Mexican-American ontological experience. The meditative processes associated with the making of the artist's book itself are an active forging of a connection to the past and an upholding of that legacy, but also a history lesson that might allow the viewer to make space for a new reality long silenced.

 

Several works in the exhibition are spiritually oriented such as the Otomí “Spirit Figures” or the Hawaiian lananu ‘u mamao or “Oracle Tower” entitled Pa ‘aikalani (Grounded to the Heavens) by Dalani Tanahy. The wispy and ethereal materiality of bark paper lends itself well to the art and expression of fleeting and translucent light that of a specter. The resulting exhibit is a diverse spectrum of these innumerable qualities: delicate and hardened, narrative-driven or abstract, and encaustic, coptic, or chemically treated.

 

Ecologically, the mutuality of bark paper’s production is clear to see. UNESCO’s 2005 decree of bark cloth as a “Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage” is a testament to its reemergence in contemporary artistic practices. Artists across time are called to action, creating a renewed awareness of the need for emphatic preservation of marginalized cultural practices previously destroyed. Artists are reclaiming and preserving marginalized cultural traditions, using sustainable methods to transform terrestrial resources into mediums for memory and ritual. Bark paper isn’t just historical; it’s social, cultural, and political. It has endured colonization, intellectual suppression, and mass re-education efforts throughout history, making its preservation crucial for understanding our collective past.

 

Bark Rhythms: Contemporary Innovations & Ancestral Traditions serves as a profound testament to the enduring significance of bark paper within global cultural heritage. By bridging past and present, the artists not only showcase the beauty and versatility of this ancient practice but also provoke reflection on its ecological, social, and political implications. As we marvel at the intricate works on display, we are reminded of the resilience of marginalized traditions and the imperative of their preservation in shaping a more inclusive and enlightened future. Through the medium of bark paper, we glimpse not only history but also the potential for transformative dialogue and mutual understanding across cultures and generations.

Students in the Pulp and Paper Certification Program at Georgia Tech had real-world experiences outside the classroom this spring. Over 30 students taking the Emerging Technologies in the Manufacture of Forest Bioproducts course (CHBE/ME 4730/8803) took field trips to Greif’s Austell location and GranBio’s Thomaston facility in Georgia. The course is taught by Chris Luettgen, professor of the practice and initiative lead for the process efficiency & intensification of pulp paper packaging & tissue manufacturing initiative at Georgia Tech's Renewable Bioproducts Institute. 

At the Sweetwater Mill, one of Greif’s three paper mills in Austell, students saw the pressure cylinder machine, a pre-coater that smoothens the board for printability, and a curtain coater that makes value-added products such as one-sided chipboard packaging for retail displays. The mill runs 100% recycled fiber into stock cores, gypsum board liners, and chipboard packaging. The tour included converting the machine roll (called a parent roll) into smaller rolls that will be further converted at downstream customers’ locations. 

At the GranBio’s facility in Thomaston, Tech students were able to see a biorefinery at work where a wide variety of lignocellulosic feedstocks, including wood chips, were getting converted into multiple bioproducts. They had a firsthand look at the SEW (sulfur dioxide, ethanol, and water) process, which was quite different from the traditional kraft pulping process. It creates a highly acidic mush, with a high pH, instead of fiber, which could then be used to make biofuels and other value-added products. In addition, they were able to discuss the recent DOE award to scale their process to a 100 ton/day biomass to Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).  The company explained that they were still in site selection and would be hiring engineers in the near future.

About the Pulp and Paper Certification

The College of Engineering at Georgia Tech offers a certificate program in pulp and paper. The certificate consists of 12 credit hours focused on forest bioproduct topics, including lecture- and laboratory-based courses. Since its inception in 1990, more than 100 students have completed their certification.

The foundational course in the program introduces students to the history of pulp and paper manufacturing from its origins and covers the forest bioeconomy, wood structure, chemistry, and fiber morphology, and goes through the unit operations utilized to transform lignocellulosic feedstocks into value-added products, including chemical and mechanical pulping, recycled fiber operations, chemical recovery, bleaching, stock preparation, and papermaking.

The emerging technologies course focuses on the future of bioproducts industries. Case studies on the use of biomass in the production of value-added products are covered. Included are fluff pulp and dissolving pulps, alternative fibers, specialty papers, packaging, and printed electronics, biorefining technologies, nanocellulose and bio composites, and renewable polymers.

