Postdoctoral Associates

Dr. JingJing Cai
Dr. Cai joined the group in 2010 with a focus on the assessment of emerging technology. Her research focuses on the historical assessment of emerging technology with a focus on carbon capture and utilization.
Education
Bachelor Degree in Chemical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology 2005
Master Degree in Chemical Engineering, Memorial University 2010
PhD Degree in Chemical Engineering, Memorial University 2016
Selected Publications
- Abdi,M. A, Cai,J.J., Hawboldt.K.(2019), CO2 Capture by Dual Hollow Fiber Membrane Systems, Journal of Petroleum Science and Technology, In Print, V. 9 (1),2019, 28-43
- Cai, J.J., Hawboldt, K., Majid, A. (2016). Analysis of the effect of module design on gas absorption in cross flow hollow membrane contactors via Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis. Journal of Membrane Science, 520, 415-424.
- Cai, J.J., Hawboldt, K., Majid, A. (2016). Improving gas absorption efficiency using a novel dual membrane contactor. Journal of Membrane Science, 510, 249-258.
- Cai, J.J., Hawboldt, K., Majid, A. (2012). Contaminant Removal from Natural Gas Using Dual Hollow Fiber Membrane Contactors. Journal of Membrane Science, 377-378, 9-16
Contact and Links
Dr. Mayank Kumar
Mayank has an interdisciplinary background in Chemical and Environmental Engineering with broad research skill sets in the area of energy and environmental modeling, techno-economic and life-cycle assessments. Besides, he has experience developing air emission inventories of greenhouse gases and criteria air contaminants and identifying the cost-effective, high-impact emission reduction opportunities across the life-cycle of the integrated oil and natural gas systems. His current work focuses on investigating the systems-level analysis of energy technologies in petroleum refining operations.
Education
PhD Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta
Master’s Biochemical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur, India
Selected Publications
· Kumar M., Oyedun A.O., Kumar A., Biohydrogen production from bio-oil via hydrothermal liquefaction. In: Biofuels. Elsevier Inc., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2019, pp. 715-732.
· Kumar M., Oyedun A.O., Kumar A., A comparative techno-economic analysis of algal thermochemical conversion technologies for diluent production, Energy Technology, 2019, 1900828.
· Kumar M., Oyedun A.O., Kumar A., A comparative analysis of hydrogen production from the thermochemical conversion of algal biomass, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2019, 44 (21): 10384-10397.
· Kumar M., Oyedun A.O., Kumar A., Hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass for production of diluents for bitumen transport, Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining 11 (5) (2017) 811-829.
· Kumar M., Oyedun A.O., Kumar A., A review on the current status of various hydrothermal technologies on biomass feedstock, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 81 (2018) 1742-1770.
· Pankratz S., Kumar M., Oyedun A.O., Gemechu E., Kumar A., Environmental performances of diluents and hydrogen production pathways from microalgae in cold climates: open raceway ponds and photobioreactors coupled with thermochemical conversion, Algal Research, 2020, 47: 101815.
· Nogueira Jr E., Kumar M., Pankratz S., Oyedun A.O., Kumar A., Development of life cycle water footprint for the production of fuels and chemicals from algae biomass, Water Research, 2018, 140: 311-322.
· Ghatora S., Kumar M., Vaezi M., Kumar A., Bressler D., Monitoring sugar release during pipeline hydro-transport of wheat straw, Biomass and Bioenergy 93 (2016) 144-149.
· Oyedun A.O., Patel M., Kumar M., Kumar A., Upgrading of bio-oil via hydrodeoxygenation. In: Brown R (ed.). Chemical Catalysts for Biomass Upgrading. Wiley-VCH, 2019, 715-732.
