Abstract
Dynamic heterogeneous structures, critical to reaction and transport behavior, are a common challenge in understanding particle-fluid systems, which is widely applied in chemical engineering. Average approaches are not sufficient for characterizing these structures and related behaviors, while discrete approaches based on very detailed mechanisms are limited to capability and cost of computation. Multiscale analysis is believed to be promising and powerful. However, how to correlate variables and models at different scales is an unsolved problem, which is subject to the so-called meso-scale phenomena between particle (small) scale and system (large) scale, and is also the core issue of complexity science and the focus for particle science and technology.
This presentation will review a 3-decade work on meso-scale phenomena in chemical engineering from principle, modeling, simulation, through to application. Starting with gas-solid two-phase system, the studied systems include gas-liquid system, granular flow, turbulence, material, protein, emulsions and many others. It was identified that all meso-scale phenomena in these systems follow a common principle of compromise in competition between dominant mechanisms, and can be formulated by a multi-objective variational problem. This leads to a recognition of possibility to have a unified science — Meso-science, for all meso-scale problems existing between elemental particles and the universe. “Compromise in competition” between dominant mechanisms is identified to be the universal origin of complexity and diversity, and therefore, identifying this as a key underlying principle of Meso-science.
The possibility of real-time simulation of chemical process will be explored, focusing on the structural similarity between problem, model, software and hardware, by demonstrating several successful applications in industries. Finally, this presentation will be concluded with the prospects of the emerging meso-science, the development of multi-scale computation, the possible realization of virtual process engineering.
About the speaker
Prof Jinghai Li received his PhD from the Institute of Process Engineering (IPE) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 1987. He conducted his postdoctoral research respectively at the City University of New York and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. After returning to China in 1990, he served as Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor, Vice Director and Director of IPE in succession. In 2004, he was appointed Vice President of CAS. From 2006 to 2010, he was the President of the Association of Academies of Sciences in Asia.
Prof Li established the Energy-Minimization Multi-Scale (EMMS) model for gas-solid systems. The model has been extended to many different complex systems, and generalized into the EMMS paradigm of computation featuring the structural similarity between problem, modeling, software and hardware, which has been implemented by constructing a supercomputer with capacity of 1 Pflops and has been used widely in chemical and energy industries. He is also engaged research in clean coal technology.
Prof Li is a Member of CAS, the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, Swiss Academy of Engineering, and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a Foreign Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. He received numerous awards including the Particle Technology Forum Award from AIChE, Medal Lecture Award from the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, the Hong Kong Croucher Young Scientist Prize, the National Natural Science Awards and Young Scientist Prize in China and the Technology Innovation Prize from CAS.
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