Since the 2018 agreement was forged between the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station’s (TEES) Gas and Fuels Research Center (GFRC) and the Texas A&M Energy Institute (TAMEI), Texas A&M University has expanded synergies in research, education, and outreach to propel advancements in responsible oil and gas exploration and production in both the US and Qatar.
TEES GFRC is a multidisciplinary research center led by Texas A&M University at Qatar with offices at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, representing different engineering programs, including chemical engineering, petroleum engineering, material engineering and mechanical engineering. The key objective of the center is to lead integrated research activities and provide Texas A&M University resources to support shale gas and natural gas exploration, production and monetization activities both in the United States and in Qatar.
“The synergistic alliance between TAMEI and GFRC has greatly enhanced the capabilities and innovation in energy efficiency, emission reduction, and water technology research at Texas A&M University,” explained Prof. Faruque Hasan, TAMEI Assistant Director of Decarbonization, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University, and Kim Tompkins McDivitt ’88 and Phillip McDivitt ’87 Faculty Fellow.
With common interests in the pursuit of the advancement of knowledge and science related to energy-related and energy-intensive processes, systems, and opportunities, TAMEI and GFRC signed an agreement in March 2018, to pursue mutually beneficial research opportunities and enable innovative educational programs. As a result of the alliance, research initiatives between the organizations with a combined value of $3.4 million have been awarded. The awarded projects enhance resilience of the manufacturing value chain, improve efficiency of air separation units, cleanly process energy emissions, and treat water used in shale gas production. Joint work on these research projects has been facilitated between US and international doctoral students who are shared between the two organizations. Furthermore, GFRC faculty contribute to TAMEI’s academic offerings by teaching two Masters of Science in Energy courses. Together, GFRC and TAMEI have jointly organized eight national and international events focusing on oil and gas topics.
“The collaboration with the Texas A&M Energy Institute has been very productive, and it offers the GFRC a unique opportunity to work with TAMEI faculty affiliates and students on projects of critical important to the state of Texas, Qatar and the world,” says Prof. Nimir Elbashir, a Professor of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University Qatar and the Director of TEES Gas & Fuels Research Center. “Our students and researchers benefit greatly from this collaboration. Personally, I have the utmost pleasure of collaborating with TAMEI leadership and colleagues as well as teaching in the Masters of Science in Energy program.”
The following emphasizes collaborative efforts that have leveraged the GFRC and TAMEI partnership:
Leadership Collaboration
- TAMEI Interdisciplinary Academic Council Prof. Mahmoud El-Halwagi, Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University, Bryan Research and Engineering Chair, and Managing Director of GFRC, serves as the Deputy Chair of the TAMEI Interdisciplinary Academic Council
Research Collaborations
- National Science Foundation Planning Grant: Engineering Research Center for Resiliency Enhancement and Disaster-Impact Interception (READII) in the Manufacturing Sector, led by Prof. Mahmoud El-Halwagi. The research effort anticipates, mitigates, and responds to devastating impacts of natural disasters on manufacturing value chains while protecting surrounding communities. (2018-2019)
- Department of Energy Clean Energy Smart Manufacturing Innovation Institute (CESMII) Smart Manufacturing for Chemical Processing Energy Efficient Operation of Air Separation Unit, led by Prof. Stratos Pistikopoulos, University Distinguished Professor, Dow Chemical Chair, Professor of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University, and the Director of the Texas A&M Energy Institute (2018-2021)
- Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station and Texas A&M Qatar CARGEN (CARbon-GENerator) reactor technology, designed by Prof. Nimir Elbashir and Prof. Mahmoud El-Halwagi. CARGEN processes methane and captured CO2 to produce both Syngas, a valuable precursor to numerous hydrocarbon feedstocks that drive Qatar’s economy, and high-quality solid carbon nanotubes without releasing more CO2 into the atmosphere. (2019)
- American Institute of Chemical Engineers RAPID Deploying Intensified, Automated, Mobile, Operable, and Novel Designs “DIAMOND” For Treating Shale Gas Wastewater, led by Prof. Mahmoud El-Halwagi. The project developed integrated design and operating approaches for modular systems that can be deployed in the treatment of flowback and produced water resulting from shale gas production. (2019-2021)
- Department of Energy “COMPLETE” – COMPuter-aided, model-based process intensification LEarning, Training, and Education, led by Prof. Faruque Hasan. Project outcomes included a comprehensive educational and workforce-development training course in the area of modeling and simulation for process intensification and modular chemical process intensification. (2020)
Educational Collaborations
- TAMEI Masters of Science in Energy Faculty – Prof. Nimir Elbashir and Prof. Mahmoud El-Halwagi: ICPE 613 Natural and Shale Gas Monetization: Technologies, Fundamentals, Economics and Applications – Focus on natural and shale gas in energy market and the potentials to grow; major monetization processes including production, treatment, processing and conversion; key economic and technical aspects as they pertain to the processing technologies and the supply chains of natural and shale gas.