The pulp and paper laboratory course introduces students to pulping operations, bleaching, hand sheet formation, pulp and paper physical properties, and recycled fiber. The final course allows students to pursue research on special problems under supervision from an RBI-affiliated faculty.

Blair Brettmann, associate professor, Solvay Faculty Fellow, and Raymond and Stephanie Myers Faculty Fellow in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, co-leads the interface of polymer science and wood-based materials initiative with Will Gutekunst at Georgia Tech’s Renewable Bioproducts Institute. 

Brettmann’s current research focuses on developing technologies that enable multicomponent, rapidly customizable product design, with a specific focus on polymer systems. 

Brettmann received her Ph.D. in chemical engineering at MIT in 2012 working with the Novartis-MIT Center for Continuous Manufacturing under Bernhardt Trout. Later, she worked on polymer-based wet coatings and dispersions for various applications at Saint-Gobain Ceramics and Plastics. She went on to serve as a postdoctoral researcher in the Institute for Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago with Matthew Tirrell. Below is a brief Q&A with Brettmann in which she discusses her research focus areas and how they influence the interface of polymer science and wood-based materials research at Georgia Tech.

• What is your field of expertise and at what point in your life did you first become interested in this area?

My expertise is in polymer science and materials design for manufacturability. I got excited about this area after my Ph.D. when I worked for Saint-Gobain and saw firsthand the challenges of bringing new products to market, especially those made of complex mixtures of materials. 

• What questions or challenges sparked your current renewable bioproducts research? What are the big issues facing your research area right now?

Sustainability of materials and process is a top priority right now across many industries, and renewable bioproducts research is helping to improve this. But it is still tough to design and scale up products made with these materials because of the heterogeneity of the raw bio-based materials and recycled materials that now serve as the raw materials. Engineers are essential to design systems that can be robust despite the heterogeneities and still produce consistent, high-quality products.

• What interests you the most in leading the research initiative on the interface of polymer science and wood-based materials? Why is your initiative important to the development of Georgia Tech’s Renewable Bioproducts research strategy?

One of the most promising directions to decrease the impact of plastics on the environment is to replace some of the synthetic plastic materials with natural products, such as cellulose from wood. My initiative aims to build better connections between polymer scientists working to design improved plastics and experts in bio-based materials to seed research that can work toward this goal. Polymers also serve as important tools to improve the properties of cellulose and wood-based products and can enable new materials with increased functionality that still have sustainable materials at their core.

• What are the broader global and social benefits of the research you and your team conduct on the interface of polymer science and wood-based materials?

We work to improve the sustainability of material products while addressing specific challenges related to manufacturing and scale-up, which can speed up the adoption of these more sustainable products in industry. We take a wide view of the problem and have even worked on a project to understand consumer choices in recycling: If people don’t recycle the material, our efforts to make recyclable products will not have an impact!

• What are your plans for engaging a wider Georgia Tech faculty pool with the broader renewable bioproducts community?

Using symposia, social events, and student-centered networking, I will bring the broad Georgia Tech Polymer Network community together with the RBI community.

• What are your hobbies?

Water polo and swimming. I train with the Atlanta Rainbow Trout, who practice at the Georgia Tech pool.

• Who has influenced you the most?

 I’m constantly learning from people around me!

Bark Rhythms: Contemporary Innovations & Ancestral Traditions features historical examples of hand-beaten bark papers, barkcloth, and traditional beaters, paired with the work of contemporary artists from global communities who use bark fiber materials and techniques in innovative and unexpected ways.

 

The Paper Museum worked with Jill Powers and Lisa Miles to produce Bark Rhythms. The goal was to create an exhibit that showcased the ongoing practices of barkcloth and bark papers. Powers and Miles connected with artists around the world to develop an exhibit that is interesting and engaging, especially for people who have no experience with these materials. “One of the aspects emphasized by Bark Rhythms is that these practices are living— that the people who make bark paper and barkcloth are producing something that is important and relevant to the communities they are part of. That element really spoke to us as important to emphasize in an exhibit. Lisa and Jill wanted to ensure Bark Rhythms was as comprehensive as our space allowed,” says museum director Virginia Howell. The exhibit features contemporary artwork, but there are historic examples included throughout. In addition to artwork, the tools –beaters—used in production are prominently featured. This includes about a dozen wood beaters acquired by Dard Hunter in the first quarter of the 20th century. 

