CO2-based alkoxycarbonylation reactions
Resource-optimised production of everyday products
More than 14 million tonnes of olefin carbonylation products are currently produced worldwide. These are used to produce a variety of everyday products such as intermediates for the manufacture of detergents and cleaning agents, for consumer-related products such as infusion bags, tablet coatings and respiratory masks as well as for floor coverings, sealing materials and special food packaging. The chemical reaction required to produce olefin carbonylation products is therefore considered one of the most important developments in industrial chemistry of the 20th century. In order to make the raw material basis for these many applications sustainable and thus fit for the 21st century, the COBRA project aims to create the conditions for future, resource-optimised production based on carbon dioxide, renewable hydrogen and certain chemicals known as olefins. To this end, two process steps, catalytic synthesis and membrane separation, are combined in a novel process chain. Existing plants are largely utilised in order to enable low-threshold implementation in industrial applications at a later stage. The use of renewable hydrogen increases the raw material efficiency of the process. The use of carbon dioxide as a non-fossil raw material and new carbon source offers the potential to achieve a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in large-scale industrial plants. The project is therefore contributing to making current energy-intensive processes more sustainable.
