Projekt Titel
CRC 1615 - SMART Reactors for Future Process Engineering
Förderkennzeichen
SFB 1615/1 2023
Funding code
945.04-997
Startdatum
October 1, 2023
Enddatum
June 30, 2027
Award URL
https://www.tuhh.de/sfb1615/
Gepris ID
503850735
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Funder
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
Funding Program
Sonderforschungsbereiche
To face climate change and create more resilient supply chains a transformation from fossil feedstocks to renewable raw materials is indispensable. However, renewable raw materials fluctuate seasonally and geologically in their availability and quality (also due to (geo)political crises). Therefore, society urgently requires processes and reactors that can flexibly respond to fluctuating characteristics of raw materials. To enable such adaptation very high level of process control is needed: pressures, temperatures, concentrations and dispersed phases must be monitored within the reactors continuously and in situ using appropriate sensors. Local process control and adjustment during operation must be realized. This requires a deep and fundamental understanding of all relevant transport processes and reaction steps to provide a fast and reliable modelling and simulation for an operando and in situ process optimisation. Fundamental research on these topics will enable technologies for SMART reactors, that convert renewable resources which are more Sustainable into different products (Multipurpose) and that are Autonomously (self-adaptive), which will lead to more Resilient processes that are better Transferable between scales and locations. In our vision the autonomous reactor can in situ measure the local conditions using integrated sensors, which transfer the chemical or electrical signal to the integrated responsive internal components of the reactor (actuators). These actuators self-adapt and therefore optimize the process on a local level. Therefore, this CRC will investigate how local process conditions in reactors can be detected, formulated in models and translated into actions to always ensure optimal process conditions with constant product quality and maximum yield despite fluctuating quality of the feed coming from renewable resources. As exemplary reaction from hydrogen economy, the hydrogenolysis of glycerol to propanediols is used, which includes biochemical, chemical and mechanical transformation steps exemplarily for fluid-fluid and solid-fluid systems. To achieve our vision, interdisciplinary collaboration between process engineering, materials science and electrical engineering with physicists, chemists, mathematicians and data scientists from Hamburg University of Technology and five research institutions enables the focusing of expertise and unique experimental facilities. From the most brilliant X-ray sources in the world for investigating the tiniest building blocks of matter to the world´s largest Magnetic Resonance Tomograph for process imaging in multiphase reactors, the limitations of future processes on all relevant scales will be discovered and tackled. This CRC sets out to pave the way to SMART reactors, which are able to adapt quickly to changing raw materials, energy supply and reaction conditions.

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    CRC 1615 - Project B01: Materials for SMART reactors: Thermodynamic and kinetic modelling of responsive materials
    The project focuses on the development of molecular thermodynamic and kinetic models describing the behaviour of stimuli-responsive materials. The ultimate goals are to provide comprehensive insights and to set the groundwork for establishing a digital twin simulator for other projects in the CRC. To achieve the goals a screening will be performed to understand the range of the stimuli-responsive behaviour. Extension of the existing models for multicomponent systems will also be performed. Modelling of swelling dynamics will then be addressed with chemical potential gradient based model, semi-empirical and lattice models.
      129
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    CRC 1615 - Project A01: Stimuli-responsive polymers for self-regulating reactors: From basic phenomena to reactor design
    This project focuses on the experimental and theoretical development of stimuli-responsive materials and their integration in tailored SMART 3D-printed chemical reactors with special focus on inherent control and actuation. Stimuli response of the materials in different reaction conditions will be studied. Thereby the reversible phase changes of the gels in term of its thermodynamics and kinetics will be described. The investigation will culminate in the fabrication and operation of an autonomous reactor module driven by the progression of the reaction and the shift in polymer-medium affinities in order to establish a proof-of-principle for this novel concept.
      151
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    CRC 1615 - Project A02: Quantitative real-time 3D electrical impedance tomography of multiphase reactors
    Project A02 develops the methodology of quantitative, real-time, 3D Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) for process monitoring in the SMART multiphase reactor for catalytic hydrogenolysis of glycerol. In A02, EIT will be combined with synchronized capillary sampling of multiphase flows, converting impedance data into process variables like gas-holdup, bubble size distribution and phase flow rates. An EIT measurement cell will be built featuring a higher number of electrodes (100-400) than existing systems (32) for performing EIT over a frequency range (100 kHz-1 MHz) on water/glycerol/propanediol/hydrogen flows at temperatures up to 250°C and 50 bar H2 pressure. Tailored measurement electronics and reconstruction algorithms will be developed.