 

In the world of handmade paper, the definition of paper has long venerated European and Asian traditions, which employ moulds to form sheets with macerated pulp. Bark paper and bark cloth are created by hand-beating the cooked or fermented inner bark of certain trees with a shaped stone, wood, or metal beating implement. Bark Rhythms seeks to elevate and honor Indigenous beaten bark fiber traditions that have been undervalued or excluded from exhibitions and scholarship within the field of papermaking and beyond. Highlighting the manifestation of ancient traditions into distinctive, contemporary art practices, this exhibition connects the dots between bark paper and barkcloth, and it shines a light on makers who maintain a deep respect for their materials, techniques, tools, and cultural origins. Although not comprehensive worldwide, Bark Rhythms focuses on bark paper and bark cloth traditions from Mexico, Hawaii, the Polynesian Islands, Indonesia, and Uganda, and marks the first time many of these artists have exhibited work in the United States.

 

Bark Rhythms opened at the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 6, 2024. A celebratory reception will be held on Thursday, July 11 from 4-7pm. Sponsored by North American Hand Papermakers and the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking, Bark Rhythms is curated by papermakers Jill Powers and Lisa Miles as part of NAHP's second Guest Curated Exhibition Triennial.

 

Events

Wednesday, May 29 • Virtual talk: Sheila Nakitende & Tedi Permadi: Ugandan barkcloth, Indonesian Duluang bark paper

Tuesday, June 18 • Virtual talk:  James Ojascastro & Cekouat Elim León Peralta :  Bast fibers for bark paper & cloth, Papel amate from Mexico

Thursday, July 11 • Exhibit Reception 4-7pm

Wednesday, Aug 7 • Virtual talk:  Lehuauakea, Dalani Tanahy, & Cora-Allan Lafaiki Twiss: Kapa bark cloth from Hawai‘i, Hiapo bark cloth from Niue

All events are free and open to the public. The virutal talks are held on Zoom. To register, visit the museum website (www.paper.gatech.edu) or email Anna.Doll@rbi.gatech.edu

 

Exhibiting Artists

Adnan Rusdi, Bobby Britnell, Cekouat Peralta, Cora-Allan Twiss, Dalani Tanahy, Enrique Chagoya, Faris Wibisono, Fred Mubuti, Gaal Cohen, Jennie Frederick, Lehuauakea, Maria Montaño Guerrero, Maribel Portela, Mufid Sururi, Sheila Nakitende, Tedi Permadi

 

About the Curators

Jill Powers is a paper and book artist, primarily working with hand cast and beaten bark fiber. Her art takes the form of sculpture, installation art, and book arts, and focuses on environmental themes. Powers has a graduate degree from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. She lives in Boulder Colorado, where she taught at Naropa University for 20 years, founding courses in 3D Ephemeral Media and Eco Art. Her work is in the Lieberman Collection and the RCW Museum of Papermaking, and many private and public collections. She has taught bark fiber courses at many places, including the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology in Oregon, the Honolulu Museum of Art in Hawaii, the Denver Botanical Gardens, and the Museo de las Americas. 

 

Lisa Miles is a papermaker and book artist who creates one-of-a-kind, hand-beaten bark paperworks. Originally from New England, Miles is based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She holds an MFA in Book Arts from the University of Iowa Center for the Book, a BFA in Graphic Design from the New England School of Art & Design, and an AA in Printmaking from the Santa Fe Community College. In 2016, she researched  papel amate in Mexico, with the support of a University of Iowa Stanley Graduate Award for International Research. In 2017–2018, she received a Fulbright Arts Research grant for her project, “Bark Paper, Plant Dyes, and the Book Arts in Indonesia,” where she studied daluang bark paper in Java and fuya bark cloth in Sulawesi. In 2018, Miles was awarded the Holle Award for Excellence in Book Arts from the University of Alabama. Her work is held in public and private collections.

When looking for an environmentally friendly and cost-effective way to clean up contaminated water and soil, Georgia Tech researchers Patricia Stathatou and Christos Athanasiou turned to yeast. A cheap byproduct from fermentation processes — e.g., something your local brewery discards in mass quantities after making a batch of beer — yeast is widely known as an effective biosorbent. Biosorption is a mass transfer process by which an ion or molecule binds to inactive biological materials through physicochemical interactions.

