Synergies for green platform chemicals
Consumers, and therefore industry, have a constant demand for resources that can only be met to a limited extent in the long term by conventional manufacturing processes. A potential solution to this problem lies in the production of products from renewable raw materials and covering the energy requirements of the production process with green energy. A central component of this is the development of new catalytic and membrane-based technologies and their coupling in the form of innovative catalytic membrane reactors.
The new project I-KaMeRa: Development of an economically attractive technology for the production of basic chemical raw materials using a catalytic membrane reactor as part of
“From Material to Innovation”
“BMBF Material Hub Initiative”
“MaterialNeutral - Resource Sovereignty through Material Innovations”
The aim of the funded project is to use a holistic, systematic approach to exploit synergy effects between compatible catalyst and membrane systems, which are combined in a membrane reactor for the targeted oxidation of green methanol to produce green platform chemicals. So-called platform chemicals are the cornerstone of the modern chemical industry and are indispensable as starting materials in the production of higher-value goods.
In the development of this technology, the interplay between mass transport through the membrane and the speed of the reaction is crucial. For this reason, the aspects of catalyst development, membrane development and coupling in the membrane reactor are considered both individually and in combination as part of the project.
The research team I-KaMeRa (Foto: privat)
The basis for this is the interdisciplinary cooperation between basic and applied research and industry as well as the combination of experimental and model-based research work, taking into account ecological and economic aspects.
Catalyst development and coupling in catalytic membrane reactors are carried out by the working groups of Prof. Christof Hamel and Prof. Franziska Scheffler at the University of Magdeburg. The development and provision of selective membranes is the aim of the joint work of the working groups of Dr. Christiane Günther from Rauschert Kloster Veilsdorf GmbH and Dr. Marcus Weyd from the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems (Fraunhofer-IKTS).