University of Michigan AIChE February 9, 2012

This Week: Valentine’s Day Social Luncheon He is also buried on the Via Flaminia, but in a different location than Valentine of . His relics are at the Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to of Saint Valentine in ( Basilica di San Valentine's Day,[1][2][3] is a holiday observed on Valentino).[10]

February 14 honoring one or more early Christian named Saint Valentine. It is traditionally a The Catholic Encyclopedia also speaks of a third saint day on which lovers express their for each other named Valentine who was mentioned in early by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and under date of February 14. He was sending greeting cards (known as "valentines").[1][3] martyred in Africa with a number of companions, but The day first became associated with romantic love nothing more is known about him. [11] in the circle of in the High Middle

Ages, when the tradition of flourished. It No romantic elements are present in the original early was first established by Gelasius I in 496 AD, medieval biographies of either of these martyrs. By the and was later deleted from the General Roman time a Saint Valentine became linked to in the Calendar of in 1969 by Pope Paul VI. 14th century, distinctions between Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni were utterly lost.[12] Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart- shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged In the 1969 revision of the Roman Catholic Calendar of

Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten Saints, the feast day of Saint Valentine on February 14 valentines have given way to mass-produced was removed from the and greeting cards.[4] relegated to particular (local or even national) calendars for the following reason: "Though the memorial of Saint Historical facts Valentine is ancient, it is left to particular calendars, since, apart from his name, nothing is known of Saint Numerous early Christian martyrs were named Valentine except that he was buried on the Via Flaminia

Valentine.[5] The Valentines honored on February 14 on February 14."[13] The feast day is still celebrated in are Valentine of Rome ( presb. m. Romae) Balzan () where relics of the saint are claimed to be and Valentine of Terni (Valentinus ep. Interamnensis found, and also throughout the world by Traditionalist m. Romae).[6] Valentine of Rome[7] was a in Catholics who follow the older, pre-Second Vatican Rome who was martyred about AD 269 and was Council calendar. February 14 is also celebrated as St buried on the Via Flaminia. His relics are at the Valentine's Day in other Christian denominations; it has, Church of Saint Praxed in Rome,[8] and at Whitefriar for example, the rank of '' in the Street Carmelite Church in , Ireland. calendar of the and other parts of the [14] . Valentine of Terni[9] became of Interamna (modern Terni) about AD 197 and is said to have been martyred during the persecution under Emperor Aurelian.

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AIChE Duess To join AIChE this semester:

Semester without luncheons - $10 ($15 if not a national member)

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Join the National AIChE

Why register to be a National AIChE Scan the above image with your i-thing/device member? It’s easy, free, and they send to view our Facebook page for event updates and reminders!!! How easy is that?! you a pen in the mail.

Here are the quick and easy steps: Broomball Playoff 1) Go to www.aiche.org/scaleup When: Friday, February 10, 1:20am (aka, Thursday night) 2) Click Apply Online Where: Yost 3) Enter your info Only season team members can play, but anybody can 4) Click Join! come to cheer them on! If you joined last year, don’t forget to renew your membership this year! Relay for Life When: Saturday, April 14, 10am - Sunday, April 15,

Mentorship program: Sophomores who 10am do not already have an AIChE mentor may Where: Palmer Field Sign up by going online to http://www.relayforlife.org/ request one at Search “University of Michigan” [email protected]. We will And register for the Ann Arbor Team.

soon be planning a number of great mentorship events, just in time for career

fair.

If you have any suggestions for

food, email Christine at [email protected]!

Gas to Liquids: GTL

Researchers have strived to find a way to efficiently convert natural gas directly to usable liquid fuel via gas-to-liquids (GTL) processes since German scientists Fischer and Tropsch successfully converted coal to liquid fuel in the 1920s. Though large sums of money and effort have been invested in improving GTL technology, converting methane to longer chained hydrocarbon compounds remains an energy-intensive process. As a result, the number of commercial-sized GTL plants remains limited. The prospect of producing tailor-made liquid fuel without any of the impurities associated with crude oil-derived fuels continues to be a competitive pursuit for most of the major international energy players. Though SASOL has been operating large coal-to-liquids plants in South Africa since the 1950s, the next commercial plant was ExxonMobil’s gas to methanol to gasoline plant in New Zealand in 1985. This was followed by Shell’s first large-scale (greater than 10,000 bpd) GTL plant in Malaysia in 1993. From 1994 to 2005, no new full -scale GTL plant was commissioned, though a number of pilot projects and units were constructed within existing oil refineries. During that time period, however, saw a number of major announcements regarding projects in Qatar and a number of other gas - rich countries. Sustained high crude prices, controllable capital expenses, and the motivations of resource-rich governments such as Qatar and Nigeria are key factors that will encourage the further development of GTL projects. The most commonly cited end products for recently announced GTL projects have been diesel, lubricant base stocks, and petrochemicals. Diesel accounts for nearly one-half of all vehicle fuels, transporting 70% of the goods of the world. It is particularly important in developing countries where trucks and buses - instead of private gasoline vehicles - dominate the transportation systems. In an oil refinery, the process of temperature distillation separates long chains of liquid hydrocarbons (C15 and higher crude oils) into smaller chains, separating diesel, gasoline, naphtha, kerosene, and lighter gases from crude oil. Unfortunately, this relatively simple process retains most of the impurities from the ori ginal crude oil in the resulting products. Removing these impurities is expensive and requires sophisticated process units. If the impurities, especially sulfur, are not removed, they are eventually released into the atmosphere (as SOx and NOx) from diesel engines of buses, trucks, and power generators.

GTL aims to produce clean diesel and other transport fuels by “going the other way,” or by joining methane-rich hydrocarbons into the required length of diesel and other fuel compounds by using catalyst reactions. GTL processes can also be modified to produce other liquids, such as naphtha (feedstock for petrochemicals), lube oils, and LPGs. As indicated in table below, liquid GTL fuels produced from natural gas contain no impurities, thus are much cleaner burning than conventional fuels. They may either be sold at a premium price directly to the market or blended to upgrade lower quality product into higher grades. Keeping GTL fuels separated from conventional (and thus, dirtier) fuels would require separate storage, transportation, and retailing infrastructure, potentially reducing the price advantage.

Greatest thing since sliced bread!!!

ChemE of the Week Alex Cohen

Fill in the bubbles with the numbers 1-5 so that every row, column, and strand has the numbers 1-5.

What are you hobbies/ favorite sport? I play for the Michigan Men's Volleyball Team

What is your favorite engineering class? Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing What is your favorite non-engineer class? Intro to Logic What will you do once you graduate? I am finishing my Pharmaceutical engineering Master's this semester and will be working for Eli Lilly. What is your least favorite thing about north campus? Poor cell service #1 tip for freshman/sophomores. Don't graduate too fast Favorite movie. Moneyball

Do you think that you should be ChemE of the week or know Sodoku someone who should? Contact Peter at [email protected]