When they initially studied this process, Stathatou and Athanasiou found that yeast can effectively and rapidly remove trace lead — at challenging initial concentrations below one part per million — from drinking water. Conventional water treatment methods either fail to eliminate lead at these low levels or result in high financial and environmental costs to do so. In a paper published today in RSC Sustainability, the researchers show how this process can be scaled.

“If you put yeast directly into water to clean it, you will need an additional treatment step to remove the yeast from the water afterward,” said Stathatou, a research scientist at the Renewable Bioproducts Institute and an incoming assistant professor at the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. “To implement this process at scale without requiring additional separation steps, the yeast cells need a housing.”

“Additionally, because yeast is abundant— in some cases, brewers even pay companies to haul it away as a waste byproduct — this process gives the yeast a second life,” said Athanasiou, an assistant professor in the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering. “It’s a plentiful low, or even negative, value resource, making this purification process inexpensive and scalable.”

To develop a housing for the yeast, Stathatou and Athanasiou partnered with MIT chemical engineers Devashish Gokhale and Patrick S. Doyle. Gokhale and Stathatou are the lead authors of this new study that demonstrates the yeast water purification process’s scalability.

“We decided to make these hollow capsules— analogous to a multivitamin pill — but instead of filling them up with vitamins, we fill them up with yeast cells,” Gokhale said. “These capsules are porous, so the water can go into the capsules and the yeast are able to bind all of that lead, but the yeast themselves can’t escape into the water.”

The yeast-laden capsules are sufficiently large, about half a millimeter in diameter, for easy separation from water by gravity. This means they can be used to make packed-bed bioreactors or biofilters, with contaminated water flowing through these hydrogel-encased yeast cells and coming out clean.

Stathatou and Athanasiou envision using these hydrogel yeast capsules in small biofilters consumers can put on their kitchen faucets, or biofilters large enough to fit municipal or industrial wastewater treatment systems. But to enable such scalability, the yeast-laden capsules’ ability to withstand the force generated by water flowing inside such systems needed to be studied as well.

To determine this, Athanasiou tested the capsules’ mechanical robustness, which is how strong and sturdy they are in the presence of waterflow forces. He found they can withstand forces like those generated by water running from a faucet, or even flows like those in water treatment plants that serve a few hundred homes. “In previous attempts to scale up biosorption with similar approaches, lack of mechanical robustness has been a common cause of failure,” Athanasiou said. “We wanted to make sure our work addressed this issue from the very beginning to ensure scalability.”

“After assessing the mechanical robustness of the yeast-laden capsules, we made a prototype biofilter using a 10-ml syringe,” Stathatou explained. “The initial lead concentration of water entering the biofilter was 100 parts per billion; we demonstrated that the biofilter could treat the contaminated water, meeting EPA drinking water guidelines, while operating continuously for 12 days.”

The researchers hope to identify ways to isolate and collect specific contaminants left behind in the filtering yeast, so those too can be used for other purposes.

“Apart from lead, which is widely used in systems for energy generation and storage, this process could be used to remove and recover other metals and rare earth elements as well,” Athanasiou said. “This process could even be useful in space mining or other space applications.”

They also would like to find a way to keep reusing the yeast. “But even if we can’t reuse yeast indefinitely, it is biodegradable,” Stathatou noted. “It doesn’t need to be put into an industrial composter or sent to a landfill. It can be left on the ground, and the yeast will naturally decompose over time, contributing to nutrient cycling.”

This circular approach aims to reduce waste and environmental impact, while also creating economic opportunities in local communities. Despite numerous lead contamination incidents across the U.S., the team’s successful biosorption method notably could benefit low-income areas historically burdened by pollution and limited access to clean water, offering a cost-effective remediation solution. “We think there’s an interesting environmental justice aspect to this, especially when you start with something as low-cost and sustainable as yeast, which is essentially available anywhere,” Gokhale says.

Moving forward, Stathatou and Athanasiou are exploring other uses for their hydrogel-yeast purification method. The researchers are optimistic that, with modifications, this process can be used to remove additional inorganic and organic contaminants of emerging concern, such as PFAS — or “forever” chemicals — from the water or the ground.

