People
Ravindra Datta
Professor
Faculty Listing
Office: Goddard Hall, 218B
Phone: +1-508-831-6036
Fax: +1-508-831-5853
rdatta@wpi.edu
Related Information
Educational Background
- B.Tech., Indian Institute of Technology - Kharagpur, 1972
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Ph.D., University of California - Santa Barbara, 1981
Research & Teaching Interests
Catalysis and reaction engineering; supported molten-metal catalysis; fuels and chemicals from renewable resources; fuel cells; catalytic reformers; catalytic reactor-separators; catalytic microkinetics; diffusional transport in porous catalysts and membranes
IQP Advising Interests
Natural resource management; renewable resources; conservation; other renewable energy; energy demand & supply (modeling); energy policy; fuel cells
Research
The interests of my Research Group working in the Fuel Cell Center are in the area of Catalysis and Reaction Engineering as applied to Fuel Cells. Our basic philosophy is that only through a thorough and fundamental understanding can significant technological advances be realized. Thus, we combine rigorous theory and detailed experiments in all our work.
Fuel cells are currently of great interest as low polluting, high efficiency, power sources for potential applications ranging from the laptop to the automobile. Since proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells work with H2 as the fuel, which is difficult to store or transport, it is envisioned that a fuel cell plant would include a catalytic reformer for producing H2 from a conventional fuel. We are interested in research and development of both PEM fuel cells and catalytic reformers for different fuels.
In catalytic reforming, we are focused on a priori theoretical prediction of kinetics and mechanism along with catalyst design via reaction network analysis combined with detailed experiments. The current reformers are cumbersome and sizable, involving multiple catalytic stages such as autothermal reforming (ATR), high temperature shift (HTS), low temperature shift (LTS), and preferential oxidation (PrOx) in order to produce a reformate gas with low CO content necessary to avoid fuel cell poisoning. We are designing catalysts that would reduce the size and complexity of reformers. We have also developed electrochemical preferential oxidation (ECPrOx) as a better alternative to the conventional PrOx. Our ultimate practical goal is to develop compact reformers based on renewable fuels such as ethanol.
In fuel cells, we are focused on the improvement of the fuel cell performance via a detailed theoretical and experimental study and optimization of its nanostructure. This includes advanced theoretical modeling of the membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) of which is an intricate five-layer structure, further reduction of Pt loading, improvement in catalytic activity of cathode, improved CO tolerance of anode, design of higher temperature polymer electrolyte membranes, and MEA design and fabrication. We are also investigating fuel cells fueled directly by liquid fuels such as methanol, formic acid, and ethanol.