 Shamsuddin Ilias, Ph.D., P.E.
Research Professor
Department of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering
North Carolina A&T State University
Greensboro, NC 27411,
Phone: (336) 334-7564 ext. 317
Fax: (336) 334-7417
E-mail: ilias@ncat.edu
Education
B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Engineering & Technology, Dhaka, 1974
M.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, 1979
Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, Queen's University, Canada, 1986
Experience
Professor (2000 - Present), Associate Professor (1996 – 2000), and Assistant Professor (1990 – 1996), Department of Chemical Engineering, North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro
Research Associate, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1986 – 1990.
Lecturer, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, 1979 – 1982.
Professional Affiliations
American Institution of Chemical Engineers (AIChE); Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society; American Chemical Society (ACS); Air & Waste Management Association (A&WMA); American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE); Professional Engineer (P.E.), State of Ohio
Professional Activities
Member of the Editorial Board and Associate Editor of Development in Chemical Engineering and Mineral Processing (DCEMP) – The Australasian Research Journal.
Reviewer - Frequent reviewer of manuscripts for Journal of Membrane Science, Separation Science & Technology, Journal of Air & Waste Management Association, Journal of Thin Solid Films, and Journal of Aerosol Science & Technology.
Research & Teaching Performance
Grants: Has participated in and/or developed over 75 proposals as PI and Co-PI, including several interdisciplinary proposals. Of those 32 were funded: PI (17), Co-PI (15), Interdisciplinary-Multi-Institutional Program (3) with total funding of about $14.66 millions (PI: $2.8 millions, Co-PI: $2.1 million, and Interdisciplinary-Multi Institutional Program: $9.7 millions.
Graduate Students: Thesis advisor/co-advisor to 37 graduates and currently advisor to three MSChE students and two PhD students.
Excellence Awards:
Received 2002 University Senior Researcher of the Year Award
Patents, Publications, Proceedings & Presentations
33 refereed journal papers, 33 conference proceeding papers, over 125 technical presentations at national and international conferences, over 20 technical presentations as invited speaker and numerous technical reports on grants and contracts, three US patents and one patent application (pending).
Patents
Ilias, S., and Islam, M.A., “Methods of preparing thin films by elctroless plating,” US Patent Application 61052798 (June 2008 - Pending).
Lou, J., Harinath, V., Ilias, S., and Sankar, J., “An ultrahigh-selectivity oxygen enrichment filled elastomeric silicone polymer membrane incorporating nanofillers.” US Patent #7,264,650 (2007
Ilias, S., Hargrove, S.C., and Talbert, M., “Method for Improving the Permeate Flux of a Cross-flow Membrane Filter,” US Patent #6,423,230 (2002).
Ilias, S., Hargrove, S.C., and Talbert, M., “Flux-enhanced cross-flow membrane filter,” U.S. Patent #6,168,714 (2001).
Selected Publications
Bothun, G.D., Ni, Q., and Ilias, S., “Solvent-dependent permeability in asymmetric ceramic membranes with tortuous or non-tortuous mesopores,” J. Memb. Sci. (In Press – 2008).
Islam, M.A., Basti, M.M., and Ilias, S., “Fabrication of Pd-membranes: Pd+2/EDTA Coordination Kinetics in Typical Electroless Plating Bath Conditions,” Prep. Pap. – Am. Chem. Soc., Div. Fuel Chem., 52(2), 669-670 (2007).
Bothun, G.D, Ilias, S., and Peay, K., “Role of Tail Chemistry on Liquid and Gas Transport Through Organosilane Modified Hydrophobic Mesoporous Ceramic Membranes,” J. Memb. Sci. 301, pp. 162-170 (2007).
Peay, K.A., Bothun, G.D., Anim-Mensah, A., and Ilias, S., “Ultrafiltration of Water/CO2 Microemulsions in Ceramic Membranes,” Sep. Sc. Technol., 41 (11), pp. 2603-12 (2006).