Citation: Devashish Gokhale, Patritsia M. Stathatou, Christos E. Athanasiou, and Patrick S. Doyle, “Yeast-laden Hydrogel Capsules for Scalable Trace Lead Removal from Water,” RSC Sustainability. DOI:

Funding: Patricia Stathatou was supported by funding from the Renewable Bioproducts Institute at Georgia Tech. Devashish Gokhale was supported by the Rasikbhai L. Meswani Fellowship for Water Solutions and the MIT Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab (J-WAFS).

 

The Center for Sustainable Communities Research and Education (SCoRE — formerly SLS), in collaboration with the Strategic Energy Institute (SEI), the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems (BBISS), the Renewable Bioproducts Institute (RBI), and the Social Equity and Environmental Engineering Lab (SEEEL), launched the Energy Equity, Environmental Justice, and Community Engagement Faculty Fellows Program in November 2023. In this program, Georgia Tech faculty learn how to work with communities, bringing together their academic knowledge and the local expertise of communities that has been developed through lived experience and long-standing social action.

The inaugural fellows include 24 Georgia Tech faculty from five Colleges, as well as a faculty colleague from Georgia Gwinnett College and a partner from the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance, who are building relationships with each other and with community partners in the areas of energy equity and environmental justice. Since the launch, they have engaged in a wide array of events, including community benefit and development workshops, site visits to community-based organizations across the Atlanta region, and university-community gatherings and symposia.

The program is expected to result in both collective and individual deliverables. Collective deliverables include the development of network mapping tools to facilitate collaborations inside and outside Georgia Tech, a set of principles for conducting community-engaged research, a reflective essay on faculty training for community-engaged research, and ideas for future activities to facilitate university-community and interdisciplinary team formation. Fellows individually determine their deliverables, which run the gamut from exploring partnerships for a specific research project to writing a societal impact statement for a tenure package.

More broadly, the program aims to grow Georgia Tech’s collaborative expertise in community-engaged research by forming a supportive network of faculty interested in community-engaged sustainability research and education.  

Faculty Affiliate: Patritsia Stathatou, Research Scientist, Renewable Bioproducts Institute, Georgia Tech

Sustainable energy sources and environmental justice go hand in hand. Although such technologies aim to minimize environmental impacts of modern societies, without considering issues of environmental justice and energy equity, these solutions can inadvertently perpetuate disparities by disproportionately benefiting certain communities while harming others. Bridging the gap between technological advancements and community benefits is paramount to creating an equitable energy future for all.

This program provides a unique opportunity to explore these interconnections, enhancing my knowledge in integrating community values and concerns into my research on alternative fuels and renewable energy sources. I am particularly excited about the hands-on approach of the program, which emphasizes listening sessions and workshops, allowing fellows to gain direct insights from various stakeholders. I hope that, through active participation in these sessions, I can further my understanding of the challenges faced by local communities and incorporate these insights into actionable solutions in my research.

In my project, I'm in a group crafting a reflective essay about our experiences with Community Engaged Research training. Our goal is to translate the insights gained from this pilot program into a publishable piece. Additionally, I'm acquiring valuable insights into the development of Broader Impact Statements and Community Benefits Plans, crucial parts of proposals for securing federal funding from NSF and DoE, respectively.

Faculty Affiliate: Sofia Perez-Guzman, Assistant Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Tech

The fellowship program has been a fantastic experience. I never imagined how much I would learn from this program about properly engaging with communities. As researchers, we might think we want to hear the needs that communities face to provide them with solutions. That is different than the way community-driven research should work. I’ve learned that researchers need to gain the communities’ trust, be present and participate in their events, and, more importantly, work at their pace and for their interests rather than push our research agendas for our professional benefit. I know there is still a lot more I must continue learning, but what I’ve learned so far has been an eye-opener that is making me rethink how to approach my research and its social aspect.

My project focuses on the social performance of supply chains, and I am seeking to put more emphasis on the “social” part of my research by making it more community-driven. That is why I applied for the fellowship. I am advancing two current projects as part of the fellowship. One relates to increasing food accessibility to vulnerable populations via community-driven freight transportation solutions. I want to bring food closer to people and do it by co-designing solutions with the communities. The second project relates to forming a team to pursue research on enhancing community resilience to extreme weather events for the mobility of people and goods. The fellowship and a Sustainability Next seed grant from BBISS are helping me move forward with this project.

