Welcome to Alternative Fuels from Biomass Sources!
Course Overview
This course will examine the chemistry of technologies of bio-based sources for power generation and transportation fuels.
When you successfully complete this course, you will be prepared to:
- describe various biomasses that can be utilized for energy and fuel generation;
- explain the composition of various processes necessary for biomass processing;
- utilize the necessary chemistry, as well as mass and energy balances, that would be utilized in a biorefining facility;
- analyze how to utilize biofuels in current fuel infrastructure;
- illustrate what is required in a biorefinery.
Instructor Information
Dr. Hilal Ezgi Toraman, Virginia S. and Philip L. Walker Jr., Faculty Fellow, joined the Department of Chemical Engineering and John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering at Penn State University as a tenure-track Assistant Professor in Fall 2019. Her research is co-funded by the Institutes of Energy and the Environment at the Penn State University. Dr. Toraman has been recently named the Virginia S. and Philip L. Walker Jr. Faculty Fellow at the Penn State University for her contributions in teaching, research, and service as a Fuel Science Faculty. Prior to joining the Penn State faculty, Dr. Toraman served as a postdoctoral researcher with the Delaware Energy Institute at the University of Delaware under the guidance of Dion G. Vlachos. She received her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Ghent University in 2016 under the guidance of Kevin M. Van Geem and Guy B. Marin (2012-2016). Dr. Toraman’s research was in the field of thermochemical reaction engineering for upgrading complex feedstocks such as biomass and plastic waste. Her Ph.D. was supported by Ghent University Graduate Research Fellowship. She continued her research in experimental and computational investigation of shale gas conversion to fuels and chemicals between 2017 and 2019 in the group of Dion G. Vlachos at the Delaware Energy Institute. Her expertise is reaction kinetics, advanced analytics including comprehensive gas chromatography, detailed fuel characterization, microkinetic modeling, and data science. Her main areas of interest are process development for upgrading unconventional feedstocks such as shale gas, biomass, and plastic waste through fundamental understanding of the reactions. She has given more than 30 oral/poster presentations and invited talks at national/international conferences and universities, and published 14 peer-reviewed articles.
Teaching Assistant
Nikhil Komalla
Graduate Student
John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering
Department of Chemical Engineering
Institutes of Energy and the Environment
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
- Email: Please use the Canvas course email system to reach the assistant and me.
- Phone: 814-863-9261 (Office). The phone should be your last option. The best way to reach me is by email.
- Office Hours: Office hours are by appointment on Wednesdays between 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Please contact us no later than Sunday at 11:59 pm to schedule for the following Wednesday. I can be reached at hzt5148@psu.edu, and the assistant of the course, Nikhil Komalla, can be reached at nikhilkomalla@psu.edu. When contacting us to schedule, please provide the question(s) that you plan to ask during the office hour.
This course is offered as part of the Repository of Open and Affordable Materials at Penn State. You are welcome to use and reuse materials that appear on this site (other than those copyrighted by others) subject to the licensing agreement linked to the bottom of this and every page.
Want to join us? Students who register for this Penn State course gain access to assignments and instructor feedback and earn academic credit. Official course descriptions and curricular details can be reviewed in the University Bulletin.