Dolly Qing Mantle

TomKat Graduate Fellow for Translational Research 

Research Lab: Jon Fan 

Year Awarded: 2023 

Dolly is a PhD candidate in the department of Mechanical Engineering advised by Prof. Jonathan Fan and co-advised by Prof. Arun Majumdar. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Dallas and has experience in the production of optical-mechanical systems, design methodology, semiconductor electronics packaging, and using art in technical communication. With a middle name that means clear as in clear, crisp skies, Dolly envisions a future with a clear atmosphere and aims to lower greenhouse gas emissions through her research of electrification of chemical reactor heating at Stanford. 

Dolly's Website
Google Scholar Page

Electrified Limestone Calcination Reactor  

Cement production accounts for 8% of all CO₂ emissions, most of which is from calcination, the thermal decomposition of limestone (mostly CaCO₃) into lime (CaO) and CO₂. The remaining is from burning fossil fuels for heat (around 1100°C industrially) and transportation. Current cement carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) approaches are not economically attractive due to capital and energy costs of gas separation and cleaning devices as calcination primarily occurs when hot, dirty gasses are mixed with limestone and the resulting flue gas is a mixture of air, particulates, and CO₂. With the growth of renewably generated electricity, a sustainable cement solution addresses lowering the cost of CCS with current cement production emissions and utilizing renewable energy to produce heat. By electrifying the heating of limestone calcination in a new reactor system, I aim to demonstrate a cost-effective solution to eliminate most of cement’s CO₂ emissions. This will provide insights on electrified reactors that can extend to other hard to decarbonize industrial processes that require high-grade heating.