 

With the nation’s goals to net zero well underway and the world moving toward sustainable production methods, biorefineries play a crucial role in our transition to a greener future. These multifaceted facilities convert biomass into biofuels, biochemicals, and bioproducts; foster a circular economy; and reduce reliance on fossil fuels while promoting environmentally friendly industrial practices.

The Renewable Bioproducts Institute (RBI) at Georgia Tech recently hosted a workshop on the Emerging Bioeconomy and the Future of Biorefining. The event cultivated new partnerships as more than 75 attendees from academia, national laboratories, and industry shared and learned about the cutting-edge developments in the emerging field.

Carson Meredith, executive director of RBI, said, “The workshop provided an immersive experience for the attendees with access to knowledge, opportunities to network, and a platform for collaboration to positively impact their understanding and involvement in this rapidly evolving field. I saw a lot of human connections being made, a lot of people shaking hands, and having conversations off to the side. That’s exactly why we hold such workshops — to exchange ideas within the Institute as well as between researchers in universities, industry, and national labs.”

The program started with a keynote by B. Frank Gupton, professor of chemical and life science engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University, on creating resilient national supply chains for essential medicines and the need for waste reduction through process chemistry improvements to reduce the carbon footprint in the pharmaceutical industry.

Various presentations from RBI’s research faculty demonstrated the depth of research in the field of bioeconomy and biorefineries. Topics included integrated biorefining processes by multicomponent separations and catalytic conversion, lignin-derived phenol as the new platform of biorefineries, catalytic conversion of organic acids, data-driven biorefinery process control, hot topics in lifecycle assessment, and more.

A highlight of the annual workshop was the student poster session that showcased the diversity of research happening in the renewable bioproducts field. Over 25 RBI Fellows, spanning chemical and biomolecular engineering, mechanical engineering, materials science and engineering, civil and environmental engineering, and chemistry and biochemistry presented their research to a highly engaged audience.

Andreas Villegas, president of the Georgia Forestry Association and the dinner keynote speaker, addressed the need for educating the community about working forests and their potential to create carbon-neutral products and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Working forests in the state of Georgia are managed with a growth-over-harvest-rate of 50% and are a natural solution to the major challenges in sustainable forests and communities.

Blake Simmons, keynote speaker from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, discussed the importance of intellectual property models and licensing technology models that will allow companies to access new processes emerging in the field.

Mi Li, assistant professor of biorefinery and sustainable materials from the University of Tennessee, presented his research on the modification of plant cell walls, while Bronson P. Bollock, professor of forest biometrics and quantitative timber management at the University of Georgia, presented the current issues and factors in the quantification of forest biomass feedstocks.

Kim Nelson, the chief technology officer of GranBio, addressed the opportunities and challenges in meeting the global demand for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and low-carbon bioproducts. Nelson presented GranBio’s patented AVAP technology that uses woody biomass to produce SAF, renewable diesel, electricity, and other byproducts like BioPlus nanocellulose for tires in the process.

“At this moment, there is a tremendous federal, state, and industrial focus on developing the U.S. bioeconomy,” Meredith said. “RBI's vision is that pulp producers and users of wood extractives and byproducts have an opportunity to develop higher margin products from woody biomass residues, including plastics, pharmaceuticals, and fuels, without disrupting current paper and lumber markets. Traditional petrochemical producers of these products have an opportunity to substitute more carbon-neutral sources as feedstocks. Our workshop sought a conversation around the opportunities and challenges from feedstock to the marketplace.

In January, Georgia Tech researchers were awarded three grants as a part of the Department of Energy’s Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization multi-topic funding. The awards include 49 high-impact, applied research, development, and pilot-scale technology validation and demonstration projects that will reduce energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions in conjunction with cross-sector industrial decarbonization approaches.

The Georgia Tech funding includes a project, in the topic area of Decarbonizing Forest Products, on innovative refining, paper forming, and drying to eliminate CO2 emissions from paper machines. Funded at $3.1 million, the project is led by Carson Meredith, professor and James Harris Faculty Fellow in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and executive director of the Renewable Bioproducts Institute (RBI). Collaborators include co-PI Cyrus Aidun, professor of mechanical engineering; Patritsia Stathatou, research scientist at RBI; and Aruna Weerasakura, senior research engineer. External collaborators include Fort Valley State University, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and several RBI member companies.