Bothun, G.D., Nelson, K., and Ilias, S., “Adsorption and Hydration Effects on Liquid Carbon Dioxide Transport through Mesoporous g-alumina and Titania Membranes,” J. Memb. Sci. 281, pp. 149-55 (2006).
Mondal, A.M., and Ilias, S., “Analysis of Numerical Instability in Single-stage Gas Permeation,” J. Memb. Sci, 262 (1 &2), pp 5-10 (2005).
Irulappan, S., Roberts, C., Ilias, S., “Developments of Pt-based Ternary and Quaternary Metal Catalysts for PEM Fuel Cell,” Chem. Eng. Trans., 4, pp. 397-402 (2004).
Sharmin, S., Irulappan, S. and Ilias, S., “Synthesis of Novel Electro-catalysts for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC),” Sep. Sci. Technol., 38 (12 & 13), pp. 2963-79 (2003).
Ilias, S., and Mondal, A.M., “Dehydrogenation of Cyclohexane in a Palladium-Ceramic Membrane Reactor by Equilibrium Shift,” Sep. Sci. Technol., 36 (5&6), 1101 (2001).
Ilias, S., Su, N., Udo-Aka, U.I., and King, F.G., "Application of Electroless Deposited Thin-film Palladium Composite Membrane in Hydrogen Separation," Sep. Sci. Technol., 32 (1-4), 487 (1997).
Synergistic Activities
Associate Editor, Asia-Pacific Journal of Chemical Engineering (formerly Developments in Chemical Engineering & Mineral Processing – The Australasian Research Journal), 2002 – Present.
Session Chair of Membrane Reactor, 2006 AIChE Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California.
Organized Metal Membranes II session at the 2005 ICOM8 Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Involved in establishing a Hydrogen Technology Education Consortium (HyTEC) for the Southern States, partnering with University of South Carolina, University of Georgia and University of Florida. The project is funded by US DOE/NASEO (2004-2007) and serving as Project Director.
Research collaboration with Dr. Geoff Bothun, University of Rhode Island on solvent transport through mesporous inorganic membranes (NSF STC continuation work).
Current Support
- Ilias, S., (PI) and Kumar, D., “Fabrication of Pd/Pd-alloy Films by surfactant Induced Electroless Plating for Hydrogen Separation from Advanced Coal Gasification Processes,” US DOE – NETL, $200,000, 3/08 – 2/11.
- Bililign, S., Ilias, S., (CoPI) et al.,NOAA-ISET Cooperative Science Center (a multi-million dollar 5-year research center 2006-2011).
- DeSimone, J.D., Ilias. S., (Co-PI), et al., "Center for Environmentally Responsible Solvents and Processes," NSF, $18,000,000 for five years, 11/04 -10/09 (A&T's share: $2,000,000), Co-PI will have $60,000 per year for five years.
- Ilias, S., “Development of Pd-Ag Composite Membrane for Separation of Hydrogen at Elevated Temperature,” US DOE – NETL, $200,000, 9/05 – 2/09.
A Profile of Shamudin Ilias, Ph.D., P.E.
The development of energy sources that are more efficient and come with fewer negative environmental impacts has been the goal of scientists for hundreds of years, and it is the goal behind most of Dr. Shamsuddin Ilias’s work. Ilias, a professor of chemical engineering and Lucent Technology Industrial Ecology Faculty Fellow, leads several projects focusing on fuel cell technology, an area which he believes has tremendous potential to replace traditional sources of electricity, such as coal and nuclear reactions. “On a small scale, fuel cells are reliable, efficient and clean producers of electricity,” said Ilias. “For them to become practical on a large scale, the technology to make them efficient must be developed, and that’s what we’re working on.” Fuel cells convert, without combustion, fuels such as natural gas into electricity. The absence of combustion eliminates several negative side effects, such as noise and pollution. According to Ilias, a major challenge to fuel cell users is obtaining a supply of high-purity hydrogen, which allows the fuel cell to operate efficiently. Ilias is addressing this problem with membrane technology, which is used in fuel reformers to extract hydrogen from hydrocarbon fuels, such as natural gas and methanol. “Pure hydrogen is expensive and difficult to contain, which often makes the use of fuel cells cost prohibitive,” said Ilias. “That’s why fuel reforming is the current emphasis in fuel cell research.”