Contact and Links


Dr. Oyeniyi Oyewunmi
Dr Oyewunmi’s research interests reflect the application of the principles of thermodynamics, heat transfer, economics and process systems engineering to the design and operations of renewable and non-conventional energy and power systems. His current and future research interests can be summarised along the following themes:
- Optimal system design of non-conventional and renewable power and cooling technologies – waste-heat recovery technologies, organic Rankine cycle, diffusion-absorption refrigeration, photovoltaic thermal systems, solid oxide fuel cells, multi-objective optimisation;
- Economic and life cycle analysis of current and emerging energy technologies – economic optimisation, specific investments costs, payback period minimisation;
- Computer aided molecular and process design – novel molecules/fluids for power systems, working-fluid mixtures, multi-level and multi-scale optimisation, mixed integer non-linear programming;
- Dynamic behaviour and operational control of energy systems;
- Transport processes in energy systems – physical description of multiphase flow, flow regimes applicable to renewable power systems, annular flow, mist flow, dryout phenomena.
His current research is directed towards the process design of carbon neutral and negative emissions technology platforms for the production of alternative transportation fuels. The specific projects include the production of jet fuel via the Fischer Tropsch process using carbon feedstocks, extensive technoeconomic and life cycle assessments of next generation CO2/carbon conversion technologies, and the advancement of methods for assessing new energy technologies.
Education
PhD – Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London – Heat Recovery and Conversion Technologies with Organic Fluid Cycles.
MSc – Advanced Chemical Engineering and Process Systems Engineering, Imperial College London
BSc – Chemical Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University
Selected Publications
- Working-fluid selection and thermoeconomic optimisation of a combined cycle cogeneration dual-loop organic Rankine cycle (ORC) system for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) waste-heat recovery
- Multi-objective thermo-economic optimization of organic Rankine cycle (ORC) power systems in waste-heat recovery applications using computer-aided molecular design techniques
- Computer-aided working-fluid design, thermodynamic optimisation and thermoeconomic assessment of ORC systems for waste-heat recovery
- Performance of working-fluid mixtures in ORC-CHP systems for different heat-demand segments and heat-recovery temperature levels
- Working-fluid selection and performance investigation of a two-phase single-reciprocating-piston heat-conversion engine
- Thermo-economic and heat transfer optimization of working-fluid mixtures in a low-temperature organic Rankine cycle system
- On the use of SAFT-VR Mie for assessing large-glide fluorocarbon working-fluid mixtures in organic Rankine cycles
Contact and Links
Dr. Sylvia Sleep
Dr. Sylvia Sleep joined the team in January 2019. Her research interests are centred around the development of new methods to assess the life cycle environmental and economic implications of new technologies to aid in decision-making under uncertainty. Dr. Sleep’s current projects focus on assessing the greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation potential of emerging carbon capture and utilization technologies through the application of prospective life cycle and techno-economic assessment.
Education
- Current post-doc Chemical and Petroleum Engineering (University of Calgary)
- PhD, Civil & Mineral Engineering (University of Toronto)
- Undergrad: Civil Engineering and Economics (Queen’s University)
Selected Publications
- Sleep, S., Dadashi, Z., Chen, Y., Brandt, A.R., MacLean, H.L., Bergerson, J.A. Improving robustness of LCA results through stakeholder engagement: A case study of emerging oil sands technologies. Journal of Cleaner Production 281, 125277, 2021.
- Guo, J., Orellana, A., Sleep, S., Laurenzi, I.J., MacLean, H.L., Bergerson, J.A. Statistically enhanced model of oil sands operations: Well-to-wheel comparison of in situ oil sands pathways. Energy 208, 118250, 2020.
- Sleep, S., Guo, J., Laurenzi, I.J., Bergerson, J.A., MacLean, H.L. Quantifying variability in well-to-wheel greenhouse gas emissions intensities of transportation fuels derived from Canadian oil sands mining operations. Journal of Cleaner Production 258, 120639, 2020.
- Bergerson, J.A., Brandt, A.R., Cresko, J., Carbajales-Dale, M., MacLean, H.L., Matthews, H.S., McCoy, S.T., McManus, M., Miller, S., Morrow, W.R., Posen, I.D., Seager, T., Skone, T., Sleep, S. Life cycle assessment of emerging technologies: Evaluation techniques at different stages of market and technical maturity. Journal of Industrial Ecology 24, 11-25, 2020.
Contact and Links
