Project description
Continuous flow chemistry enters the laboratory
Flow chemistry is emerging as the processing technique of the future. Used for decades in the chemical industry, this technology is increasingly being adopted in the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries. The EU-funded ENCATFLOW project aims to improve economic efficiency and reduce environmental impacts of the fine chemical industry, which is under enormous pressure to reduce the environmental cost of their products. The use of encapsulated catalysts in a flow membrane reactor offer both catalyst protection and recyclability, unlike any other currently developing technologies. This will increase European industry competitiveness and energy efficiency. The project team includes two industrial partners with expertise in flow chemistry and catalyst development, and an expert from the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands.
Objective
Improvements in both the economic effectiveness and environmental impacts to the fine chemical industry are necessary to maintain European competitiveness and reduce the global environmental cost of these products. Both of these goals can be accomplished by making existing processes more efficient. Catalysts facilitate the development of efficient chemical processes and are required for the sophisticated transformations used to produce high valued pharmaceutical and fragrance products. A process using catalysis requires significantly less energy, reactor volume, input feedstock and solvents in order to produce a desired material. However, the application of homogeneous catalysts for sophisticated transformations requires separating the product from the catalyst. Many separation processes are destructive to the catalytic material leading to limited use, driving the cost of the catalyst and the subsequent fine chemical processes. This separation limits reactor design to batch reactors, which are less efficient in terms of energy and solvents than flow type reactors. The EnCatFlow project will utilize encapsulated catalysts in a flow membrane reactor. This would uniquely offer both catalyst protection and recyclability in a flow reactor format unlike any currently developing technologies, allowing the development of novel commercially competing processes. Our team includes two industrial partners that have expertise in flow chemistry, catalyst development, and an expert from the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands, next to the PI and the technical researcher. A envisioned process is discussed with PWF as the end-user. The final goal is to develop commercially competing processes and to start a spin off company to commercialise the technology.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-POC-LS - ERC Proof of Concept Lump Sum Pilot
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2019-PoC
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
1012WX Amsterdam
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.