David R. Shonnard

Contact

drshonna@mtu.edu
906-487-3468
Chem Sci 202I

Professor, Chemical Engineering
Robbins Chair in Sustainable Use of Materials

PhD in Chemical Engineering, University of California, Davis (1991)
MS in Chemical Engineering, University of California, Davis (1985)
BS in Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno (1983)

Biography

My teaching interests are in sustainable engineering, environmentally-conscious design, life cycle assessments, and chemical reaction engineering.

Research interests are in systems analysis for sustainability, environmental life cycle assessments of renewable energy technologies, and chemical recycling of waste plastics for a circular economy.

Bioprocess Engineering / Renewable Bio-Based Fuels
Research in these areas employ a range of conversion approaches, including molecular biology techniques for enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass and acid catalyzed hydrolysis of woody biomass. Thermochemical process engineering includes micro pyrolysis and pilot-scale fast pyrolysis. Biomass feedstocks include forest biomass, forest residuals, municipal solid waste, forest products wastewater streams, energy crops (hybrid poplar, switchgrass, willow), and residuals from the agricultural sector (corn stover, cane bagasse, rice straw).

Links of Interest

Sustainable Futures Institute

Research Interests

Bioprocess engineering
Alternative energy/Biofuels
Sustainability

Publications

Textbooks

Allen, D.T. and Shonnard, D.R. (and other contributors), “Green Engineering: Environmentally Conscious Design of Chemical Processes, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2002, pp. 552, ISBN 0-13-061908-6.
Allen, D.T., and Shonnard, D.R., “Sustainable Engineering: Concepts, Design, and Case Studies”, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2012, pp 223.

Education Articles

Allen, D.T., Shonnard, D.R., Huang, Y., Schuster, D. 2016, Green Engineering Education in Chemical Engineering Curricula: A Quarter Century of Progress and Prospects for Future Transformations, ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 4 (11), pp 5850–585410.1021/acssuschemeng.6b01443.
Allen, D.T., Shonnard, D.R., (2012), Sustainability in chemical engineering education: Identifying a core body of knowledge, AIChE Journal, 58(8), 2296-2302, August 2012.
Shonnard, D.R., Allen, D.T., Nguyen, N., and Austin, S., 2003, Green Engineering Education Through a US EPA/Academia Collaboration,Environmental Science and Technology, 37(23), 5253-5462.
Shonnard, D.R., Fisher, E.R., and Caspary, D., 2003, Integrated Bioprocess Experiments for the Senior Laboratory: Fermentation for L-Lysine Production, Chemical Engineering Education, 37(4),262-267.
Shonnard, D.R., Allen, D.T., Weil-Austin. S.A., Nguyen, N., 2003, US EPA/academia collaboration for a Green Engineering textbook for Chemical Engineering, Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 5(4-3), 226-231.
Allen, D.T. and Shonnard, D.R., 2001, Green engineering: Environmentally conscious design of chemical processes and products, AIChE Journal,47(9), 1906-1910.
Shonnard, D.R. and Deshpande, P.A., 2001, Column transport experiments for dissolved pollutants and colloids, Chemical Engineering Education,35(3), 222-228.

Research Articles

Handler, R., Shi, R., Shonnard, D.R., 2017, Land-use Change Implications for Large-scale Cultivation of Algae Feedstocks in the United States Gulf Coast, Journal of Cleaner Production, 153, 15-25.
Shi, R., Ukaew, S., Archer, D.W., Pearlson, M., Lewis, K.C., Shonnard, D.R., 2017, Life Cycle Water Footprint Analysis for Rapeseed Derived Jet Fuel ;in North Dakota, ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 5, 3845-3854.
Klemetsrud, B., Eatherton, D., Shonnard, D.R., 2017, Effects of lignin content and temperature on the properties of hybrid poplar bio-oil, char, and gas obtained by fast pyrolysis, Energy & Fuels, 31, 2879-2886.
Winjobi, O., Zhou, W., Kulas, D., Nowicki, J., Shonnard, D.R., (2017) Production of hydrocarbon fuel using two-step torrefaction and fast pyrolysis of pine. Part 2: Life-cycle carbon footprint ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 5 (6), pp 4541–4551 DOI:10.1021/acssuschemeng.7b00373.
Winjobi, O., Shonnard, D.R., Zhou, W., (2017) Production of hydrocarbon fuel using two-step torrefaction and fast pyrolysis of pine. Part 1: Techno-economic analysis, ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering,5 (6), pp 4529–4540 DOI:10.1021/acssuschemeng.7b00372.
Klemetsrud, B., Ukaew, S, Thompson, V.C., Thompson, D.N., Klinger, J., Li, L. Eatherton, D., Puengprasert, P., Shonnard, D.R., (2016) Characterization of products from fast micro-pyrolysis of municipal solid waste (MSW) biomass, ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 4 (10), pp 5415–5423,DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.6b00610.
Brooks, K.P., Snowden-Swan, L.J., Jones, S.B., Butcher, M.G., Lee, G.-S.J., Anderson, D.M., Frye, J.G., Halladay, J.G., Owen, J., Harmon, L., Burton, F. Palou-Rivera, I., Handler, R.M., Shonnard, D.R. (2016) Chapter 6: Low Carbon Aviation Fuel Through the Alcohol to Jet Pathway: Feedstocks, Technology, and Implementation, Editor Christopher Chuck, Academic Press, pg. 390.
Gracida-Alvarez, U.R., Keenan, L.M., Sacramento-Rivero, J.C., Shonnard, D.R., (2016) Resource and Greenhouse Gas Assessments of the Thermochemical Conversion of Municipal Solid Waste in Mexico, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 4 (11), pp 5972–5978 DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.6b01143,
Winjobi, O., Shonnard, D.R., Bar Ziv, E., Zhou, W., (2016) Life cycle assessment for greenhouse gas emissions of two-step torrefaction and fast pyrolysis of pine, BioFPR, 10(5), 576–588 DOI: 10.1002/bbb.1660.
Ukaew, S; Shi, R; Lee, JH; Archer, D; Pearlson, M; Lewis, K; Bregni, L; Shonnard, D; Full Chain Life Cycle Assessment of Greenhouse Gases and Energy Demand for Canola-Derived Jet Fuel in North Dakota, United States, ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, in print April, 2016, DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.6b00276.

Teaching Statement

Dr. Shonnard teaches courses in chemical reaction engineering, life cycle analysis, and waste plastics conversion.