I completed my PhD in Earth and Environmental Engineering at Columbia University in the City of New York in May 2009. Immediately following, I was appointed Associate Research Scientist for the Earth Engineering Center of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Prior to Columbia University, I completed MS in Geography and Environmental Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University and finished undergraduate in Chemical Engineering in South Korea.
Publications/Presentations:
Peer-Reviewed Journals:
Eilhann Kwon, Zhixiao Zhang, & Marco J. Castaldi, “An Investigationinto Municipal Solid Waste Gasification Enhancement Using CO2”, Environmental Science & Engineering, in review
Eilhann Kwon, Zhixiao Zhang, Marco J. Castaldi, & Yong Chi “Aninvestigation into the comprehensive thermal degradation of waste tires” Environmental Science & Engineering, in review
Eilhann Kwon & Marco J. Castaldi, “Fundamental understanding ofthe thermal degradation mechanisms of waste tires and their air pollutant generation in N2 atmosphere”, Environmental Science & Technology, 43 (15), pp 5996-6002
Scott Kaufman, Nikihil Krishnan, Eilhann Kwon, Nicholas Themelis,Helmut Rechberger, “Examination of the fate of carbon in waste management systems through statistical entropy & life cycle analysis”, Environmental Science & Technology, 42 (22), pp 8558–8563, 2008
Eilhann Kwon & Marco J. Castaldi, “An Investigation of Mechanism ofPolycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) Initiated from the Thermal Degradation of Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR)”, Environmental Science & Technology, 42 (6), 2175-2180, 2008
Marco J. Castaldi, Eilhann Kwon, & Brian Weiss, “Beneficial use of WasteTires: An integrated gasification and combustion process design via TGA of SBR and IR”, Journal of Environmental Engineering and Science, 24, p. 1160-1178, 2007
Marco J. Castaldi & Eilhann Kwon, “An investigation into the mechanismsfor Styrene-Butadiene Copolymer (SBR) conversion in combustion and gasification environments”, International Journal of Green Energy, 4, p. 45-64, 2007-05-29
Journal Publications in Progress:
Eilhann Kwon, Zhixiao Zho, Marco J. Castaldi, & John Dooher, “Aninvestigation into the syngas enhancement via coal gasification using a drop tube reactor under various atmospheres”, Ind. Eng. Chem., in preparation
Eilhann Kwon & Marco J. Castaldi, “ An investigation into the syngasproduction form Municipal solid Waste gasification under various pressure and CO2 concentrations”, Ind. Eng. Chem., in preparation
Peer-Reviewed Proceeding Publications:
Eilhann Kwon, Kelly J. Westby, & Marco J. Castaldi “An investigationinto the synga production enhancement from municipal solid waste gasification under various CO2 concentration atmospheres” 27th Annual Conference (International) on Incineration and Thermal Treatment Technologies; Air & Waste Management Association, 2009
Eilhann Kwon, Kelly J. Westby, & Marco J. Castaldi, “An investigationinto the syngas production from MSW gasification under various pressures and CO2 concentration atmospheres”, ASME International NAWTEC 17, 2009
Eilhann Kwon & Marco J. Castaldi “An investigation of the thermaldegradation mechanism of waste tire through chemical analysis at high temperature”, 27th Annual Conference (International) on Incineration and Thermal Treatment Technologies; Air & Waste Management Association, Paper #37, 2008
Scott Kaufman, Nikhil Krishnan, Eilhann Kwon, and Nickolas Themelis,Marco J. Castaldi, “Use of Statistical Entropy and Life Cycle Analysis to Evaluate Global Warming Potential of Waste Management Systems”, ASME International NAWTEC 16-1914, 2008
Eilhann Kwon & Marco J. Castaldi “An Investigation of the ThermalDegradation Mechanism of Waste Tires through Chemical Analysis Including Light Hydrocarbons, Benzene Derivatives, and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons at High Temp”, ASME International NAWTEC 16-1915, 2008
Eilhann Kwon & Marco J. Castaldi, “Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH)Formation from Combustion and Gasification of Tires: Mechanistic Understanding and Reduction Potential”, 26th Annual Conference (International) on Incineration and Thermal Treatment Technologies; Air & Waste Management Association, Paper #64, 2007
Eilhann Kwon & Marco J. Castaldi, “Investigation of TGA on waste tiresand chemical analysis including light hydrocarbons, substituted aromatics, PAH”, ASME International NAWTEC 15-3218, 2007, p.183-190
Eilhann Kwon & Marco J. Castaldi, “Thermo-Gravimetric analysis (TGA)of Combustion and Gasification of Major Constituents of Waste Tires: Comparison between SBR and IR”, 25th Annual Conference (International) on Incineration and Thermal Treatment Technologies; Air & Waste Association, Paper #11, 2006
Eilhann Kwon & Marco J. Castaldi, “Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH)Formation in Thermal Degradation of Styrene Butadiene Copolymer (SBR)”, ASME International NAWTEC 14-3188
