Course Taught

• Plant Design (Senior)

• Energy Engineering (Junior)

• Renewable Energy Engineering (Junior)

• Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes (Sophomore)

• Advanced Energy Engineering (Graduate)

• Advanced Biomass Engineering (Graduate)

Professonal Experience and Servicess

Profile: Professional Chemical Engineer with 15 years of applied and research experience. Advising development and application of innovative process technology to increase yields and throughput, reduce costs and energy consumption, and improve environmental compliance. 

• Professor : Hankyong National Univ. School of Food Biotechnology and Chemical Engineering, 2011~Present.

• Board of Director: Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning, 2017~2019.

• Assistant Professor: Winder University, Chemical Engineering, Chester, PA, USA, 2010~ 2011. 

• Post Doctoral Research Associate : University of Maine, Chemical Engineering, Orono, ME,USA, 2007~2010

Research Interests and Current Works

• Renewable Energy, Fuels and Chemicals 

• Lignin Depolymerization

• Lignocellulosic Bioplastic

• Thermal conversion technologies for converting herbaceous biomass to hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals

• Hydrotreatment and fractionation of biomass for fuel and biochar

    -Thermochemical deoxygenation and hydrogenation of lignin-derived phenolics

- Hydrodeoxygenation of organic acids and ketones in bio-oil

- Hydrogenolysis of mixed esters

- Torrefaction and pelletization of lignocellulosic biomass

- Extraction and production of lignin-based bioplastic using deep eutectic solvents

Selected Publicaitons

1. Ga Yeon Moon, Byung Hwan Um, Upgrading oak lignin-derived oil to hydrocarbons under glycerol-assisted hydrothermal conditions: a study of reaction conditions, Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-025-03303-9.

2. Eun Bi Song, Byung Hwan Um, Upgrading of waste plastic pyrolysis product via aqueous-phase reforming with glycerol and various catalysts, Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-025-03223-8.

3. Ga Yeon Moon, Hee Sun Youn, Ga Hee Kim, Byung Hwan Um, Effect and characterization comparison of various deep eutectic solvent types in pretreatment of lignocllulosic biomass and bioplastic production, Industrial Crops and Products, 2025 (225), 120452, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2024.120452

4. Ga Hee Kim, Youn Il Kim, Byung Hwan Um, Base-Catalyzed Depolymerization of Organosolv Lignin into Monoaromatic Phenolic Compounds, Waste and Biomass Valorization, 2024 (16), 257-270, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-024-02655-5.

5. Hee Sun Youn, Ga Hee Kim, Byung Hwan Um, Comparative Analysis of Characteristics Based on Three Processes of Kenaf Solid Fuel: Hydrothermal carbonization, Torrefaction, and Low Ash Torrefaction, Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2024 (41), 1743-1755, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11814-024-00141-1.

6. Seong Rae Lim, Ga Hee Kim, Byung Hwan Um, Hydrothermal Carbonization and Torrefaction of Kenaf, Rice Husk, Corncob, and Wood Chip: Characteristics and Differences of Hydrochar and Torrified Char, BioEnergy Research, 2024 (17), 1816-1831, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-024-10731-w.

7.  Youn Il Kim, Sun Young Jung, Young Jae Jo, Sung Yoon, Byung Hwan Um, Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emission Assessment on Locally Generated Kenaf Residue Biomass Fuel in South Korea, Korean Chemical Engineering Research, 2023 (61), 258-264, https://doi.org/10.9713/kcer.2023.61.2.258.

8.  Hee Sun Youn, Seong Ju Kim, Ga Hee Kim, Byung Hwan Um, Enhancing the Characteristics of hydrochar via hydrothermal carbonization of Korean native kenaf: The effect of ethanol solven concentration as co-solvent and reaction temperature, Fuel, 2023 (331), 125738, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2022.125738.

9.  Seong Rae Lim, Seong Ju Kim, Byung Hwan Um, Characteristic analysis of fractionized light and heavy oil derived from Korean native kenaf via hydrothermal liquefaction, Biomass and Bioenergy, 2022 (167), 106606, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2022.106606.

10. Joung Hun Kim, Byung Hwan Um, Energy Efficiency Analysis of Air Cooled Free-Cooling Chillers in Data Center, Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering, 2022 (34), 595-599, https://doi.org/10.6110/KJACR.2022.34.12.595.

11. Joung Hun Kim, Byung Hwan Um, A Study on Business Feasibility for a Herbaceous Biomass Power Plant, Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering, 2022 (34), 437-445, https://doi.org/10.6110/KJACR.2022.34.9.437.

12.  Seong Rae Lim, Ga Hee Kim, Kyoeng Keun Oh, Byung Hwan Um, Effect of Reaction Temperature on Properties of Torrefied Kenaf, Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, 2022 (194), 6091-6105, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-022-04021-4.

13. Hee Sun Youn, Byung Hwan Um, Hydrochar Production from Kenaf via Hydrothermal Carbonization: Effect of Process Conditions on Hydrochar Characterization, Applied Chemistry for Engineering, 2022 (33), 28-37, https://doi.org/10.14478/ace.2021.1088.

14. Seong-Ju Kim, Ga-Hee Kim, Byung-Hwan Um, Use of alkaline catalyst with ethanol-water as a co-solvent in the hydrothermal liquefaction of the Korean native kenaf: An analysis of the light oil and heavy oil characteristics, Energy, 2022 (249), 123509, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2022.123509.

15. Ga-Hee Kim, Byung-Hwam Um, Fractionation and Characterization of lignins from Miscnathus via organosolv and soda pulping for biorefinery  applications,International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 2020 (158), 443~451, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2020.04.229.

16. Seong-Ju Kim, Byung-Hwam Um, Biocrude production from Korean native kenaf through subcritical hydrothermal liquefaction under mild alkaline catalytic conditions,Industrial Crops & Products, 2020 (145),112001~112007, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2019.112001.

17. Jin-Seong Cha, Byung-Hwam Um, Delignification of Pinecone and Extraction of Formic Acid in the Hydrolysate Produced by Alkaline Fractionation, Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, 2020 (192), 103~119, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-020-03311-z.

18. Jin-Seong Cha, Byung-Hwam Um, Levulinic acid production through two-step acidic and thermal treatment of food waste using dilute hydrochloric acid, Korean J. Chem. Eng., 2020 (37), 1149-1156, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11814-020-0521-6.

19. Seong-Ju Kim, Byung-Hwam Um, Process Variable Optimization of Kenaf Two-Stage Fractionation Based on Dilute Hydrochloric Acid Followed by Ethanol Organosolv for Component Separation,BioEnergy Research, 2020 (13), 249-259, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-019-10057-y.

20. Hye-Won Kim, Byung-Hwam Um, An experimental study of the combustion characteristics of Geodae_Ukase 1,Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 2019 (78),79-83, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jiec.2019.05.022.

21. Aymn Abdulrahman, G. Peter van Walsum, Byung-Hwam Um, Acetic Acid Removal from Pre-Pulping Wood Extract with Recovery and Recycling of Extraction Solvents,Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, 2019 (187), 378-395, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-018-2826-z.

22.  Byung Hwan Um, Chan Ho Kang, An Economical Analysis on Fuel Switching Model of Coal Pwoer Plant using Herbaceous Biomass, Journal of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers, 2019 (61), 89-99, https://doi.org/10.5389/KSAE.2019.61.3.089.