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The Kenan Center for the Utilization of Carbon Dioxide in Manufacturing has been established as an official center jointly administered by NC State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with a special partnership with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The center's main laboratory is located in Partners I building on the NC State Centennial Campus. Chancellor Fox received official approval from the University of North Carolina Board of Governors for the establishment of the center in August.
Supported by industry partners and funding from the Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology and Science, the center fosters collaborative, multidisciplinary research into applications for a new class of detergents that can be used in carbon dioxide for a wide range of industrial applications. Dow Chemical, DuPont, Eastman Chemical and B.F. Goodrich are among the center's 16 industrial members. The partnership is designed to support university-industry cooperation to achieve environmental improvement while maintaining manufacturing competitiveness and increasing economic growth.
Dr. Joseph DeSimone, professor of chemical engineering at NC State and the Mary Ann Smith professor of chemistry at UNC-CH, and Dr. Ruben G. Carbonell, Hoechst Celanese professor of chemical engineering and head of the Department of Chemical Engineering at NC State, will serve as co-directors.
The new center was developed as an extension of research being conducted by DeSimone into the uses of carbon dioxide as a detergent. DeSimone developed the chemistry behind the new solvents that may make many types of manufacturing processes more environmentally friendly. Center-supported researchers will develop ways to convert manufacturing processes that currently use organic, aqueous and halogenated solvents to the more ecological carbon dioxide-based processes.
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