Summary

I have extensive research experience both in laboratory work (building experimental units and synthesizing polymers) as well as in mathematical modeling (proposing models and validating them from experimental data). The possibility of developing those complementary activities was one of the main factors that drew me to this research. My research involved polymers synthesis, analysis of polymers properties and polymerization processes. I also developed computer programs to analyze the experimental data I collected in the lab. Besides that, most of my work was done in the EngePol Lab (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro - COPPE), where I became familiar with other areas outside my core research, such as polymers for medical applications, process engineering and polymers for petrochemical industry (PET, elastomers and polyolefins). 

Besides my academic research, I also did a Professional Masters Program that had technical and industrial focus on mechanical engineering and processes in the petrochemical industry. It has an interdisciplinary approach, covering technical, regulatory, economic, environmental and safety aspects. Examples of topics covered are design of equipment, practices of soldering, contracts management and project management.

I also have experience as an industrial engineer. During an internship at Braskem Company (1 year and 3 months), I was responsible for defining optimal and safe conditions of operation of equipment in a polyethylene plant and doing field work in the plant.

Education

 

PhD student in Chemical Engineering

​2010 - atual

Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute (COPPE), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil

 

Thesis: Synthesis and Mathematical Modeling of styrene copolymers in a tubular reactor with lateral feed streams through nitroxide mediated controlled free-radical polymerization.

Advisor: José Carlos Pinto

Scholarship from Brazilian Council of Science and Technology (CNPQ)

 

 

Professional Masters in Petrochemical Process Engineering

​2012 - 2013

Fluminense Federal University (UFF), Brazil

 

This Masters program had technical and industrial focus on mechanical engineering and processes in the petrochemical industry. It has an interdisciplinary approach, covering technical, regulatory, economic, environmental and safety aspects. Examples of topics covered are design of equipment for the petrochemical industry, practices of soldering, project commissioning, contracts management and project management. 

 

 

MSc in Chemical Engineering

​2008 - 2010

Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute (COPPE), Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil

 

Thesis: Controlled Radical Polymerization of Styrene with alpha-methyl Styrene and Methyl Methacrylate Nitroxide Mediated in a Tubular Reactor

Advisores: José Carlos Pinto and Príamo Albuquerque Melo Jr

Scholarship from CAPES foundation

 

 

BEng in Chemical Engineering

​2003 - 2007

School of Chemistry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil

 

Thesis: Controlled Radical Polymerization of Styrene with alpha-methyl Styrene and Methyl Methacrylate Nitroxide Mediated in a Tubular Reactor

Advisores: José Carlos Pinto and Príamo Albuquerque Melo Jr

Scholarship from CAPES foundation

Publications

  • Araujo C. L., Pinto J. C ., Production of Copolymers in a Tubular Reactor Through Nitroxide Mediated Controlled Free Radical Polymerization, 11th Workshop on Polymer Reaction Engineering, Volume 333, Issue 1, pages 62-68, November 2013.

 

  • Araujo C. L., Soares M., Pinto J. C. , Controlled Radical Copolymerization of Styrene/AMS Nitroxide Mediated, 12th Brazilian Congress on Polymers, 2013.

 

 

  • Asteasuain M., Covan D., Sarmoria C., Brandolin A., Araujo C. L., Pinto J. C. , Comprehensive Mathematical Modeling of Controlled Radical Copolymerization in Tubular Reactors, 21st European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering – ESCAPE 21, 201.

 

 

  • Araujo C. L., Soares M., Melo P. A., Pinto J. C. , Polymerization of Styrene/AMS and Styrene/MMA Nitroxide Mediated in a Tubular Reactor, 11th Brazilian Congress on Polymers, 2011.

 

 

  • Araujo C. L., Esteves P. M., Horta B. A. C., Alvarez L. J., Zicovich-Wilson C. M., Ramires-Solis A. , Isobutylene-Isobutane Alkylation Process in Liquid HF Revisited, Journal of Physical Chemistry v.109, n.26, p. 12946-12955, 2005.

 

Graduate Research Assistant (COPPE/UFRJ)

​2010 - now

 

  • Scale-up of polymerization processes

  • Design and construction of an experimental system containing a tubular reactor for the polymerization, multiple feeds streams and control system in real time

  • Synthesis of styrene copolymers with block structure using nitroxide mediated controlled freeradical polymerization

  • Mathematical modeling of polymerization processes

  • Estimation of parameters using a stochastic technique 

 

 

Brazil-Argentina Research Cooperation Project between COPPE / UFRJ and Universidad Nacional del Sur

​2011 - 2012

 

  • ​Synthesis of experimental data used as a comparison benchmark for mathematical modeling studies

  • Implementation in FORTRAN of a kinetic model representing the evolution of conversion and average molecular weights in those reactions

  • Discussion of the kinetic steps affected by the addition of the nitroxide using parameter estimation 

 

 

Graduate Research Assistant (COPPE/UFRJ) – Masters level

​2008 - 2010

 

  • Synthesis of styrene copolymers with low polydispersity index using nitroxide mediated controlled free-radical polymerization

  • Laboratory techniques for polymer characterization (GPC, DSC, NMR and FTIR)

  • Design of polymerization reactors 

 

 

Internship at Braskem Company

​Dec 2006 - Feb 2008

 

  • Strategic planning section (4 months), proposal of possible new applications for Braskem’s polymers.

  • Process engineering intern (10 months) in Braskem’s polyethylene plant in Rio de Janeiro

    • Defined conditions for optimal safe operation of one of the plant’s flares

    • performance evaluation of a pump in the plant’s operating condition

 

 

 

Undergraduate Research, School of Chemistry, UFRJ

​2003 - 2006

 

  • Synthesis of biodiesel from soybean oil using heterogeneous catalysts

  • Investigation of Isobutylene-Isobutane Alkylation Process in Liquid HF, using molecular dynamics Ab Initio Car-Parrinello, Conventional Ab Initio and DFT

     

 

Research Experience
Teaching Experience

 

Teaching Assistant

2012

COQ 863 - Modeling and Simulation of Polymerization Reactors, Prof. J. C. Pinto, COPPE