Palmer, Dr. James

Virgil Orr Professor

Associate Professor and Program Chair, Chemical Engineering

Degrees

PhD-Chemical Engineering: University of Arkansas - 1997
BS-Chemical Engineering: University of Arkansas – 1992

Licensed PE (Arkansas); active security clearance

Experience

Teaching

Since joining Louisiana Tech in the Fall of 2000, I have taught the entire Senior Chemical Engineering Design Sequence (I, II, III) every year. In addition, I have taught two undergraduate classes (fluid mechanics and heat transfer), and two graduate classes. The first graduate class was an elective on my research focus, Chemical Microsystems. The second class, Microsystems Design, Fabrication, and Testing (MSE 510), is the capstone class for the professional track MicroSystems Engineering (MSE) degree at Louisiana Tech University. The laboratory and course was developed by Dr. Hegab and me (including creation of an entirely new processing lab dedicated to teaching) with $150k in funding from the University and the State of Louisiana.

MSE 510 is a 3 SCH class/lab primarily taught in the summer. Students simulate a micro heat-exchanger using COVENTOR software and fabricate their designs in silicon using photolithography and wet etching techniques. The micro heat-exchangers are characterized at each processing step and the thermal performance of the final device is tested (design parameter is 95 W/in² – similar to the thermal characteristics in current microprocessors). The students write a report and give an oral presentation analyzing each fabrication step and provide specific recommendations for future work.

Industry/Government

2003, participated in the Naval Research Summer Faculty Research Program at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington D.C.

July 1999 – September 2000 Albemarle Corporation – Process Technology Division

Participated in startup of a world scale 50,000-metric ton flame retardant plant. Studied the impact of impurities on the thermodynamics in the solvent recovery section of a process (both modeling and generation of experimental data to confirm model). Supervised kinetic studies of product thermal degradation in the purification section of a process.

April 1997 – July 1999 Albemarle Corporation – Research and Development

Performed both pilot and bench scale experiments for the production of metallo-organic compounds. Was instrumental in the successful scale-up of Albemarle’s most complicated chemical process at that point (defined as number of reaction steps). Was the lead engineer for the development of a new product. Studied the effect of solid/liquid phase equilibria on chiral resolutions. Applied for a US process patent with coworkers in the area of solid/liquid separations (US patent number 6,469,212).

Undergraduate internship experiences include a semester at Los Alamos National Laboratory (chemical and laser sciences), and a summer at Texaco’s process research facility in Port Arthur TX, and Texaco’s central engineering and purchasing office in Houston TX.

Contact Info

Office: Bogard Hall 225
Email: jpalmer@coes.latech.edu
Phone: (318) 257-2885
Home Page: www.latech.edu/~jpalmer

Mailing Address: 600 W. Arizona, Ruston LA 71272

Areas of Specialization

Microreactors
Nanotechnology

Research Areas/Interests

My research group is focused on utilizing and applying micro and nanotechnology with chemical engineering principles to a number of challenges facing our world today. I am specifically interested in homeland security and biofuel applications. One currently funded project is to study and improve the performance of enzymes immobilized on surfaces using layer-by-layer nano self-assembly. In the past, we have studied a variety of unit operations in microchannel systems and would be interested in applying this technology to achieve process intensification.

