Abstract :
The increasing global resource demand, inefficient resource utilization, and rapid waste disposal have led to grave concerns regarding resource depletion and environmental pollution. These escalating concerns emphasize a need to design efficient and scalable processes, and the concept of circular economy lies at the heart of addressing this need. However, a persistent challenge to implementing circularity is bridging the gap between the fundamental physics and the scalability of the proposed process at an industrial scale. To develop such feasible and sustainable solutions, the vision of my research group is to devise multiscale molecular-to-systems approaches that enable integrated decision-making for design considerations across various length scales (spanning molecular interactions, unit operations, and manufacturing).
The seminar talk will showcase the application of such approaches in pharmaceutical manufacturing and waste rubber tire recycling. In pharmaceutical manufacturing, the approach allowed the integration of particle physics within the manufacturing process, involving the development of accurate process models to be incorporated within a predictive digital framework of the entire manufacturing process. The framework thus enables process adaptability, reducing material losses and effective resource utilization. In the second application, the developed multiscale approach permitted information integration from molecular scales to process development for the safe reuse of waste tire components. It involved computational screening of efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly solvents using molecular physics with process development for solvent-based extraction of end-of-life tire components.
In summary, such multiscale approaches enable information integration across all levels of the product-process lifecycle and can be used for informed decision-making to drive effective resource management and sustainable solutions.