Marco J. Castaldi & Eilhann Kwon, “Thermo-Gravimetric Analysis (TGA)of combustion and gasification of Styrene-Butadiene Copolymer”, ASME International NAWTEC13-3149, 2005
Conference Presentations:
Eilhann Kwon, Kelly J. Westby & Marco J. Castaldi, “An investigation intothe syngas production from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) gasification under CO2 concentration atmospheres” 28th Annual Conference (International) on Incineration and Thermal Treatment Technologies, Cincinnati, OH, USA, 2009
Eilhann Kwon, Kelly J. Westby & Marco J. Castaldi, “An investigation intothe syngas production from Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) gasification under various pressures and CO2 concentration atmospheres” ASME International NAWTEC 17, Chantilly, VA, USA, 2009
Eilhann Kwon & Marco J. Castaldi, “An investigation into the thermaldegradation of waste plastics in various atmosphere” WTERT, New York, NY, USA, 2008
Eilhann Kwon & Marco J. Castaldi, “Scrap tire in Waste-to-Energy Plants:Treatment and Emission Control”, AICH, Philadelphia, PA, USA, 2008
Eilhann Kwon & Marco J. Castaldi, “An investigation of the thermaldegradation mechanism of waste tire through chemical analysis at high temperature”, 27th Annual Conference (International) on Incineration and Thermal Treatment Technologies, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 2008
Eilhann Kwon & Marco J. Castaldi, “An Investigation of the ThermalDegradation Mechanism of Waste Tires through Chemical Analysis Including Light Hydrocarbons, Benzene Derivatives, and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons at High Temp”, ASME International NAWTEC 16, Philadelphia, PA, USA, 2008
Eilhann Kwon & Marco J. Castaldi, “Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH)Formation from Combustion and Gasification of Tires: Mechanistic Understanding and Reduction Potential”, 26th Annual Conference (International) on Incineration and Thermal Treatment Technologies; Air & Waste Management Association, Phoenix, AZ, USA, 2007
Eilhann Kwon & Marco J. Castaldi, “Investigation of TGA on waste tiresand chemical analysis including light hydrocarbons, substituted aromatics, PAH”, ASME International NAWTEC 15, Miami, FL, USA, 2007
Eilhann Kwon & Marco J. Castaldi, “Thermo-Gravimetric analysis (TGA)of Combustion and Gasification of Major Constituents of Waste Tires: Comparison between SBR and IR”, 25th Annual Conference (International) on Incineration and Thermal Treatment Technologies; Air & Waste Association, Savannah, GA, 2006
Eilhann Kwon & Marco J. Castaldi, “Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH)Formation in Thermal Degradation of Styrene Butadiene Copolymer (SBR)”, ASME International NAWTEC 14, Tampa, FL, USA, 2006
Eilhann Kwon & Marco J. Castaldi, “Beneficial use of Waste Tires: Anintegrated gasification and combustion process design via TGA of SBR and IR”, New York, NY, USA, 2006
Marco J. Castaldi & Eilhann Kwon, “Thermo-Gravimetric Analysis (TGA)of combustion and gasification of Styrene-Butadiene Copolymer” ASME International NAWTEC 13, Orlando, FL, USA, 2005
Marco J. Castaldi & Eilhann Kwon, “Characterization of combustion andgasification of Styrene-Butadiene Copolymer”, The 229th ACS National Meeting, in San Francisco, CA, 2005
Eilhann Kwon & Marco J. Castaldi, “Thermo-Gravimetric Analysis (TGA)of combustion and gasification of main constituents of a tire” WTERT, New York, NY, USA, 2005
Description of Research:
My research projects is in the area of fuel generation via thermal treatment processes (Gasification & Pyrolysis) using various feedstocks including coal, biomass, and municipal solid waste (MSW). An ultimate goal of the research is to establish practical methodologies for carbon management in terms of improving efficiency and achieving environmental sustainability. For instance, heterogeneous solid feedstocks such as MSW via a steam gasification process prove to be a potential source for generating usable products including CO (~30%), H2 (~25%) and CH4 (~10%). In addition, MSW steam gasification with the use of carbon dioxide enables attainment of high efficiency and pollutant reduction. Thus, these programs permit optimization of the thermal treatment process while enabling the utilization of various feedstocks. This can result in the production of a distribution of useful gaseous products while minimizing CO2 production or enabling its incorporation into the product. Finally, catalytic applications using the thermal treatment products and the employment of suitable catalysts will be investigated aimed at yielding more desirable products through improved conversion and selectivity. These research projects will be integrated in order to exploit CO2 as a feedstock, enabling the conversion processes to tailor the products so as to be suitable for a variety of purposes.