Publications

Ramprasad, S.; Palmer, J.; “A Silicon Microseparator Based Pervaporation Process for Separation of Ethanol/Water Mixtures using a Polymer Membrane”; manuscript submitted to Separation Science and Technology Oct 7, 2006.
Hegab, H.; Napper, S.; Palmer, J.; “Development of a Nanosystems Engineering Undergraduate Degree”; submitted to Nanotechnology Education book chapter.
Forrest, S.; Elmore, B.; Palmer, J.; “Activity and Lifetime of Organophosphorous Hydrolase Immobilized using Layer-by-Layer Nano Self-assembly on Silicon Microchannels”; Catalyst Today, in press, corrected proof available online.
Nassar, R.; Hu, J.; Palmer, J.; Dai, W.; “Modeling of Cyclohexene Hydrogenation and Dehydrogenation Reactions in an Open Flow Microreactor System”; Catalyst Today, in press, corrected proof available online.
Nagineni, V.S.; Zhao, S.; Potluri, A.; Liang, Y.; Siriwardane, U.; Seetala, N.; Fang, J.; Palmer, J.; Kuila, D.; “Microreactors for Syn-gas Conversion to Higher Alkanes: Characterization of Sol-gel Encapsulated Nanoscale Fe-Co Catalysts Fabricated in the Microchannels”; Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 44, 5602-5607, 2005.
Feng, Z.; Dai, W.; Nassar, R.; Palmer, J.; “A Combined Analytic and Numerical Method for Predicting Solid Layer Growth in a Static Melt Crystallizer”; Numerical Heat Transfer, Part A, 49, 831-850, 2006.
Hegab, H.; Napper, S.; Palmer, J.; “Development of a Nanosystems Engineering Degree”; 2005 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, Orlando, FL; (conference proceeding subjected to six peer reviewers).
Nagineni, V.S.; Zhao, S.; Potluri, A.; Liang, Y.; Siriwardane, U.; Seetala, N.; Fang, J.; Palmer, J.; Kuila, D.; “Microreactor Research and Development at Louisiana Tech University: Fabrication of Silicon Microchannel Reactors for Catalyst Studies on Conversion of Cyclohexene and Syngas to Alkanes”; Y. Wang, J. Holladay; Microreactor Technology and Process Intensification No. 914; ACS, September 2005.
Zeng, L.; Palmer, J.; “Enhancement of Micromixing Tees Using Ultrasound Energy”; Y. Wang, J. Holladay; Microreactor Technology and Process Intensification No. 914; ACS, September 2005.
Zhao, S.; Hu, J.; Kuila, D.; Besser, R.; Nassar, R.; Palmer, J.; “Nanoscale Platinum Catalyst in Microreactors for Preferential Oxidation of CO for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Feeds”; Y. Wang, J. Holladay; Microreactor Technology and Process Intensification No. 914; ACS, September 2005.
Forrest, S.; Elmore, B.; Palmer, J.; “Activity and Lifetime of Urease Immobilized Using Layer-by-Layer Nano Self-Assembly on Silicon Microchannels”; Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Vol. 121, Issue 1-3, pp. 85-92, 2005.
Jones, F.; Forrest, S.; Palmer, J.; Lu, Z.; Elmore, J.; Elmore, B; “Immobilized Enzyme Studies in a Microscale Bioreactor”; Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Vol. 113, Issue 1-3, pp. 261-272, 2004.
Gupta, N.; Patel, A.; Nassar, R.: Lvov, Y.; McShane, M.; Palmer, J.; “Study of Transport Phenomena of FITC Labeled Dextran Through Nano Self-Assembled Microshells”; Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects Vol. 245, pp. 137-142, 2004.
Dai, W.; Feng, Z.; Nassar, R.; Palmer, J.; “A Combined Analytic and Numerical Method for Predicting the Solid Layer Growth from Melt Crystallization”; Numerical Heat Transfer, Part A: Applications, 44: 577-590, 2003.

Presentations

S. Ramprasad, J. Palmer, “Pervaporation Process in a Microfluidic Device for Dehydration of Ethanol”, North American Membrane Society Conference; May 17, 2006; Chicago, IL.
S. Reddy, J. Elmore, J. Cook, L. D. Snow, J. D. Palmer, B. B. Elmore, “Improved Analytical Methods and Quantifying Mass Deposition of Urease Immobilized using Layer-by-Layer Nano Self-Assembly”, 28^th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals, Nashville, TN, April 30, 2006.
S. Ramprasad, J. Palmer, “Microchannel Based Liquid Separation Using Pervaporation Process”, Proceedings for the AIChE Fall 2006 National Conference; Cincinnati, OH; November 3, 2005.
R. Nassar, J. Hu, J. Palmer, W. Dai, “Statistical Modeling of an Open Flow Microreactor System”, Proceedings of the First International Conference on Experiments/Process/Ssystem Modelling/Simulation/Optimzation, Athens, Greece, July 6-9, 2005.
J. Palmer, B. Elmore, “Enzyme Immobilization using Nano Self-Assembly Applied to Silicon Microreactors”, 19^th North American Catalyst Society, May 2005, Philadelphia PA.
S. Forrest, B. Elmore, J. Palmer; “Activity and Lifetime of Urease Immobilized using LbL Nano Self-assembled on a Silicon Microchannel”, 26^th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals, May 2004, Breckenridge CO.
S. Ramprasad, S. Forrest, S. Zhao, R. Kumar, Y. Lvov, R. Nassar, B. Elmore, D. Kuila, J. Palmer, “Microreactor and microseparator research at Louisiana Tech’s Institute for Micromanufacturing”, American Chemical Society National 2003 Fall conference, N.Y., N.Y.
Palmer, J.; Ramprasad, S.; Forrest, S.; “Pervaporation of Ethanol/Water in a Chemical Microsystem”, Proceedings for the AIChE Spring 2003 National Conference; New Orleans, LA; April 1, 2003.
Gupta, N.; Patel, A.; L’vov, Y.; McShane, M.; Palmer, J.; “Study of Transport Phenomena of FITC Labeled Dextran Through Nano Self-Assembled Microshells”; Proceedings for the AIChE Spring 2003 National Conference; New Orleans, LA; April 1, 2003.
J. Palmer, L. Zeng, “Comparison of Micromixer with Conventional Static Mixer for Use in Fast Competitive Reactions,” SPIE, October 2001