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Published on Syracuse.com with headline “Chemical engineer: Critics mischaracterize science behind advanced recycling”, Dr. Marco Castaldi’s recent letter to the editor responds to an op-ed article published therein which inaccurately described the processes employed in advanced recycling technologies as ‘burning’. The op-ed, authored by Judith Enck and Tok M. Oyewole, is headlined ‘Plastic burning “has no place in climate-forward NY”‘, inaccurately suggesting that the technology discussed therein, advanced recycling, involves the combustion of plastics. In addition to the absence of plastics combustion, the characterization of advanced recycling as a technology that should be banned from climate-conscious waste management strategies is also unsubstantiated by the most recent EPA analyses. Rather, there is consensus among sustainability experts performing detailed life cycle analyses that at present, advanced recycling should play a role in crafting of a balanced portfolio of solutions. That is, the sustainable waste hierarchy cannot be fully engaged without a technology for processing hard-to-recycle plastics such as flexible pouches, films, and tubes, and this is the primary focus of advanced recycling techniques.

CCL members Tasnuva Moutushi and Dr. Swanand Tupsakhare published their work with Dr. Castaldi in the journal Science of the Total Environment. The article is titled Abiotic decomposition of municipal solid waste under elevated temperature landfill conditions. Tasnuva Moutushi and  Dr. Swanand Tupsakhare studied the decomposition of solid waste under elevated temperature landfill conditions under controlled temperature and controlled heat flux in an experimental campaign in CCL. This is their second publication from this experimental campaign. The previous publication from this project was also in STOTEN, titled The Impact of pressure, moisture, and temperature on pyrolysis of municipal solid waste under simulated landfill conditions and relevance to the field data from elevated temperature landfill.

CCL Second-year PhD student, Kaitlyn Lawrence, was one of the recipients of the ‘2021-2022 Floyd Hasselriis Educational Support’ awards sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ (ASME) Materials and Energy Recovery Division. The award, established to support students and institutions interested in solid waste management and related fields, is named after the late Floyd Hasselriis, a major contributor to the fields of incineration and thermal treatment technologies and author of the foremost text on the topic of refuse-derived fuel.

CCL alumni Jeffrey LeBlanc published his work done with Devin Peck in Power Magazine. The article is titled Perspectives on Energy Recovery from U.S. Plastic Waste. While completing his PhD, Jeff LeBlanc worked in CCL studying pyrolysis of met coal to coke to understand the impact of secondary reactions during the coking process. Jeff came to CCL from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. In CCL, Jeff worked for 4 years to perform experiments and eventually complete his thesis defense. Congratulations on your continued success after leaving CCL, Jeff LeBlanc!

The Earth Engineering Center and WTERT-USA have appointed Dr. Snehesh S. Ail to the position of Associate Director. Dr. Ail will manage the industry partnered projects at EEC related to combustion and catalysis research, bio-fuels characterization, and innovative waste management strategies. Dr. Ail is a post-doctoral research associate in the Combustion and Catalysis Laboratory at the Department of Chemical Engineering, and has been an Adjunct Assistant Professor teaching Chemical Engineering Design.

Dr. Ail has authored 20 peer-reviewed research articles and conference papers, and a patent related to catalyst synthesis. Prior to joining CCNY, Dr. Ail worked at the Free University of Bolzano, Italy, where he focused on the design of bio-to-liquids (BTL) systems, biomass-CO2 co-gasification, and development of catalysts for Fischer Tropsch reactions.

Congratulations Dr. Ail!

CCL group member Tasnuva Moutushi presented her work titled “Investigation of Reactions Occurring in Municipal Solid Waste Residues” at the 8th International Conference on Engineering for Waste and Biomass Valorisation in virtual mode on May 31 – June 4, 2021. The presentations in this conference were video-recorded and sent in advance of the conference due to the spread of timezones over which presenters were participating from. Tasnuva’s presentation can be viewed here.

CCL group member Snehesh Ail presented his work titled “Investigating Environmental Impact of Reuse of Consumer Goods in New York City” at the 8th International Conference on Engineering for Waste and Biomass Valorisation in virtual mode on May 31 – June 4, 2021. The presentations in this conference were video-recorded and sent in advance of the conference due to the spread of timezones over which presenters were participating from. Snehesh’s presentation can be viewed here.

CCL alum Megan Webster will begin working at Horiba Scientific as a Product Engineer in Piscataway, NJ. Megan completed her doctorate from the City College of New York in 2019. Megan spent her time at CCL investigating the optoelectronic properties of ultrasmall quantum dots for light harvesting applications. Megan’s experience with CCL will allow her to rapidly adapt to her new role which requires designing custom spectrometers. Congratulations and good luck, Megan! 

Titled “The Scientific Truth about Waste-to-Energy,” Dr. Marco Castaldi’s recent publication outlines the most up-to-date information available on thermal conversion of municipal solid waste. A team of internationally-recognized experts in WTE reviewed the work, and it now exists as a resource for policy makers to reference in their evaluation of available bridge solutions for responding to the interconnected challenges associated with energy and the environment.

CCL collaborator Axel Fache published his work done with CCL in Chemical Engineering Science. The article is titled Fixed-bed reactors for exothermic reactions: A qualitative relation between start-up time and traveling waves velocity. Visiting researcher Axel Fache worked in CCL studying development of a catalytic methanation reactor for power-to-gas applications. Axel came to CCL from Laboratoire de thermique, énergétique et procédés (LaTEP), Pau, France. In CCL, Axel worked for 3 months to perform experiments, and to compare simulation results to experimental results of dynamic methanation. CCL researchers Micheal Lugo, Yegor Nikitin, and Tasnuva Moutushi are co-authors of the article as well as Dr. Marco Castaldi. Congratulations on the successful collaboration!