As applied to fuel cells, fuel reforming is the process of extracting hydrogen from hydrocarbon fuels. The challenge to researchers is to make this process more efficient and reliable, and capable of producing high-purity hydrogen. To answer this challenge, Ilias is developing a membrane reactor-separator system which employs a selective membrane designed to separate hydrogen from reformed gas mixtures. “It would be ideal to use pure hydrogen as the only input in a fuel cell operation, but the high cost and the difficulty of managing such hydrogen makes that impractical. Thus, we have to use fuel reformers to extract hydrogen from hydrocarbon fuel,” said Ilias. “Because the performance of the fuel cells depends on the purity of the hydrogen extracted from the fuel reformer, when purity is low, fuel cell performance is sacrificed.” Ilias believes that the membrane reactor-separator he is developing, which consolidates the reaction and separation processes, will address that problem by yielding high-purity hydrogen from a system that is less complex and costly than those currently used.
A Patent in Filtration Technology
In 2001, Ilias received a patent (“Flux Enhanced Cross-Flow Membrane Filter”) for a filtering process which reduces membrane fouling by periodic flow reversal that minimizes surface-to-particle contact. The patented process is applicable to all process industries, such as wastewater treatment, where crossflow membrane filters are used for liquid filtration. Ilias believes that this process has significant advantages over other techniques, such as changing the surface characteristics of the membrane and back flushing. “Alternative techniques to reduce fouling have been used to some extent, but they are not as effective as our process,” said Ilias. “We believe that the real key to reducing fouling is to manipulate the boundary layer, which is most responsible for the fouling.” In the filtration of dissolved solutes and macromolecules, the development of a boundary layer and the accumulation of solutes and macromolecules on the membrane surface and in the pore compromise the efficiency of membrane filtration. By reducing surface fouling, the filtration process becomes more efficient. “Studies by the U.S. Department of Energy have indicated that elimination of fouling could improve filtration by 30 percent, and this improvement translates to energy savings, since the filtration process would be quicker and more effective,” said Ilias. “Because our process significantly reduces fouling, it has the potential to save chemical and process industries countless dollars, and to contribute to the overall quality of the environment, through reduced strain on the energy supply.”
Looking Toward the Future
As industry, government and households alike increase their reliance on computer-based technology, the demand for electricity is predicted to skyrocket. Already, demand has outpaced supply in some areas, such as Southern California, where electricity outages occurred during the summer of 2000. Experts fear similar outages, which can potentially result in billions of dollars in lost revenue. Ilias believes that fuel cells can complement and eventually replace traditional sources of electricity, and thus create a more reliable and productive supply of energy. “Energy, electricity in particular, is crucial to the stability of the American economy,” said Ilias. “Because of this reliance, we have to have plans and technology in place to accommodate future developments and challenges. Also, as more people demand more electricity for more purposes, it will become necessary to address pollution concerns related to other electricity-producing sources. All of these factors make fuel cells a logical and necessary part of the future.”
Background
Ilias has been at A&T since 1990. Before coming to A&T, he spent four years with the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati, as postdoctoral fellow and an adjunct faculty member with the Center of Excellence in Membrane Technology. He has also served at the University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran as a research assistant engineer with the Water and Environment Division (1980-82) and as a lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering (1979-80). He holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Queen's University in Kingston, Canada; an M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Engineering and Technol in Dhaka, Bangladesh. To his credit, Dr. Ilias has over 33 refereed journal papers, over 200 conference presentations at the national and international conferences and proceeding papers and three patents. Dr. Ilias is a member of the editorial board of ''Asia-Pacific Journal of Chemical Engineering'' and serves as an Associated Editor of the Journal. Dr. Ilias is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE).
Area of Specialization
Membrane separations and membrane reactors, PEM fuel cell and electrocatalysts, Hydrogen separations and fuel reforming, computational fluid and particle dynamics, diffusion in porous media, environmental engineering |
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