Especially significant for the Navy is the possibility of maintaining
naval air operations in remote areas without depending too much on long-distance transport of jet fuel across oceans. The Navy is also studying the feasibility of constructing on-shore facilities capable of synthesizing
kerosene from
hydrogen and
CO2, both extracted from
seawater constituents. Because of the very high electrical power required by
water electrolysis to produce considerable amounts of hydrogen, nuclear power plants or
ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) are necessary to fuel the industrial installations built on-shore on remote islands close to the sea in strategic locations.
Education
Willauer attended
Berry College in
Georgia, graduating with a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1996.[1] In mid-1999 she participated in the 11th International Conference on Partitioning in Aqueous Two-Phase Systems, held in
Gulf Shores, Alabama.[2] In 2002, she earned a doctorate in
analytical chemistry from the
University of Alabama, writing her thesis on "Fundamentals of phase behavior and solute partitioning in ABS and applications to the paper industry," the "ABS" an abbreviation for "
aqueous biphasic systems".[3] She began working with the NRL as an associate, then in 2004 she advanced to the position of research chemist.[1]
Career
Willauer started researching
biphasic systems and
phase transitions after graduating from Berry College. In 1998 she studied aqueous biphasic systems (ABS) for the potential of recapturing valuable dyes from textile manufacturing effluent. She investigated
ions and
catalysts.[4]
In the 2000s, Willauer began studying methods for extracting CO2 and H2 from seawater, for the purpose of reacting these molecules into hydrocarbons by using the
Fischer–Tropsch process.[5] She also investigated modified
iron (Fe)
catalysts and studied
zeolite (nanoporous
aluminosilicate) catalyst supports for recombining these molecules into jet fuel.
Previous studies had concluded that CO2, under the form of the bicarbonate anion (HCO3–) dominant (96%
mole fraction) in the seawater inorganic carbon species could not be economically removed from seawater.[6] However, by acidifying seawater by means of an adapted electrolysis cell with cation permeable membranes (dubbed a three-chambered electrochemical acidification cell),[7] it is possible to economically convert HCO3– into CO2 at a pH lower than 6 and to increase the extraction yield. In January 2011, the NRL installed a prototype of seawater electrolysis cell at
Naval Air Station Key West in Florida.[8]
In 2017, Willauer et al. were granted a patent for a CO2 extraction device from seawater, in the form of an electrolytic-
cation exchange module (E-CEM). The E-CEM is seen as a "key step" in the production of synthetic fuel from seawater. Other researchers named in the patent are Felice DiMascio, Dennis R. Hardy, Jeffrey Baldwin, Matthew Bradley, James Morris, Ramagopal Ananth and Frederick W. Williams.[9]
Feasibility of jet fuel synthesis
Willauer et al. (2012) estimated that jet fuel could be synthesized from seawater in quantities up to 100,000 US gal (380,000 L) per day, at a cost of three to six U.S. dollars per gallon.[10][11][7] Willauer et al. (2014) showed that the Fischer-Tropsch catalyst could be modified to synthesize various fuels such as
methanol and
natural gas, as well as the
olefins that can be used as the building blocks for jet fuel.
Willauer et al. calculated that about 23,000 US gal (87,000 L) of seawater must be driven through the process to obtain the quantities of hydrogen and CO2 necessary to synthesize one gallon of jet fuel.
Seawater was chosen because it contains 140 times more CO2 by volume than the atmosphere, and conventional water electrolysis also yields H2. The equipment for processing seawater is much smaller than that for processing air. Willauer considered that seawater was the "best option" for a source of synthetic jet fuel.[12][13] By April 2014, the Willauer's team had not yet made fuel to the quality standard required for military jets,[14][15] but they were able in September 2013 to use the fuel to fly a radio-controlled model airplane powered by a common two-stroke internal combustion engine.[8]
Because the process requires a considerable input of electrical energy[11] (~ 250 MW electricity mainly for the H2 production by water electrolysis and also to a lesser extent for the CO2 recovery from seawater),[11] it cannot be performed on a large ship, even on a nuclear aircraft-carrier. The installations processing seawater to obtain H2 and CO2 (in fact CO), the two essential ingredients necessary for the
Fischer–Tropsch process, must be constructed on-shore, close to the sea, on islands in strategic remote locations (e.g.,
Hawai,
Guam,
Diego-Garcia) and powered by a nuclear reactor, or by
ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC).
Publications
Papers
Jonathan G. Huddleston; Heather D. Willauer; Kathy R. Boaz; Robin D. Rogers (26 June 1998). "Separation and recovery of food coloring dyes using aqueous biphasic extraction chromatographic resins". Journal of Chromatography B. 711 (1–2): 237–244.
doi:
10.1016/S0378-4347(97)00662-2.
PMID9699992.
