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

EME Faculty

Professor Yaw D. Yeboah

Yaw D. Yeboah

Professor and Department Head of Energy and Mineral Engineering
 
office:     118 Hosler Building
phone:     814-865-0269
email:     ydy1@psu.edu
fax:     814-865-3248



Bio


Biographical Sketch

Professor Yaw D. Yeboah is currently Head of the Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University. The department houses Penn State’s undergraduate degree programs in Energy Business and Finance, Energy Engineering, Environmental Systems Engineering, Mining Engineering, and Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering and the graduate program in Energy and Mineral Engineering. Prior to joining Penn State, he was Professor of Engineering and Associate Dean for Science and Engineering at Clark Atlanta University, Atlanta, GA. He was the Technical Director of the Research Center for Science and Technology at Clark Atlanta University from 1995-2000. After completing his General Certificate of Education (GCE “O” and “A” Levels) at the Ghana Secondary Technical School at Takoradi, Ghana, he received a scholarship from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to study chemical engineering. In June 1975 he was the first to receive four degrees in four years from MIT - B.S. degrees in chemical engineering, chemistry, and management, and M.S. in chemical engineering practice. He subsequently received his doctorate in chemical engineering also from MIT in 1979. He has over 30 years of research (academic and industrial), teaching, and project management experience. Dr. Yeboah performed research and development (R & D) work at the General Electric Corporate Research and Development Center, Schenectady, NY, before going into academia. His research expertise covers such areas as catalysis, bioenergy, fuel cells, combustion and emission control, oilfield scale formation, and flow visualization. Some of his recent research projects include electrocatalysis in PEM fuel cells, co-gasification of coal and biomass, catalytic gasification with eutectic salts, hydrogen from biomass, fire spread behavior in liquid pools, and use of non-thermal plasma discharge for emission (NOx) control.


Educational Background

Sc.D. (Chemical Engineering), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1979

S.M. (Chemical Engineering Practice), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1975

S.B. (Chemical Engineering), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1975

S.B. (Chemistry), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1975

S.B. (Management), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1975



Active Research Topics




Selected Publications


  1. D. Chen, Y. Yeboah, Y. Gong, "Geochemical and hydrogeological data assimulation with geospatial modeling technology", J. of Hydrologic Engineering, Vol. 14, No. 11, November 1, 2009 (in press).
  2. Y. Gong, Yeboah Y.D., Lvov S.N., Balashov V., and Wang Z., "Fe-Modified, Pt-Based Cathodic Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction with Enhanced Methanol Tolerance", J. Electrochemical Soc., 2007, 154, B560-B565.
  3. Y. D. Yeboah, Z. Wang, and K. Bota, "Studies of Gap Space Effects on NO Removal in a Double Dielectric Barrier Discharge System", Technology, Vol. 9, pp. 267-273, 2005.
  4. Y. D. Yeboah, Z. Wang, and K. Bota, "NOx removal from continuous stream by a silent plasma discharge", Technology, Vol. 9, pp. 275-285, 2005.
  5. J. Bender, R. Lee, M. Sheppard, K. Brinkley, P. Phillips, Y. Yeboah and R. Chee Wah (2004), "A waste effluent treatment system based on microbial mats for black sea bass Centropristis striata recycled-water mariculture", Aquacultural Engineering, 31, 73-82.
  6. Z. Wang, Y. D. Yeboah, T. Bai and K. B. Bota (2004), "Gap space optimization for NO removal in a non-thermal plasma discharge", Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing, Vol. 24, No. 3, September 2004, 405–420, Plenum Publishing Corporation.
  7. A, Sheth, C, Sastry, Y. D. Yeboah, Y. Xu, and P. Agrawal (2004), "Catalytic gasification of coal using eutectic salts: Reaction kinetics for hydro gasification using binary and ternary eutectic catalysts", Fuel 83, 557-572.
  8. Y. D. Yeboah, Y. Xu, A. Sheth, A. Godavarty and P. K. Agrawal (2003), "Catalytic gasification of coal using eutectic salts: Identification of eutectics", Carbon, 41, 203-214.
  9. A. Sheth, Y. D. Yeboah, A. Godavarty, Y. Xu, and P. K. Agrawal (2003), "Catalytic gasification of coal using eutectic salts: Reaction kinetics with binary and ternary eutectic catalysts", Fuel, 82, 303-31710.
  10. S. Aliabadi, A. Johnson, A. A. Abatan, J. Abedi, Y. Yeboah and K. Bota (2002), "Stabilized Finite Element Formulation of Buoyancy Driven Incompressible Flows", Journal of Communications in Numerical Methods in Engineering (CNME), Volume 18, Issue 5, Pages: 315-324.


Patents and Invention Disclosures


  1. Method of hydrolyzing organochlorosilanes. US Patent # 4,382,145.
  2. Methods for preparing cyclopolysiloxanes. US patent # 4,423,240.
  3. Process for hydrolyzing chlorosilanes. US Patent # 4,497,942.
  4. Catalyzed interfacial polycondensation polycarbonate process. US Patent #4,515,936.
  5. Continuous PPO monomer synthesis in a fluidized bed catalytic reactor. General Electric Company Patent Docket # RD-14,106; Jan. 14, 1983.
  6. Method of making polycarbonate using cationic surfactants as catalysts. General Electric Company Patent Docket # RD-15,101; May 10, 1983.
  7. Surface catalyzed polycarbonate synthesis. General Electric Company Patent Docket # RD-15,158, June 21, 1984.
  8. Advanced energy conversion method based on catalytic gasification utilizing eutectic salt mixtures. Patent application filed at the University of Tennessee Space Institute. Serial No. 60/482,481, June 25, 2003.


Awards and Honors


Research Interests


Teaching


EGEE 101H - Energy and the Environment (3)


EGEE 120 - Oil: International Evolution (3)