Nanta Sophonrat 

Link to CV 

Research area 

• Machine learning for suggesting reaction conditions

• Thermochemical conversion of organic residues      

• Catalytic upgrading of pyrolytic liquid and gas   

 Pyrolysis     Plastics     Biomass     Biochar    Energy    Fuels    Chemicals from pyrolysis

My main research interest is in pyrolysis of mixed plastics and paper for recovering fuels and chemicals.

As our daily activity continue, more materials are consumed and discarded. Plastics make our lives more convenient but at the same time causing environmental problem due to mismanagement of the post-consumer plastics. Incineration is the current method for recovering energy from mixed combustible waste. However, in a long run, sustainability requires that the discarded materials are turned into new materials. Circular economy is a concept of keeping materials at their highest values as long as possible by incorporating different levels of recycling. For mixed materials and/or unsortable wastes, it is challenging to develop a process for chemicals recycling. This is where thermal processes such as pyrolysis and gasification come into play. I believe that this research is important for the survival of our species and other species on and off the planet.

In essence, our works are to understand the characteristics and interactions of different components of the discarded materials and to propose processes for recovering fuels and/or chemicals in an environmental-friendly and economic way.