About

Professor Semih Eser is a Professor of Energy and Geo-Environmental Engineering in the Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering and serves as the Carbon Research Coordinator at The Energy Institute. His research focuses on the carbonization (coking) of petroleum feedstocks for needle-coke production, including the study of mesophase formation and development during the coking process. He employs various chromatographic techniques such as GC/MS, LC, TLC, HPLC, and SFC, along with heated probe/MS, to analyze petroleum heavy feedstocks and coal liquids. His work also involves microscopic examination and digital image analysis of cokes and carbons, as well as investigating the deposition of carbonaceous solids on metal and carbon surfaces and the thermal decomposition of hydrocarbons under supercritical conditions. Additionally, Professor Eser researches the upgrading of petroleum heavy residua by hydrogenation in supercritical media and the preparation of activated carbons from coal and other materials for environmental applications such as water and air clean-up through adsorption of pollutants. He studies the high-pressure swelling and contraction behavior of coals under simulated gasification and liquefaction conditions. Professor Eser's current projects include exploring the relationships between the molecular composition of coker feedstocks and mesophase development in needle coke production, examining the effects of metal surfaces on solid carbon deposition from jet fuels heated to high temperatures under conditions designed for advanced aircraft, and conducting digital image analysis of optical texture and porosity in needle cokes and solid carbons. He also continues research on hydrogenation of petroleum heavy residua in supercritical media and the preparation of activated carbons from coals, petroleum cokes, and lignocellulosic materials. He holds a B.S. and M.S. in Chemical Engineering from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey, and earned his Ph.D. in Fuel Science from The Pennsylvania State University. Professor Eser has taught a variety of courses related to fuel science, petroleum processing, energy, and society, and has published over 100 papers in refereed journals and conference proceedings.

Research topics

• Artificial Intelligence
• Organic chemistry
• Composite material
• Materials science
• Optics
• Chemistry
• Computer Science
• Environmental engineering
• Chemical engineering
• Process engineering
• Environmental science
• Pulp and paper industry
• Mineralogy
• Chromatography
• Crystallography
• Physical chemistry
• Engineering
• Metallurgy

Selected publications

• PRINCIPLES OF CONSTRUCTION OF THE EDUCATIONAL CONTENT OF THE DISCIPLINE «NANOTECHNOLOGY AND NANOMATERIALS» AND STAGES OF TRAINING

  BULLETIN OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN ( THE BULLETIN) · 2024-02-29

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  ТҮЙМЕБАЕВ Жансейіт Қансейітұлы, филология ғылымдарының докторы, профессор, ҚР ҰҒА құрметті мүшесі

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Laboratory Coking and a New Optical Texture Classification Parameter: Screening of Petroleum Refinery Streams for Premium Needle Coke Production

  Energy & Fuels · 2022 · 15 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Materials science

  A new qualitative classification parameter was formulated for ranking optical textures of semi-cokes produced in a laboratory reactor under autogenous pressure from 11 different feedstock samples gathered from conventional and unconventional petroleum refinery streams. This classification can help select the most suitable feedstocks to produce premium needle coke by commercial delayed coking. Like previous studies, the new texture classification method, optical texture parameter (OTP), was formulated based on the population of different texture elements with respect to their apparent anisotropy, as observed by polarized light microscopy. Thus, a high value of OTP reflects a higher degree of carbonaceous mesophase development during coking or a higher degree of anisotropic order in the resulting semi-coke, a critically important property of premium needle cokes. The OTP analysis of the semi-coke samples obtained by laboratory coking at different temperatures suggested that the unconventional feeds have the potential to produce premium needle coke with comparable or higher texture quality to those obtained from conventional feeds. This analysis also showed that unconventional feeds show a relatively high sensitivity to changes in the coking temperature in terms of optical texture development in the resulting semi-cokes; the optimum temperature to obtain the highest degree of anisotropy is lower for the nonconventional feeds compared to that for slurry oils. Trends of mesophase development observed across the entire axial section of the semi-cokes samples provided strong evidence that the results from our coking experiments are relevant to the commercial delayed coking practice. This approach can enable the selection of feedstocks with high potential to produce premium needle coke through laboratory-scale experiments.

  PublisherDOI

• Composition of Surface Groups and Adsorption Properties of Activated Carbons Derived from Different Bio-precursors

  DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · 2021-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Activated carbons (AC) are widely used in a variety of applications because of their controllable porosity and surface functionalities. In this work, AC were prepared from different hard woods through one- and two-step pyrolysis/activation for the adsorption of organic pollutants in water. Water vapor was used as the activating agent. The influence of the precursor and preparation methods on the properties of the resulting AC was evaluated through multiple techniques. Temperature-programmed oxidation (TPO) measured the reactivity toward oxygen of chars and AC, while temperature-programmed desorption coupled with mass spectrometry (TPD/MS) revealed functional groups on AC surface. Methylene blue adsorption tests evaluated the adsorption capacity of the prepared AC and the presence of mesopores. Depending on the oxidation reactivity of the char produced by pyrolysis, the resulting AC show different surface composition and adsorption performance. With the increasing char oxidation reactivity, the AC has higher degree of surface functionalization and enhanced adsorption toward methylene blue. In particular, Red Maple char is the more reactive one, followed by Birch and Ironwood. Thus, Red Maple AC prepared through the two-step process, exhibits lower activation yield, higher concentration of surface functionalities and improved methylene blue adsorption. TPO technique could predict the degree of surface functionalization and adsorption properties of the final AC.

