PAN RESEARCH GROUP
Fundamental Research
Our lab aims to advance knowledge base on intermolecular forces, kinetics and transport at fluid-gas and fluid-solid interfaces. Topics of interests include surface forces, film instability, mass transfer in TLF, kinetics and transport at fluid-mineral interfaces. We hope to provide fundamental perspectives to a variety of industrial applications including froth flotation, hydrometallurgy, petroleum recovery, CO2 sequestration and storage, and dust control.
Sustainable and Carbon-Neutral Extraction of Primary Sources
Our group is developing mineral processing and extractive metallurgy technologies to support efficient and economic production of critical materials with a minimal life cycle impact. The contributions of our work include 1) improve current process efficiency, 2) develop new technologies, and 3) reduce the environmental impacts of mining and mineral processing operations including mineral weatherization process.
Direct and Hydrometallurgical Recycling of Li-ion Batteries
Another research thrust in our lab involves physical and chemical separation to recover value-added constituents from the current waste stream. One of the topics we are interested is Li-ion battery recycling. Our goal is to convert recycled products into acceptable refinery feeds or new products for downstream applications.
Highlights
AIChE - YCOSST award video.
Project Highlights
DOE-MINER
Journal covers
We thank following agencies and partners for their generous support
We are seeking energetic and passionate researchers of all stages to join our group. To inquire about open positions, please send your CV, transcript, and a brief statement of research interests to Dr. Pan (leipan@mtu.edu).
Open positions:
Two additional research staff will be hired in early 2024.
3-4 GRA/GTA positions in Fall 2024.
Multiple openings for undergraduate researchers
Lei Pan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering
Michigan Technological University