The Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea have announced that Professor Kwon Eil-hann of Hanyang University's Department of Earth Resources and Environmental Engineering has been selected as the recipient of the September "Scientist of the Month." The Scientist of the Month Award is given monthly to researchers who have made significant contributions to the development of science and technology, and it includes the Ministry of Science and ICT Ministerial Award along with a prize of KRW 10 million.

MSIT and the National Research Foundation of Korea highly evaluated Professor Kwon Eil-hann's contributions to developing fundamental technology to convert carbon in waste into valuable resources and high-value-added compounds, thereby presenting a new strategy for low-carbon energy utilization.

Waste materials have great potential as useful resources,  but its composition is complex and contains many impurities, making it a challenging process. Conventional waste-to-energy process using thermochemical methods extracts only specific components from waste for use, which results in the generation of a large amount of by-products and carbon dioxide, requiring additional processing and causing carbon losses in the process.

Professor Kwon proposed a new method to secure additional carbon sources and recover various useful resources from waste by utilizing carbon dioxide emitted during the thermochemical process as a reaction raw material and reaction medium in the process. Based on this technology, he also developed a biofuel production process that does not require pretreatment of raw materials. The biofuel production process does not require strong acid/base catalysts, as the reaction is carried out by heat with porous materials. In addition, while the existing technology extracts only certain components from the feedstock, the new technology utilizes all components, improving the overall process efficiency. In addition, the amount of energy and auxiliary raw materials consumed in the extraction stage of the existing technology is reduced, which improves economic efficiency. 

The technology is expected to be applied across industries by minimizing infrastructure modifications in the chemical and energy industries. The research was published on September 27, 2021 in the international journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering.

Furthermore, Professor Kwon Eil-hann also secured a technology that can quantitatively and qualitatively analyze cooking oil fume, a harmful substance generated during the cooking process, down to the nanogram level, and laid the basis for selecting standards for measuring the working environment of cooking workplaces. 

He said, "This research is significant in that it suggests a way to utilize waste as fuel to reduce carbon losses and maximize carbon utilization. I look forward to contribute to environmental protection and address environmental issues in the future, based on my knowledge and judgment as an environmental engineer."