      86
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    CRC 1615 - Project A03: Surface-functionalised nanoporous solids: Towards responsive materials for SMART reactors with adjustable fluid adsorption, transport and molecular hydrogen sensorics
    This project aims at the development of a multifunctional porous material system with controllable adsorption, fluid transport as well as integrated hydrogen sensing. The material design employs a hybrid sandwich structure integrating nanoporous silicon (np-Si) and nanoporous gold (np-Au) with tailorable pore size and surface functionalisation of pore walls. The stimuli-responsive np-Si/np-Au hybrid will be evaluated as a building block for SMART reactors in form of (i) protective layers for enzymatic reactions in mixed solvents and (ii) selective adsorbents with dual size-exclusion and specific modes of action.
      73
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    CRC 1615 - Project A04: Self-regulating enhanced surfaces for autonomously operated bioprocesses
    This project focuses on the development of microsystem substrates and the integration of smart materials enabling enhanced surfaces for bioprocesses. The enzymatic cofactor regeneration of NAD to NADH by hydrogenase using in situ generated H2 will be taken as a model reaction. This model reaction will be realised in a microsystem carrier with integrated electrodes and optical waveguides enabling space-resolved biocatalytic reaction sequences with controllable individual steps. Our novel approach of combining 3D manufacturing with microsystems technology will pave the ground for a new generation of adaptive components for future SMART bioreactors.
      130
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    CRC 1615 - Project A05: Tailored functional electrode structures for SMART bioreactors
    New carbon foam electrodes will be developed based on a ceramic template CVD process. By tailoring a porous microstructure for optimal microorganism activity and biofilm growths measured by small flow cell reactors for rapid testing of small electrode samples. To propose generic rules for the prediction of microbe electrode interactions, we will elucidate the molecular basis of the cellular response to the different materials using transcriptomic analyses. With a promising subset of materials, we aim for a first upscaling step in a plug flow reactor system with a reactor volume of up to 5 litres.
      164
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    CRC 1615 - Project A06: Development of novel, highly active, and selective multifunctional carbon nanotube-supported catalysts for the chemical hydrogenolysis of glycerol to 1,2 propanediol
    In this project, CNT-supported catalysts for hydrogenolysis are developed and optimised. First, the multifunctional carbon nanotube-supported catalyst is optimized with respect to its activity by incorporating additional transition metals. The application and fabrication of CNT forests on glass will be investigated and adjusted in parallel. Subsequently, this synthesis method is applied to 3D-printed metal surfaces, which serve as support material for the catalyst. The resulting catalyst will then be subjected to in-depth reaction engineering studies. Continuous characterization of the obtained products will be carried out during the whole project.
      159
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    CRC 1615 - Project A07: Highly integrated sensors for in-line detection of granulation state in fluidised bed reactors
    In project A07 novel Lagrangian sensor particles will be developed, which allow the measurement of temperature, humidity and applied coating layer thickness during fluidized bed spray granulation based on impedance spectroscopy. The first prototype is of 25 mm size, whereby further miniaturization to 5 mm will be achieved by designing and fabricating an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Particle position will be measured by a magnetic particle tracking setup, which is for the first time adapted to a fluidized bed spray granulation process.
      74
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    CRC 1615 - Project A08: Lagrangian devices with a validated model in multi-particle tracking
    Project A08 will develop Lagrangian devices that can function as sensors and actuators and are substantially smaller than existing Lagrangian sensors. To enable accurate tracking of multiple particles, we will integrate sensor readings from the devices with a newly developed real-time model for their trajectories. This will deliver a high fidelity tracking mechanism that is robust and can cope with issues like noise, missing or ambiguous data and other adverse effects. Ultimately, this will allow the sensors to provide a comprehensive view of the internal state of a chemical reactor and enable their use for closed-loop control.
      153
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    CRC 1615 - Project B02: In situ diagnostics and control of electrowetting of carbon nanotube catalysts for application in multiphase reactors
    Electrowetting of Carbon Nanotube (CNT) Carpets carrying Ru-Cu and Ru-Fe nanoparticles will be developed as method for catalyst reactivity control inside a SMART multiphase reactor for catalytic glycerol hydrogenolysis. A miniaturized reactor module will be developed in project B02, allowing simultaneous fibre-based Raman spectroscopy and hard X-Ray measurements at PETRAIII/DESY including SAXS, XAS, XRF and TXM. Goal is to establish a functional relationship between the shift of Raman bands of the CNT's and the degree of electrowetting as measured by operando X-Ray spectroscopy. Fibre-based Raman spectroscopy can then be used for catalyst reactivity control in the SMART multiphase demonstration reactor for catalytic glycerol hydrogenolysis in project C03.
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