Meredith’s project focuses on decarbonization in energy-intensive drying, paper forming, and pulping processes and will combine recent deflocculation breakthroughs in fiber refining with low-water, multiphase paper forming. The innovations will facilitate the cost-effective implementation of advanced electrical drying technologies in the paper industry. By taking advantage of the increasing fraction of non-fossil electricity in the U.S., electrified drying, if implemented partially (50%), has the potential to reduce the generation of non-biogenic emissions by over 10 million metric tons of CO2e annually.

"I am excited because the new project will utilize the multiphase forming laboratory that is under construction in the Paper Tricentennial Building, representing the first major expansion in lab space there since the 1990s,” said Meredith.

Valerie Thomas, the Anderson-Interface Chair of Natural Systems and professor of industrial and systems engineering and public policy, is a co-PI in a $1.45 million project titled “Mild Co-Solvent Pulping to Decarbonize the Paper and Forest Products Sector,“ led by the University of California, Riverside.

Thomas’ project, also under the topic area of Decarbonizing Forest Products, aims to enhance Co-solvent Enhanced Lignocellulosic Fractionation (CELF) technology into a more environmentally sustainable alternative to traditional kraft pulping. CELF technology will be applied to optimize the production of dissolving pulp used in the manufacturing of extruded textile fibers and will also produce dissolving lignin as a by-product that can serve as a natural resin binder or a renewable ingredient for producing industrial adhesives and binders. This technology has the potential to reduce carbon intensity by 50 – 75% and operating costs by 10 – 20%.

Tim Lieuwen, David S. Lewis Jr. Chair and professor in aerospace engineering and executive director of the Strategic Energy Institute, is co-PI along with Vishal Acharya, principal research engineer and Benjamin Emerson, principal research engineer at Georgia Tech in a $3.25 million project titled “Omnivore Combustion System,” led by GTI Energy, an Illinois-based technology company.

Lieuwen’s project, under the topic area of Low-Carbon Fuels Utilization R&D, will design and demonstrate a scaled, adaptable omnivore combustion system (OCS) that can accommodate a continuously varying blend of low-carbon fuels with ultra-low nitrous oxide emissions, including natural gas-hydrogen blends, syngas, and biogas. The project will demonstrate a full-scale OCS for at least 100 hours and will focus on three aspects — improving performance, operation stability and safety, and fuel flexibility — and can potentially be used for industrial furnace applications in high carbon-emitting industries.

“The industrial sector is large in both its significance for our economy and its negative climate impacts, and each of these projects addresses significant challenges for the decarbonization of this critical sector,” Lieuwen said.

The projects are part of DOE’s Technologies for Industrial Emissions Reduction Development (TIEReD) Program, which invests in fundamental science, research, development, and initial pilot-scale demonstrations projects to decarbonize the industrial sector — currently responsible for a third of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Over 200 museum professionals recently descended upon Athens, Georgia, for the annual meeting of the Georgia Association of Museums (GAM).   They arrived from all regions of the state, from Rome to Thomasville to Savannah.  The theme of the 2024 conference was “Finding the Right Frequency: Museums and Communities in Harmony.”  Attendees participated in a variety of sessions and workshops ranging from developing education programs to designing  eye-catching exhibits and visiting with vendors whose products and services target the field.   Many Athens-Clarke County museums and cultural institutions opened their doors to attendees for tours and events. The highlight of the week was the annual GAM Awards Luncheon.

This year the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking was presented the Special Project (under $1,000) award by GAM President Marcy Breffle and Award Committee Co-Chairs Melissa Swindell and Karin Dalton for the project “Big Paper.”   “We are very pleased to present this award to a very deserving recipient,” said GAM President Breffle.  “Our members represent a good cross section of museums and cultural organizations in Georgia’s communities, large and small,” she added.  “We are happy to honor institutions, staff members, volunteers, patrons, exhibits, and special projects that have excelled in providing inspiring programs and leadership,” she concluded. 

Under the guidance of museum staff Jerushia Graham and Anna Doll, “Big Paper” is a project in which groups from nearby colleges and universities experience making large sheets of paper – 4’ x 6’—in a communal setting. From preparing fiber by hand beating plant material to working together to fill a papermaking mold, students worked together to create something huge! The inaugural event was in April, 2023, and had participants from the University of Georgia, Spelman College, Kennesaw State University, and the Georgia State University Art Club. The event returns in 2024 with noted papermaker Tom Balbo, founding director of the Morgan Conservatory, leading the communal event.

