Reaction Engineering and Sustainable Chemistry lab

Facility/equipment: Equipment

    Equipments Details

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    As fossil-based resources become increasingly scarcer, policies like the Net Zero strategy strive to attain a more sustainable production of fuels and commodities that replace conventional petrochemicals. At the same time, regulations are more and more restrictive concerning the use of auxiliary chemicals in their production, which makes it necessary to search for alternatives involving less harmful chemicals. For this reason, the exploration of greener chemical routes based on the transformation of biobased resources needs innovation to face the challenges that these novel processes pose.
    In this context, we have ongoing projects on:

    •The conversion of sugars from waste lignocellulosic biomass to yield 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and furfural, two key platform chemicals in the future of biorefineries to produce biofuels and biobased materials. These chemicals are produced by the dehydration of sugars, with the disadvantage of undesired by-products also generating. Through the use of a hybrid reaction with in situ extraction, we are enhancing the selectivity to HMF and furfural, for which the selection of an extracting agent is key. With the aid of the COSMO-RS method, we are selecting green and efficient solvents to improve the process (https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c07894) and make scaled-up processing more effective.

    •The valorisation of crude glycerol from real biodiesel processes. As a by-product of the biodiesel industry, this waste stream contains multiple impurities that make it unsuitable for sale. Through purification with physicochemical methods, we can obtain glycerol of sufficient purity for transformation to products of interest. One of our projects studies the esterification reaction to obtain triacetin, a biobased fuel additive known to enhance fuel properties like pour point, kinematic viscosity and less NOx emissions. We are performing studies on catalyst selection and deactivation and detailed kinetic modelling (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2024.153905 ). This information is crucial for subsequent process design and simulation for scale-up (Aspen Plus) and techno-economic analysis.

    The Reaction Engineering and Sustainable Chemistry lab includes different equipment for small scale chemical reactions and separations (orbital bath, dry blocks), an ultrasonicator (Hielscher up400st) for intensification of mass transfer/mixing, a rotary evaporator and centrifuges. Access to software including the Aspen package, COSMOTherm (COSMO-RS method) and HSPiP (Hansen Solubility Parameters).

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