Karlsruhe Institute of Technology: New electrolysis processes for sustainable chemical production
Basic chemicals, which are required as raw materials for a wide range of products such as medicines or detergents, can only be produced with enormous energy and raw material consumption. Fossil fuels and raw materials are often still used. The extraction of chemical substances alone requires high temperatures, expensive catalysts made from precious metals and, in some cases, starting materials that are harmful to the environment. The aim of the future cluster ETOS, co-managed by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), is to develop more sustainable processes based on electrolysis. With electricity from renewable energies, they should provide a basis for the CO 2-create neutral chemical production. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding ETOS as one of seven projects in the Clusters4Future competition.
With special electrolysis processes for the production of fine chemicals, the future cluster ETOS wants to make a significant contribution to the defossilization of the chemical industry. “The advantage is that there is no waste when using electricity to trigger a reaction. It is a ‘clean’ process, allows mild synthesis conditions and is inherently safe,” says Dr. Philipp Röse from the Institute for Applied Materials – Electrochemical Technologies (IAM-ET) of KIT. The researchers now want to adapt the electrolysis process and develop it to an industrial scale in such a way that energy and raw materials can be saved. The focus is on the production of fine chemicals, which are the basic materials for numerous products. So far, these can only be made with partly environmentally harmful raw materials, oxidizing agents containing heavy metals, for example, at high temperatures and with expensive catalysts made of precious metals such as palladium or platinum. In their research, the team relies on organic electrosynthesis, in which organic compounds are converted into the desired chemical products by means of an electric current.
“Organic electrosynthesis is still a little researched niche technology that is rarely used in industry. We now want to develop tailor-made methods for concrete production processes that are ecologically and economically worthwhile,” says Professor Ulrike Krewer, head of IAM-ET and co-spokesperson of ETOS. “If we then also rely on electricity from renewable energies, the new methods are an important step towards CO 2 neutrality in these processes.” ETOS will be the first large technology platform to promote the transfer of electro-organic syntheses from the laboratory to the industrial scale and on this basis Develop solution proposals and key technologies for sustainable, robust and future-proof processes and products.
Process and reaction technology from the electrode to large demonstrators
The KIT team around Ulrike Krewer brings the engineering perspective to the future cluster ETOS. “It’s about improving individual components, such as electrodes, as well as entire demonstrators through to the complete process chain in large-scale plants,” explains Röse. In ETOS, the scientists of KIT deal with, among other things, the experimental and model-based analysis and optimization of electrodes and cells and the additive manufacturing of structured reactors. You will work on process design as well as process upscaling and evaluation in large-scale plant operation. There are also experts in AI-supported molecular screening. In addition to the IAM-ET, the Institute for Fluid Mechanics, the Institute for Catalysis Research and Technology,
The scientific management of ETOS lies with Professor Siegfried Waldvogel at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). Here, the methods and reaction paths in organic electrosynthesis are the focus of research, but also electrolysers with small electrode gaps, which should make it possible to further increase the energy efficiency of the cells. Basic chemicals, which are required as raw materials for a wide range of products such as medicines or detergents, can only be produced with enormous energy and raw material consumption. Fossil fuels and raw materials are often still used. The extraction of chemical substances alone requires high temperatures, expensive catalysts made from precious metals and, in some cases, starting materials that are harmful to the environment. The aim of the future cluster ETOS, co-managed by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), is to develop more sustainable processes based on electrolysis. With electricity from renewable energies, they should provide a basis for the CO 2-create neutral chemical production. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding ETOS as one of seven projects in the Clusters4Future competition.
With special electrolysis processes for the production of fine chemicals, the future cluster ETOS wants to make a significant contribution to the defossilization of the chemical industry. “The advantage is that there is no waste when using electricity to trigger a reaction. It is a ‘clean’ process, allows mild synthesis conditions and is inherently safe,” says Dr. Philipp Röse from the Institute for Applied Materials – Electrochemical Technologies (IAM-ET) of KIT. The researchers now want to adapt the electrolysis process and develop it to an industrial scale in such a way that energy and raw materials can be saved. The focus is on the production of fine chemicals, which are the basic materials for numerous products. So far, these can only be made with partly environmentally harmful raw materials, oxidizing agents containing heavy metals, for example, at high temperatures and with expensive catalysts made of precious metals such as palladium or platinum. In their research, the team relies on organic electrosynthesis, in which organic compounds are converted into the desired chemical products by means of an electric current.
“Organic electrosynthesis is still a little researched niche technology that is rarely used in industry. We now want to develop tailor-made methods for concrete production processes that are ecologically and economically worthwhile,” says Professor Ulrike Krewer, head of IAM-ET and co-spokesperson of ETOS. “If we then also rely on electricity from renewable energies, the new methods are an important step towards CO 2 neutrality in these processes.” ETOS will be the first large technology platform to promote the transfer of electro-organic syntheses from the laboratory to the industrial scale and on this basis Develop solution proposals and key technologies for sustainable, robust and future-proof processes and products.
Process and reaction technology from the electrode to large demonstrators
The KIT team around Ulrike Krewer brings the engineering perspective to the future cluster ETOS. “It’s about improving individual components, such as electrodes, as well as entire demonstrators through to the complete process chain in large-scale plants,” explains Röse. In ETOS, the scientists of KIT deal with, among other things, the experimental and model-based analysis and optimization of electrodes and cells and the additive manufacturing of structured reactors. You will work on process design as well as process upscaling and evaluation in large-scale plant operation. There are also experts in AI-supported molecular screening. In addition to the IAM-ET, the Institute for Fluid Mechanics, the Institute for Catalysis Research and Technology,
The scientific management of ETOS lies with Professor Siegfried Waldvogel at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). Here, the methods and reaction paths in organic electrosynthesis are the focus of research, but also electrolysers with small electrode gaps, which should make it possible to further increase the energy efficiency of the cells.