Penn State University
Energy and Mineral Engineering
Penn State University Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering

EME Faculty

Professor Harold Schobert

Harold Schobert

Professor of Fuel Science
 
office:     204 Research East Building
phone:     814-863-1337
email:     hxs3@psu.edu
fax:     814-865-9094

View Full CV (.pdf)


Bio


Biographical Sketch

I have been involved in coal research for over thirty years, beginning with a bizarre project on making hydrogen sulfide from coal, when I was employed by Deepsea Ventures, Inc. I subsequently moved to Grand Forks, ND, where for ten years I was involved in many aspects of research and development relating to low-rank coals for the Energy Research and Development Administration, then the Department of Energy, and finally University of North Dakota Energy Research Center. My last position there was manager of the Coal Science Division, which conducted basic research on organic and inorganic geochemistry, coal structure, ash and slag behavior, and process chemistry. I moved to Penn State in 1986. My major research activity has been the coal-based jet fuel program (JP-900) which has run for twenty years, and is now being commercialized by a start-up company in Johnstown, PA. Other research interests have included direct coal liquefaction, ash and slag chemistry, carbon dioxide capture, and conversion of coal to carbon materials, mainly graphites and activated carbons. Since 2005 I have been an occasional visiting professor at North-West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa, working with students mainly in the areas of gasification and solvent extraction of coals.


Educational Background

Ph.D. (Chemistry), Iowa State University, 1970

B.S. (Chemistry), Bucknell University, 1965



Active Research Projects


Coal-based jet fuels. This project is in the final year of a twenty-year run. It has been a large, multi-investigator project involving studies of the pyrolytic stability of jet fuels, novel routes to the production of these fuels from coals, and their combustion. Current thesis projects in this area include (a) a study of the effect of hydrotreating decant oil on the quality of coke produced in our "co-coking" process; (b) a study of the potential for converting the by-product coke from "co-coking" into nuclear graphite; (c) and a study of the blending phenomena for mixing Penn State coal-based fuels with other potential jet fuels, such as Fischer-Tropsch liquids.


Carbon dioxide capture. There are three student projects in this area. Two relate to various aspects of CO2 capture by mineral carbonation, with a particular focus on serpentine as mineral. The other is a study, primarily using computational chemistry, on the prospects for photocatalytic reduction of CO2 over doped titanium oxide catalysts.


Direct coal liquefaction. Presently one student, a visiting scholar from China, is studying the liquefaction behavior of some unusual Chinese coals of especially high hydrogen content.


Biodiesel. I have had a series of senior honors students working on various aspects of biodiesel production, mostly with a focus on non-traditional (i.e., non-soybean) feedstocks for biodiesel production.



Selected Publications


  1. Lu, Z., M.M. Maroto-Valer, and H.H. Schobert. Role of active sites in the steam activation of high unburned carbon fly ashes. Fuel, vol. 87, pp. 2598-2605, 2008.
  2. Balster, L.M., E. Corporan, M.J. DeWitt, J.T. Edwards, J.S. Ervin, J.L. Graham, S.Y. Lee, S. Pal, D.K. Phelps, L.R. Rudnick, R.J. Santoro, H.H. Schobert, L.M. Shafer, R.C. Striebich, Z.J. West, G.R. Wilson, R. Woodward, and S. Zabarnick. Development of an advanced, thermally stable, coal-based jet fuel. Fuel Processing Technology, vol. 89, pp. 364-378, 2008.
  3. Gül, O., L.R. Rudnick, and H.H. Schobert. Effect of the reaction temperature and fuel treatment on the deposit formation of jet fuels. Energy and Fuels, vol. 22, pp. 433-439, 2008.
  4. Zhou, Z.F., R. Kumar, S.T. Thakur, L.R. Rudnick, H.H. Schobert, and S.N. Lvov. Direct oxidation of waste vegetable oil in solid oxide fuel cells. Journal of Power Sources, vol. 171, pp. 856-860, 2007.
  5. Gül, O., P. Gafarova, A. Hesenov, H.H. Schobert, and O. Erbatur. Catalytic direct liquefaction of high-sulfur coals and their blends with asphaltite in the absence of a solvent. Energy and Fuels, Vol. 21, pp. 2216-2225, 2007.
  6. Gül, O., L.R. Rudnick, and H.H. Schobert. The effect of chemical composition of coal-based jet fuels on the deposit tendency and morphology. Energy and Fuels, Vol. 20, pp. 2478-2485, 2006.
  7. Gül, O., L.R. Rudnick, and H.H. Schobert. Delayed coking of decant oil and coal in a laboratory-scale coking unit. Energy and Fuels, Volume 20, pp. 1647-1655, 2006.
  8. Jusino, A., and H.H. Schobert. The use of sulfur to extract hydrogen from coal. International Journal of Coal Geology, Volume 65, pp. 223-234, 2006.
  9. Medina, F.A., J.W. Larsen, H.H. Schobert, and J. Stuart. Coals catalyze the reduction of nitroaromatics by hydrazine and the decomposition of hydrazine. Fuel. Volume 84, pp. 1-4, 2005.
  10. Folkedahl, B.C. and H.H. Schobert. Effects of atmosphere on viscosity of selected bituminous and low-rank coal ash slags, Energy and Fuels, Volume 19, pp. 208-215, 2005.


Recent Activities and Awards


Activities


Awards/Honors/Recognitions

Research Interests


Teaching


EGEE 101 - Energy and the Environment (3)


EGEE 451 - Energy Conversion Processes (3)


F SC 431 - The Chemistry of Fuels (3)