PNNL and OSU to help energy-intensive industries
December 16, 2016 
RICHLAND, Wash. - Getting more production output from a chemical operation or performing the same process more efficiently in a much smaller footprint could save U.S. manufacturers billions of dollars and create new jobs. It's known as process intensification and 2 Northwest institutions are part of the team that's been tapped to make it happen.
The D.O.E.'s Pacific Northwest National Lab and Oregon State University are part of the newest institute under the Manufacturing U.S.A. Initiative. D.O.E. recently announced that the American Institute of Chemical Engineers will lead the institute, named Rapid Advancement in Process Intensification Deployment.
The RAPID institute will focus on finding breakthrough technologies to enhance efficiency and productivity in industries manufacturing products such as oil and gas, pulp and paper, and chemicals. These improved technologies have the potential to save in excess of $9 billion annually in process costs.
PNNL and OSU will co-lead the Module and Component Manufacturing Focus Area for the institute, leveraging years of collective experience in process intensification technology development. This collaboration includes the Microproducts Breakthrough Institute in Corvallis, Ore., which has been active since 2003 in the commercialization of microchannel-based technologies for process intensification.
"The goal is to advance lower-cost process intensification equipment in partnerships with chemical equipment suppliers who are involved with RAPID," said Ward TeGrotenhuis, senior research engineer at PNNL and RAPID focus area co-leader.
The PNNL/OSU team will redesign and ready a wide variety of devices for commercial production. The technologies could come from any of the 75 companies, 34 academic intuitions, 7 national labs and other organizations from across the country that make up the RAPID Manufacturing Institute.
PNNL also leads the Northwest Regional Manufacturing Center - a related effort focused on smart manufacturing. OSU is also part of the Northwest team for that Institute as well.
The RAPID institute leverages up to $70 million in federal backing from DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy over 5 years, subject to appropriations, combined with in excess of $70 million in private cost-share commitments from the Institute partners.
Tags: Energy, Fundamental Science, Technology Transfer and Commercialization, Energy Efficiency, Chemistry
Interdisciplinary teams at Pacific Northwest National Lab address many of America's most pressing issues in energy, the environment and national security through advances in basic and applied science. Founded in 1965, PNNL employs 4,400 staff and has an yearly budget of nearly $1 billion. It is managed by Battelle for the D.O.E.'s Office of Science. As the single biggest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, the Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information on PNNL, visit the PNNL News Center, or follow PNNL on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter.
