On October 28, 2019, the RAPID Manufacturing Institute released a Fall 2019 call for research and development (R&D) proposals. R&D project proposals are sought that address scientific knowledge and technology gaps in the areas of process intensification (PI) and modular process technology and that advance the following institutional goals:
- More than 20% Increase in energy efficiency in a process intensification technology
- Doubling of energy productivity through a process intensification technology
- Intensified process modules with 10x reduction in capital cost, 20% improvement in energy efficiency, and 20% lower emissions/waste related to commercial state of the art
- Approaches to reduce manufacturing costs of process intensified modules by 20% with each doubling of cumulative module production
- Tool to reduce cost of deploying modular chemical process intensification by 50%
Successful projects will include collaborations among industry, academia, national laboratories, non-profit research institutes, industry consortia, and other stakeholders that advance technologies applicable to one or more of RAPID’s focus areas: Chemical and Commodity Processing, Natural Gas Upgrading, Renewable Bioproducts, Intensified Process Fundamentals, Modeling and Simulation, and Module Manufacturing. RAPID welcomes proposals in these focus areas to advance PI and modular technology development. Teams are also encouraged to include at least one industry partner.