- TAMEI Masters of Science in Energy Faculty – Prof. Mahmoud El-Halwagi: ICPE 624 Energy-Water-Nexus – Focus on the energy-water nexus including the fundamentals, technologies, applications, and economics; focus on energy production, conversion, and utilization; connection with water production, treatment, delivery, and usage.
- Joint Ph.D. Students – Currently, three doctoral students are shared between the GFRC and TAMEI and participate in joint research collaborations.
Outreach and Engagement
- TAMEI Distinguished Lecture Series in Energy Speaker: Prof. Nimir Elbashir. Presentation title: Natural Gas Processing Research at Texas A&M University to highlight GFRC research activities focused on designing novel reactors and products processing technologies to convert natural gas and CO2 to ultra-clean fuels and value-added chemicals. (2017)
- American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Natural Gas Utilization Workshop. AIChE, GFRC, TAMEI, and other partners assembled leaders in downstream natural gas conversion across industry, academia and government to discuss various perspectives on hurdles to technology implementation. (2018)
- GFRC and TAMEI Joint International Workshop Monetizing Shale and Natural Gas Workshop in Celaya, Mexico. TAMEI, GFRC, and Instituto Tecnológico de Celaya, Mexico brought together representatives from government organizations, future academic partners and stakeholders, and the private sector to create worldwide partnerships in shale gas monetization. (2019)
- TAMEI Distinguished Lecture Series in Energy Speaker: Prof. Nimir Elbashir. Presentation title: Novel technology for CO2 conversion to carbon nanotubes: from the micro- to macro-scale, a multiscale optimization approach to evaluate the use of renewable resources towards the energy transition and the effect opportunities that it presents for society. (2020)
- GFRC and TAMEI Joint Energy Seminar Speaker: Dr. Paul Stuart, a Professor of Chemical Engineering at Polytechnique Montréal. Presentation title: 2020 is not 2010: Creating Competitive Advantage in the Bioeconomy as Part of the Circular Economy to discuss factors impacting the way bioeconomy strategies are evolving, including the emergence of circular economy concepts and the increasingly sophisticated competitive analysis of bioeconomy projects being used by industry. (2020)
- GFRC and TAMEI Joint Energy Seminar Speaker: Dr. Jayant D Divey, a Polyolefins Technology Consultant. Presentation title: Polyolefins Technologies – Emerging Trends, Challenges & Future Directions to explore the determining factors for different premium technologies that might limit polyethylene and Polypropylene refinery byproducts. (2021)
- GFRC and TAMEI Joint Energy Seminar Speaker: Dr. Guiyan Zang, Research Scientist at the MIT Energy Initiative. Presentation title: Life-Cycle and Techno-Economic Analysis: Synthetic-Fuel Production and Other Applications to introduce the life cycle and techno-economic analysis results of synthetic-fuel production and other applications. (2023)
- GFRC and TAMEI Joint Energy Seminar Speaker: Dr. Mariano Martín, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Salamanca, in Salamanca, Spain, and leader of the Sustainable processes and products lab. Presentation title: Multiscale Analysis for a Social Energy Transition: Waste and Power to X to Power Process Design and Deployment to discuss challenges regarding the production of power from alternative sources and the need for backup when solar and wind energy are not available. (2023)
- GFRC and TAMEI participated in organizing the Natural Gas Utilization Conference of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Spring Meeting (2023 and 2024).
About Gas and Fuels Research Center GFRC is a multidisciplinary research center led by Texas A&M University at Qatar involving 19 professors from Texas A&M’s main campus in College Station and the Qatar campus. The center draws on experience from different engineering programs including chemical engineering, petroleum engineering, material engineering, and mechanical engineering to lead the integrated research activities and the resources of Texas A&M to support shale gas and natural gas exploration, production and monetization activities both in the United States and in Qatar.
About Texas A&M University at Qatar Since the fall of 2003, Texas A&M University at Qatar has offered Bachelor of Science degrees in chemical engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering and petroleum engineering. Texas A&M at Qatar also offers two graduate degrees in chemical engineering: a Master of Science and a Master of Engineering. In addition to engineering courses, Texas A&M at Qatar provides instruction in science, mathematics, liberal arts and the humanities. The curriculum offered at Texas A&M at Qatar are identical to the ones offered at the main campus in College Station, Texas. Courses are taught in English and in a coeducational setting.