Jacob Miller is a chemical engineering researcher in NREL’s Catalytic Carbon Transformation and Scale-Up Center where he utilizes his training in fundamental chemical kinetics and reactor design to understand and scale up heterogeneous catalytic processes. His work primarily involves running lab-scale chemical reactions and conducting other fundamental process-essential studies to inform the development and design of pilot- and industrial-scale chemical processes.

Research Interests

Chemical kinetics and reaction engineering

Complex reaction networks

Reactor design and scale-up

Multiscale heat- and mass-transfer phenomena

Catalytic upgrading of waste-derived feedstocks to high-value fuels and chemicals

Education

Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of Minnesota

B.S.E., Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University

Professional Experience

Researcher III, NREL (2022–present)

Postdoctoral Researcher, NREL (2020–2021)

Reaction Engineering Intern, Dow Chemical Company (2019)

Summer Research Fellow, Princeton Environmental Institute (2014)

Summer REU, University of Delaware (2013)

Featured Work

Screening and Evaluation of Biomass Upgrading Strategies for Sustainable Transportation Fuel Production With Biomass-Derived Volatile Fatty Acids, iScience (2022)

Catalytic Activation of Polyethylene Model Compounds Over Metal‐Exchanged Beta Zeolites, ChemSusChem (2022)

Kinetics and Reactor Design Principles of Volatile Fatty Acid Ketonization for Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research (2022)

Catalytic Degradation of Ethylene Oxide Over Ag/α-Al₂O₃, Journal of Catalysis (2020)

Pathways, Mechanisms, and Kinetics: A Strategy to Examine Byproduct Selectivity in Partial Oxidation Catalytic Transformations on Reducible Oxides, Reaction Chemistry and Engineering (2019)

Reaction Pathways in Acrolein Oxidation Over a Mixed‐Oxide Catalyst, ChemCatChem (2018)

Kinetic Modeling of Acrolein Oxidation Over a Promoted Mo−V Oxide Catalyst, ChemCatChem (2018)

Awards and Honors

University of Minnesota Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship (2020)

North American Meeting of the Catalysis Society Kokes Travel Award (2019)

University of Minnesota Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Department Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award (2018 and 2019)