  PublisherDOI

• Relating reactivity to structure in cokes and carbon materials: Temperature-programmed oxidation and microscopy techniques

  Carbon · 2020 · 23 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Materials science
  • Chemical engineering
  • Chemistry
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Chapter 39 | Properties of Fuels, Petroleum Pitch, Petroleum Coke, and Carbon Materials

  ASTM International eBooks · 2019-09-01 · 1 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Selectivity to Olefins in the Hydrodechlorination of Chloroform with Activated Carbon-Supported Palladium Catalysts

  Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research · 2019-10-21 · 12 citations

  articleOpen access

  This study analyzes the selectivity of Pd (1 wt %) catalysts supported on different activated carbons to produce olefins from hydrodechlorination of chloroform. It was found that selectivity to olefins was favored by a higher zerovalent to electrodeficient Pd ratio (Pd0/Pdn+) and by a lower amount of oxygen-containing surface functional groups on the activated carbon supports. Thus, the highest selectivity to olefins was obtained by catalysts supported on FeCl3- and ZnCl2-activated carbons. Conversely, the catalysts supported on KOH-, NaOH-, and H3PO4-activated carbons gave the lowest selectivity to olefins. These catalysts showed higher surface concentrations of electro-deficient Pd as well as high concentrations of oxygen functional groups that enhance the adsorption of reactants and intermediates. This leads to complete hydrogenation of reaction intermediates and poisoning of active sites by the adsorption of chlorocarbon compounds. ZnCl2-derived catalysts with the highest selectivity to olefins also showed an outstanding stability, most likely due to redispersion into very small and well-distributed Pd particles during the reaction. However, FeCl3-derived catalysts gave rise to sintering of Pd particles, resulting in a marked loss of activity.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Effect of structural ordering of the carbon support on the behavior of Pd catalysts in aqueous-phase hydrodechlorination

  Chemical Engineering Science · 2017-11-10 · 15 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Scheme for Hydrotreatment of Fluid Catalytic Cracking Decant Oil with Reduced Hydrogen Consumption and High Needle Coke Yield upon Carbonization

  Energy & Fuels · 2016-09-20 · 36 citations

  articleSenior author

  Two decant oils with different sulfur contents and their vacuum distillation fractions were hydrotreated in a fixed-bed flow reactor to produce a feed with sufficiently low sulfur content for needle coke production. Products from hydrotreatment were subsequently carbonized in a tubing bomb reactor to characterize the carbonaceous mesophase development seen in the resulting semicoke. Although the purpose of the hydrotreatment is to reduce sulfur content, hydrogenation of aromatic compounds also takes place during the treatment, thus increasing the hydrogen consumption. Modest hydrogenation of decant oil from the hydrotreatment improved the mesophase development but resulted in a significant decrease of the semicoke yield upon carbonization of the treated product. As a remedy to conserve hydrogen during hydrotreatment and achieve higher coke yields in the subsequent carbonization, only the middle fraction from vacuum distillation of the decant oil was hydrotreated and blended back with the vacuum bottoms to simulate the coker feed. This scheme was successful to attain the desirable sulfur reduction in the feedstock without the penalty of a reduced coke yield upon carbonization or useless hydrogen consumption.

  PublisherDOI

• On the performance of Pd and Rh catalysts over different supports in the hydrodechlorination of the MCPA herbicide

  Applied Catalysis B: Environmental · 2016-01-05 · 24 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Coal Pyrolysis

  Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry · 2016-03-21 · 3 citations

  other

  The article contains sections titled: 1. Introduction 2. Thermoplastic Properties of Coal 2.1. Development of Thermoplasticity 2.1.1. Softening 2.1.2. Swelling 2.1.3. Resolidification 2.2. Experimental Methods 2.3. Experimental Variables 2.3.1. Coal Rank and Petrographic Composition 2.3.2. Heating Rate 2.3.3. Particle Size 2.3.4. Pressure 2.3.5. Atmosphere 2.3.6. Preoxidation 2.3.7. Additives 2.4. Coke Microstructure and Mesophase Formation 2.4.1. Microscopic Characterization 2.4.2. Carbonaceous Mesophase 2.4.3. Modification of Optical Texture and Properties 3. Yield and Distribution of Pyrolysis Products 3.1. Experimental Methods 3.1.1. Muffle Furnace 3.1.2. Thermogravimetric Analyzers (TGA) 3.1.3. Wire-Mesh Reactors 3.1.4. Flow Reactors 3.1.5. Fixed-Bed Reactors 3.1.6. Fluidized-Bed Reactors 3.1.7. Summary of Methods 3.2. Experimental Variables 3.2.1. Final Temperature and Residence Time 3.2.2. Coal Rank 3.2.3. Heating Rate 3.2.4. Pressure 3.2.5. Atmosphere 3.2.6. Summary of Parameter Sensitivity 4. Pyrolysis Kinetics and Modeling 5. Pyrolysis Processes 5.1. High-Temperature Processes 5.1.1. Coke Ovens 5.1.2. Formed-Coke Processes 5.1.3. Coke Properties 5.1.4. Byproducts 5.1.5. Environmental Aspects 5.2. Low-Temperature Processes 5.3. Contemporary Processes

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Orhan Altın

  Caterpillar (United States)

  29 shared

• Robert G. Jenkins

  Kanazawa University

  11 shared

• Ramya Venkataraman

  11 shared

• Harold H. Schobert

  11 shared

• K. Gergova

  Pennsylvania State University

  10 shared

• Chunshan Song

  Chinese University of Hong Kong

  9 shared

• Jian Zhen Yu

  Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

  8 shared

• Juan J. Rodrı́guez

  Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

  8 shared

Awards & honors

• American Chemical Society Division of Energy and Fuels, 2022…
• Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Service Awa…
• ACS, Fuel Chemistry Division, Outstanding Service Award, 199…
• ACS, Fuel Chemistry Division, Outstanding Service Award, 200…
• ACS, Fuel Chemistry Division, Outstanding Service Award, 200…