Heather D. Willauer; Jonathan G. Huddleston; Scott T. Griffin; Robin D. Rogers (1999). "Partitioning of Aromatic Molecules in Aqueous Biphasic Solutions". Separation Science and Technology. 34 (6–7): 1069–1090.
doi:
10.1080/01496399908951081.
Mian Li; Heather D. Willauer; Jonathan G. Huddleston; Robin D. Rogers (2001). "Temperature Effects on Polymer-based Aqueous Biphasic Extraction Technology in the Paper Pulping Process". Separation Science and Technology. 36 (5–6): 835–847.
doi:
10.1081/SS-100103623.
S2CID96760221.
Heather D. Willauer; Jonathan G. Huddleston; Robin D. Rogers (May 2002). "Solvent Properties of Aqueous Biphasic Systems Composed of Polyethylene Glycol and Salt Characterized by the Free Energy of Transfer of a Methylene Group between the Phases and by a Linear Solvation Energy Relationship". Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. 41 (11): 2591–2601.
doi:
10.1021/ie0107800.
Ann E. Visser; W. Matthew Reichert; Richard P. Swatloski; Heather D. Willauer; Jonathan G. Huddleston; Robin D. Rogers (July 2002). "23: Characterization of Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Ionic Liquids: Alternatives to Volatile Organic Compounds for Liquid–Liquid Separations". In Robin D. Rogers; Kenneth R. Seddon (eds.). Ionic Liquids. ACS Symposium Series. Vol. 818. pp. 289–303.
doi:
10.1021/bk-2002-0818.ch023.
ISBN978-0-8412-3789-6.
Heather D. Willauer; John Hoover; Frederick W. Williams; George W. Mushrush (January 2004). "The Construction of an Improved Automated Atomizer for Evaluating Jet Fuel Flammability". Petroleum Science & Technology.
George W. Mushrush; James H. Wynne; Heather D. Willauer; Christopher T. Lloyd; Janet M. Hughes; Erna J. Beal (2004). "Recycled Soybean Cooking Oils As Blending Stocks for Diesel Fuels". Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. 43 (16).
Heather D. Willauer; Ramagopal Ananth; John B. Hoover; George W. Mushrush; Frederick W. Williams (November 2004). "A Critical Evaluation of An Automated Rotary Atomizer". Petroleum Science & Technology.
George W. Mushrush; Heather D. Willauer; John Hoover; Jean Bailey; Frederick W. Williams (January 2005). "Flammability and Petroleum Based Hydraulic Fluids". Petroleum Science & Technology.
"Instability Reactions and Recycled Soybean Derived Biodiesel Fuel Liquids. George W. Mushrush, James H. Wynne, Christopher T. Lloyd, Heather Willauer, Janet M. Hughes". Energy Sources. January 2005.
Heather D. Willauer; John B. Hoover; George W. Mushrush; Frederick W. Williams (March 21, 2005).
"Evaluation of Jet Fuel Aerosols Using a Rotary Atomizer". 4th Joint Meeting of the U.S. Sections of the Combustion Institute. Archived from
the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
H.D. Willauer; D.R. Hardy; F. DiMascio; R.W. Dorner; F.W. Williams (2010).
"Synfuel from Seawater"(PDF). NRL Review. United States Naval Research Laboratory: 153–154. Archived from
the original(PDF) on 2013-03-06. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
Heather D. Willauer; Dennis R. Hardy; Kenneth R. Schultz; Frederick W. Williams (2012). "The feasibility and current estimated capital costs of producing jet fuel at sea using carbon dioxide and hydrogen". Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy. 4 (3): 033111.
doi:
10.1063/1.4719723.
S2CID109523882.
^"List of Participants"(PDF). Gulf Shores, Alabama: 11th International Conference on Partitioning in Aqueous Two-Phase Systems. June 27 – July 2, 1999. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
^Jonathan G. Huddleston; Heather D. Willauer; Kathy R. Boaz; Robin D. Rogers (26 June 1998). "Separation and recovery of food coloring dyes using aqueous biphasic extraction chromatographic resins". Journal of Chromatography B. 711 (1–2): 237–244.
doi:
10.1016/S0378-4347(97)00662-2.
PMID9699992.
^H.D. Willauer; D.R. Hardy; F. DiMascio; R.W. Dorner; F.W. Williams (2010).
"Synfuel from Seawater"(PDF). NRL Review. United States Naval Research Laboratory: 153–154. Archived from
the original(PDF) on March 6, 2013. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
^
abcHeather D. Willauer; Dennis R. Hardy; Kenneth R. Schultz; Frederick W. Williams (2012). "The feasibility and current estimated capital costs of producing jet fuel at sea using carbon dioxide and hydrogen". Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy. 4 (33111): 033111.
doi:
10.1063/1.4719723.
S2CID109523882.