Please join us for the 14th Annual Stanford Student Energy Lecture Series! During the series, 16 graduate students/postdoctoral scholars, consisting of two speakers per week, will present their energy-related research to an audience of Stanford students, faculty, and staff. 

Yunan Li

Talk title: Dynamic Modeling and Monitoring of Geological Sequestration Assets

Abstract: Geological carbon storage (GCS) holds a significant place in energy transition towards a sustainable energy future. A systematic toolbox, pyCCUS, is developed to standardize approaches to address a variety of GCS challenges, including complex modeling of fluids flow coupled with mechanics, massive numerical computations, quantitative balance between profits and risks, spatial monitoring of the assets in real-time, and so on. pyCCUS is scalable for multiple GCS assets to optimize development strategies and further beyond. A field case in Kern County, CA demonstrates the potential of a 52% extra storage amount with risks under managed. It also illustrates the pathway toward a cost-effective spatial monitoring method in real-time incorporating satellite imagery.

Bio: Yunan Li is a PhD candidate in Energy Science & Engineering supervised by Prof. Anthony R. Kovscek at Stanford. He received his M.S. from Stanford University and B.S. from Texas A&M University. His research focuses on numerical modeling and simulation, optimization, remote sensing (InSAR), and AI applications (computer vision, transfer learning). In addition to research, Yunan is passionate about energy transition with both environmentally and financially sustainable solutions. Talk to him about workflow automation, sustainable energy, and good vacation places.

Kristen Abels

Talk title: Membrane-based lithium recovery: Composition and driving force effects in ion-selective separations

Abstract: The rapid growth of the electric vehicle market is driving a substantial increase in lithium demand, and with it, efforts to selectively recover lithium from unconventional sources such as lithium-ion battery waste and oilfield brines. Ion-selective membranes are of particular interest in these lithium recovery applications due to the benefits of scalability, low energy consumption, and low chemical input. Unfortunately, current polymeric membranes are incapable of selective lithium recovery from these complex wastewaters. While investigations have been performed to relate membrane structural properties like water content and ion-coordinating ligand chemistries to ion-ion separation performance, few systematic studies investigate the effects of membrane composition beyond monomer chemical identity and the effects of driving force beyond diffusion. In this work, we synthesized a library of polymeric membranes with varying percentages of ion-coordinating ligand to investigate the influence of ligand content on separation performance. Given the recent interest in process electrification, we also compare trends in membrane performance under electrodialysis conditions to assess driving force effects on separation performance. We demonstrate that both ligand content and electric potential driving force can be used to enhance ion-specific membrane separations, exemplified with lithium/nickel separation in pyridine-functionalized membranes.

Bio: Kristen Abels is a 3rd year PhD candidate supervised by Dr. William Tarpeh in the Chemical Engineering Department at Stanford University. Her research centers around the assessment of polymeric membranes for ion-selective separations, with the target application of resource recovery from waste streams, such as lithium recovery from battery waste and brines. Kristen received her B.Eng.Biosciences in Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering at McMaster University.