Wei Yan

*** ******* ******, *** * Phone: 901-***-****

Reno, NV 89512

Email: abm6n2@r.postjobfree.com

Education

Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia 2008

Dissertation Title: Gas Phase Conversion of Sugar Alcohols to C3

Chemicals 2003

Dissertation Advisor: Prof. Galen J. Suppes, GPA: 3.9/4.0 2000

M.S. in Chemical Engineering, Tianjin University, China

B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Tianjin University, China

Qualification

Strong knowledge of chemical engineering principles including chemical process

design, transport processes, reaction engineering, and thermodynamics

Extensive experience in stage-gate project management, business case

development, work plan development and execution, PFD construction, equipment

selection, and preliminary financial analysis

Solid knowledge of chemical simulation using Aspen One and CHEMCAD, and

statistical analysis by MINITAB, SAS, DOE

Extensive experience in TGA, DSC, HPLC, GC/MS, SEM, Calorimetry, Elemental

Analyzer, etc

Great performance in both lab and plant environment, excellent team spirit and

inter-person skills

Excellent capability of preparing and presenting technical papers/reports and

conducting technical training to partners/customers

Professional Experience

Research Engineer

July 2008- Present

Dept. of Chemical & Metallurgical Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno

(working on DOE-funded project "Developing Thermal Conversion Options for

Biorefinery Residues" Award DE-FG36-01GO11082)

Designed and optimized hydrothermal pretreatment process for lignocellulosic

biomass

Interfaced the pretreatment process to gasifiers and fast pyrolyzers

Assisted in the deployment and field testing in Nevada

Performed techno-economic analyses (process design and optimization, capital

cost estimation)

Graduate Researcher June

2005- June 2008

Dept. of Chemical Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia

Studied vapor pressures and evaporation studies of sugars and sugar alcohols

Investigated low-pressure packed-bed gas phase dehydration of glycerol to

acrolein (catalyst preparation, characterization and testing, continuous

process design and setup)

Studied liquid-phase oxidation of glycerol to glyceric acid with the presence

of gold catalyst (preparation and characterization of gold/activated carbon

catalyst and testing in a batch reactor)

Independent Instructor

September 2004- June 2005

Dept. of Chemical Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia,

Course: Chemical Engineering Unit Operation

Duties include: Preparing and giving the lectures, supervising lab experiments,

and grading the lab reports

Research/Teaching Assistant September

2000- March 2003

Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Tianjin University, China,

Course: Introduction of Chemical Engineering, Supercritical Fluid Technology

Engineering Internship Winter

1998, Summer 1999

Sinopec Beijing Yanshan Chemical Corp., China

Tianjin Oil Refinary, China

Selected Publications

Yan W., Hastings J.T., Acharjee T.C., Coronella. C.J., Vasquez V.R. (2010),

Mass and Energy Balance in Wet Torrefaction of Ligocellulosic Biomass, Energy &

Fuels. In press (available online).

Yan W., Coronella C.J., Vasquez V.R. (2010), Wet Torrefaction of

Lignocellulosic Biomass, Biomass & Bioenergy. In revision.

Yan W., Suppes G.J. (2009) Low-Pressure Packed-Bed Gas Phase Dehydration of

Glycerol to Acrolein. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 48,

3279-3283.

Yan W., Acharjee T.C., Coronella C.J., Vasquez V.R. (2009) Thermal Pretreatment

of Lignocellulosic Biomass, Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy, 28,

435-440.

Yan W., Suppes G.J. (2008) Vapor Pressures and Evaporation Studies of Sugars

and Sugar Alcohols, Journal of Chemical Engineering Data, 53, 2033-2040.

Yan W., Suppes G.J. (2007) Approaches for Glycerol as a Platform Chemical: Gas

Phase Dehydration of Glycerol to Acrolein, Proceedings of 11th Annual Green

Chemistry & Engineering Conference, Washington D.C. (NSF Student Scholarship).

Yan W., Li S.F. and Tian S.J. (2002) Ultrasound-assisted Extraction Technology,

Chemical Industry and Engineering Process, 21, 27-29.

Li S.F., Yan W., Tang S.K. (2002) Extraction of Diosgenin with Supercritical

CO2, Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on Supercritical Fluid

Technology for Energy and Environmental Application, 83-86.

Yan W., Hastings T.J., Coronella C.J., Vasquez V.R., Kinetic Modeling of

Biomass Torrefaction, in review.

Yan W., Suppes G.J., Gas Processing of Sorbitol for Valuable Chemicals, in

review.

Yan W., Wu Z.F., Bajpai R.K., Optimization Study on 17-Hydroxy-9-Octadecenoic

Acid Production by Bioconversion of Oleic Acid using New Mutants, in review.

Presentations

Developing thermal conversion options for biorefinery residues, Joint Seminar of

Department of Chemical and Mechanical Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno,

February, 2010 (invited)

Mass and energy balance in wet torrefaction of lignocellulosic biomass. Annual

conference of American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Nashville, TN, November,

2009 (contributed)

Kinetic modeling of biomass torrefaction. Annual conference of American

Institute of Chemical Engineers, Nashville, TN, November, 2009 (contributed)

Thermal pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass & mass and energy balance of

hydrothermal pretreatment. International Conference on Thermochemical Biomass

Conversion Science, Chicago, IL, Sept. 2009 (contributed)

Hydrothermal pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass. 8th World Congress of

Chemical Engineering, Montr al, Canada, August, 2009 (contributed)

Thermal pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass.17th European Biomass Conference

and Exhibition, Hamburg, Germany, June, 2009 (contributed)

Gas processing of sorbitol. Annual conference of American Institute of Chemical

Engineers, Philadelphia, PA, November, 2008 (contributed)

Vapor pressures and evaporation studies of sugars and sugar alcohols. 12th

Annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference, Washington D.C. June, 2008

(contributed)

Low-pressure packed-bed gas phase dehydration of glycerol to acrolein. Energy

Research Division, Research Triangle Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC, May,

2008 (invited)

Conversion of sugars and sugar alcohols to valuable chemicals. Cambridge

Chemical Co., Cambridge, MA, June, 2008 (invited)

Approaches for glycerol as a platform chemical: Gas phase dehydration of

glycerol to acrolein. 11th Annual Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference,

Washington D.C. June, 2007 (contributed)

Extraction of diosgenin with supercritical CO2. 1st International Symposium on

Supercritical Fluid Technology for Energy and Environmental Application, Suwon,

Korea, 2002 (contributed)

Honors & Awards

National Science Foundation Scholarship by American Chemical Society (2007)

Graduate Student Travel Award by Dept. of Chemical Engineering, University of

Missouri-Columbia (2005-2007)

Graduate Fellowship by University of Missouri-Columbia (2004-2008)

Outstanding Performance Award on Doctoral Examination by University of

Missouri-Columbia (2005)

Professional Affiliations

Member, American Institute of Chemical Engineers

Member, American Chemical Society

Member, American Oil Chemists' Society

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