Nicholas Carlin Email & Phone Number

San Francisco, California

Concord, California

Responsibilities:*Led a team of research engineers and scientists at an analytical laboratory for a start-up renewable energy company developing biofuels and energy conversion technologies*Managed all R&D projects for the company*Operated, calibrated, and maintained thermo-gravimetric analyzers (TGA), DSC, FTIR, inert furnaces, bomb calorimeters, CHNS analyzers, X-ray florescence instruments, milling and grinding instruments, sieve shakers, and pellet mills*Also have good working knowledge of Parr pressure reactors, GC, acid digestion, and ICP*Provided monthly technical presentations, reports and weekly updates for executive team*Maintained material safety data sheets (MSDS), EPA hazardous materials business plans (HMBP), and USDA permits for importing quarantined plant and soil samples from overseas*Supported marketing, sales, and engineering teams in Northern India*Developed QA/QC methods for high-throughput fuel testing and screening at a sister lab in Mohali, Punjab, India*Recruited and interviewed candidates for scientist and engineering positions in the R&D teamAccomplishments:*Identified 3 proprietary anti-fouling additives for high-ash feedstock, such as rice straw and sugarcane leaves, allowing them to be utilized in industrial process boilers currently burning coal and furnace oil*Reduced water consumption by 70% for biomass leaching processes to reduce alkali and chloride contents in herbaceous biomass*Pyrolyzed biomass and characterized the resulting bio-oils as possible furnace oil replacements in process boilers*Developed process requirements and resulting bio-fuel characteristics for solid bio-fuels generated from hydro-thermal torrefaction and filter press experiments conducted in Parr pressure reactors*Optimized air-fuel ratio on a test-scale fixed-bed gasifier to maximize char production

Concord, California

Responsibilities:*Hands-on early R&D work on pre-treatment and thermo-chemical energy conversion (torrefaction) of herbaceous biomass for a start-up biofuels company*Operated inert furnaces, TGA, bomb calorimeters, and CHNS analyzers*Fitted curves and developed models to experimental data in Matlab and MS Excel*Front-end Engineering Design (FEED) during early planning for the company’s solid bio-fuel production facility*Conveyed experimental results to engineers remotely, via web meetings and conference calls*Detailed engineering design (DED) to determine equipment requirements for a commercial-scale biofuel manufacturing facility in Punjab, India. Components included choppers, conveyors, de-water presses, dryers, torrefaction reactors, and pelletizers*Developed cost-benefit analyses and financial models for bio-fuel manufacturing facilities*Presented monthly progress reports to the Board of DirectorsAccomplishments:*Formed an empirically-based model for torrefaction processes, in Matlab, that predicted required temperature, ramp rate, and residence time based on original biomass properties and desired biofuel requirements such as mass yield, ash content, and heating value*The model was one of the first major sources of IP for the company, and can be used as the basis of a control system for solid bio-fuel production facilities wishing to produce fuel with customer-defined properties*Determined optimum temperature and residence times for torrefaction systems from financial models, written in Matlab, based on the experimental results, mass and energy balances, and process flow diagrams (PFDs)*Co-authored 7 patent applications from this early work, three as primary inventor (see publications list below)

College Station, Texas

*Major contributor to two research projects funded by the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)*Constructed deterministic computer programs to model solid and liquid waste incineration systems and coal combustion; including:-->Fuel properties such as bulk densities, specific heats, and particle size distributions,-->Ultimate, proximate, and heat value analyses,-->Fueling rates in co-fire and reburn systems,-->Mass and energy balances,-->Acceptable moisture and ash contents,-->Flame temperatures,-->Heat and power production,-->Emissions and equilibrium gas concentrations,-->Thermal efficiencies,-->Moisture evaporation rates in dryers,-->Heat rates and heat transfer area calculations for heat exchangers, and-->Boiler efficiencies for fire-tube boiler systems.*Generated balance sheet computer models for economic cost-benefit analyses of burning biomass in large coal-fired utility boilers in order to determine feasibility and profitability of retrofitted biomass energy systems. These models included:-->Capital cost functions,-->O&M and labor estimations,-->Biomass transportation cost estimations,-->Biomass drying and processing cost estimations,-->NOx, SOx, and CO2 price estimations as well as revenue estimations from avoided emissions,-->Capital depreciation estimations and tax calculations,-->Net Present Worth and simple payback period computations,-->Rate of Return computations, and-->Parametric sensitivity analyses.*Supported experiments on a test-scale 100,000 Btu/hr boiler burner for heat exchanger fouling studies from pulverized coal and biomass co-firing and reburning*Conducted literature reviews of:-->Energy system designs,-->Emission control technologies,-->Engineering economics of coal-fired power facilities, and-->Biomass usage in combustion systems.*Composed:-->Journal & Conference articles,-->Technical reports,-->Quarterly progress reports, and-->Presentations.

College Station, Texas

*Assisted and instructed undergraduate students taking courses in Statics & Dynamics, Mechanical Engineering Design, and graduate students taking courses in Advanced Thermodynamics and Combustion Science.*Graded homework, quizzes, mid-term exams, and final exams.

Phd, Mechanical Engineering

Activities and Societies: Coal and Biomass Energy LaboratoryDoctoral Dissertation, May 2009 Title: Optimum usage and economic feasibility.

Ms, Mechanical Engineering

Activities and Societies: Coal and Biomass Energy LaboratoryMaster’s Thesis, December 2005 Title: Thermo-chemical conversion of dairy.

Bs, With Honors, Mechanical Engineering

Hs Diploma

Activities and Societies: Band, Speech and Debate Team, National Honor Society