Museum Director Virginia Howell says, “The Paper Museum is honored to receive this award. It is a testament to the hard work of the museum team, and the project has allowed us to build on relationships with so many people who are interested in learning more about the papermaking process and how it can be an incredibly fun yet challenging experience.”

Big Paper returns on April 13, 2024.

Matthew Realff, professor and David Wang Sr. Fellow in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, leads the Circular Carbon Economy Research Initiative in the Strategic Energy Institute and the Next Generation Refineries Research Initiative in the Renewable Bioproducts Institute at Georgia Tech. Realff co-directs the Direct Air Capture Center (DirACC), which coordinates research across the Institute aimed at the removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. Realff’s broad research interests are in the areas of process design, simulation, and scheduling. His current research is focused on the design and operation of processes that minimize waste production by recovery of useful products from waste streams, and the design of processes based on biomass inputs. In particular, he is interested in carbon capture processes both from flue gas and dilute capture from air as well as the analysis and design of processes that use biomass.

• What is your field of expertise and at what point in your life did you first become interested in this area?

My background is in chemical engineering with a focus on process design and simulation, which is part of the field of process systems engineering. I have been interested in this general topic since first setting foot on the campus of Imperial College London in 1982, and subsequently pursued it as my Ph.D. topic. I first started thinking about direct air capture of CO2 in 2011 and about circular carbon from CO2 in 2016.

• What questions or challenges sparked your current energy research? What are the big issues facing your research area right now?

I believe that managing CO2 emissions will be the biggest challenge of the next 50 to 100 years. We will need to have negative emissions, as we are emitting too much, and pulling CO2 directly out of the atmosphere will be required because we are going to continue to emit. Creating technological solutions to provide negative emissions is one of the biggest challenges, as they need to be cost-effective and environmentally and socially less damaging than the emissions they capture. The biggest issue facing my research is understanding the phenomena that are involved in direct air capture and translating that understanding into engineered systems that are low-cost, have low environmental impact, and are socially beneficial.

• What interests you the most leading the research initiative on circular carbon economy? Why is your initiative important to the development of Georgia Tech’s energy research strategy?

The circular carbon economy is a systems problem in the broadest sense. This means that we must embrace a multidisciplinary approach to synthesize effective solutions. I want to emphasize the word “effective” here — we must embrace a wide range of measures of performance from energy efficiency to social justice because without improving along many dimensions we will be unlikely to be successful. It is this multidimensional, multidisciplinary research effort that interests me, as I love to find ways to bring people together to synthesize different knowledge into effective solutions. Georgia Tech is a world leader in direct air capture technology — as demonstrated by our new Direct Air Capture Center (DirACC). Our advances in this topic area can provide a base from which to develop approaches to carbon utilization, and other research efforts in electro, bio, and thermo chemical technologies can enable closed pathways using carbon as an energy carrier.

• What are the broader global and social benefits of the research you and your team conduct on circular carbon economy?

One vision for our energy and material systems is to have a much greater local production and consumption of energy using renewable resources. A circular carbon economy based on CO2 from the air; water from local sources including the air; and solar, wind, or biomass-based energy could be local and would have many transactions between local parties. This could serve to not only reduce global emissions but also to provide more opportunities for communities to benefit from the production of energy as opposed to having many transactions that transfer money outside of the community.

• What are your plans for engaging a wider Georgia Tech faculty pool with the broader energy community?

DirACC is one way we hope to connect faculty to the ecosystem of companies that are developing and deploying DAC technology. We hope that the challenges that these companies are articulating can be translated into research topics for the faculty affiliated with the center. The Department of Energy’s efforts to establish the DAC Hubs provides us with other opportunities to engage faculty around social and environmental justice issues associated with deploying energy technologies such as direct air capture. I hope that faculty will see themselves participating in these efforts and reach out to be included in the network of researchers on these topics.

• What are your hobbies?

My main hobby is playing a card game called Magic: The Gathering. I have played this since 1994 and have enjoyed many friendships formed as a dueling wizard. I also enjoy reading, particularly science fiction and steampunk literature, as well as history.

• Who has influenced you the most?

Professor Roger Sargent at Imperial College was one of the founders of the field of process systems engineering. His speech on elevation to the position of professor at Imperial in 1963 has had a profound impact on the direction of my research and educational activities.