work with the Department of Energy and American Institute of Chemical Engineers at the 10th Manufacturing USA Site -- to be known as the Rapid Advancement in Process Intensification Deployment (RAPID) Institute -- which will focus on making chemical engineering more productive and efficient.
“This institute is intended to take technologies -- ideas that are well beyond basic research -- and translate them into workable processes that can be demonstrated in the field,” Iowa State Bioeconomy Institute Director Robert Brown, who will lead RAPID’s Distributed Biorefinery program, said. “We believe these projects fit the institute well and can very quickly advance. These are also projects that will be developed at a scale that addresses the commercially significant issues.”
The institute recently received $70 million in funding from the Department of Energy, which will be released over five years. Of that funding $8 million will go towards developing and testing bio-refineries with modular design technology.
“Our investment in this cross-cutting technology is an investment in the future of U.S. manufacturing,” David Friedman, acting assistant secretary at the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, said. “As we expand the Manufacturing USA network, we provide greater opportunities for businesses of all sizes to solve their toughest technology challenges and unleash major savings in energy-intensive sectors like oil and gas, pulp and paper-making and other industries.”
Iowa State researchers to work at new manufacturing site
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