Sunkyu Park

Bio

– Biorefinery and Pulp & Paper process integration (mass and energy balance) and its techno-economic analysis
– Process development for biomass biochemical treatment (pretreatment, mechanical refining, enzymatic hydrolysis)
– Process development for biomass thermal treatment (pyrolysis, torrefaction)
– Dissolving pulp characterization and application

• 2021 ~ current Professor, North Carolina State University
• 2017 ~ 2021 E.J. Woody Rice Associate Professor, North Carolina State University
• 2015 ~ 2017 Associate Professor, North Carolina State University
• 2011 ~ 2017 Adjunct Professor, Seoul National University
• 2009 ~ 2015 Assistant Professor, North Carolina State University
• 2006, Ph.D., Pulp and Paper, North Carolina State University
• 2001, M.S., Pulp and Paper, Seoul National University, Korea
• 1997, B.S., Forest Products, Seoul National University, Korea

Website

https://sites.google.com/ncsu.edu/sunkyupark/

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wad2gqcAAAAJ&hl=en

Teaching

• FB 760 Engineering Unit Operations for Biomass Conversion
• FB 595 Special Topic: Bioenergy Science and Engineering
• PSE 425 Bioenergy and Biomaterials Engineering
• PSE 417 Pulp and Paper Process Simulation

Research Interests

Growing concerns over climate change and the desire to stimulate a sustainable economy have renewed the urgency for developing substantial replacement of fossil feedstocks with renewable resources.  Chemical and other commodity industries are gradually shifting from relying on petroleum to lignocellulosic biomass as feedstocks.  To make biorefinery financially attractive, it is critically important to co-produce high-value chemicals and materials in addition to biofuel production.  This lesson is clear from the petroleum industry in which petro-based chemical production generates similar cash value to fuel production, while only ~16% of crude oil is used for chemical production.

Our research at NC State University covers a broad spectrum of biorefinery development and is focused on the fundamental understanding of lignocellulosic biomass reactivity and engineering process development for both biochemical and thermochemical conversion processes into biofuels, biochemicals, and biomaterials. Please check our publications to follow research trends.

Area(s) of Expertise

Biorefinery development for biochemical and thermochemical conversion processes into biofuels, biochemicals, and biomaterials.

Publications

• A new approach to improve the economic and environmental attractiveness of biomethane from biomass gasification with redox-activated CO2 sorbents , Chemical Engineering Journal (2025)
• Advanced nuclear reactor integration opportunities for the pulp and paper industry in the U.S. context: Technical perspectives, gap analysis, and preliminary technoeconomic assessment , SUSTAINABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES AND ASSESSMENTS (2025)
• Biogenic carbon capture at pulp mills via sodium spiking and oxy-fuel calcination , INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GREENHOUSE GAS CONTROL (2025)
• Catalytic conversion of paper sludge carbohydrates to jet fuel range hydrocarbons: Process optimization and techno-economic analysis , CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL (2025)
• Cost analysis of carbon capture and storage in the pulp and paper industry integrated with nuclear heat , CARBON CAPTURE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY (2025)
• Engineering microbial consortia for mixed plastic upcycling , Nature Communications (2025)
• Environmental Life Cycle Assessment and Techno-Economic Analysis of Textile Waste Valorization via Modular Bioenergy with Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage , (2025)
• Environmental life cycle assessment of renewable starch alternative plastic: a comparative analysis of end-of-life scenarios in the Republic of Korea , JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION (2025)
• Evaluating the quality and processability of cotton linter-derived cellulose acetate by characterization of native and artificial fines , CELLULOSE (2025)
• Fractionation by classification as a prerequisite to the purification of old corrugated container material for preparing dissolving grade pulp , CELLULOSE (2025)

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