Innovative Catalytic Membrane Reactors for the sustainable, efficient production of platform chemicals – material innovations of catalyst and membrane
In order to sustainably meet the demand of industry and consumers for established products, it is necessary to further develop conventional manufacturing processes. One possibility is to manufacture products from renewable raw materials using renewable energies. To this end, the development of new materials in the form of highly efficient catalytic and membrane-based technologies is essential. Both technologies are used in combination in so-called ‘catalytic membrane reactors’.
The aim of the project is to develop an optimally matched system of catalyst and membrane material that can be successfully applied in a membrane reactor for the selective oxidation of green methanol to green platform chemicals. Selective oxidation is one of the most important reactions for converting renewable raw materials into recyclable materials, for example into platform chemicals. These serve as the starting material for the production of various products with higher added value. For the development of membrane reactors, the coupling between mass transfer through the membrane and the reaction rate is particularly important. Therefore, all three sub-aspects, catalyst development, membrane development and their coupling in membrane reactors, will be investigated and researched both separately and in combination.
In the individual development stages, both experimental and simulation-based research approaches will be used to transfer and test the results obtained on a laboratory scale in a demonstrator scale. The developed materials in the form of resource-saving, highly selective catalysts and temperature-stable, catalytically active membranes with optimised scaled membrane and carrier structure will contribute to the improvement of processes in terms of sustainability and economic efficiency in the future.
