PNNL

Karthikeyan Ramasamy, bioenergy expert and chief chemical engineer at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), recently served as a co-guest editor on the virtual American Chemical Society (ACS) Energy & Fuels journal issue, “Recent Advances in Biomass and Wastes Thermochemical Processing.”

The special issue, published in ACS Energy & Fuels on February 21, 2022, highlighted recent advances in biomass and wastes thermochemical processing. Ramasamy was joined by Manuel Garcia-Perez, department chair and professor of biological systems engineering at Washington State University.

The issue focused on four areas: fundamentals of biomass thermochemical reactions, liquefaction technologies, catalytic upgrading/refining, and techno-economic analysis/materials.

“This special issue received many submissions,” said Ramasamy. “It was a very difficult process as we received so many excellent papers, but after a rigorous peer-review process we accepted 15 manuscripts.”

Beyond PNNL and Washington State University, accepted manuscripts included researchers from national and international institutions, such as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Universidade de Lisboa, Curtin University, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Michigan Technological University, RTI International, Aarhus University, the University of Idaho, New Mexico State University, the Universidad de Cartagena, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Ramasamy joined PNNL in 2009. He is an alternate councilor and former treasurer of the ACS Catalysis Science and Technology Division and the director of the Fuels and Petrochemical Division within the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

He also led a workshop in 2020 that culminated in the report “Hydrothermal Liquefaction: Path to Sustainable Aviation Fuel.” The report served as a call for action for the biofuels industry.