Project description
Engineered separation helps catalysts work better together
Process intensification aims to dramatically improve processes and achieve more compact, cleaner, safer and more energy-efficient technologies. Catalysis is critical to chemical production and using two catalysts in one reactor has the potential to achieve many of the goals of process intensification. However, if there is a mismatch between supply and demand – when the first reaction proceeds more quickly than the second is able to use the products as reactants – the potential of these tandem catalytic processes is not realised. The EU-funded TANDEng project is tackling this bottleneck, seeking to overcome the problems arising from the proximity of catalysts by engineering a disengagement of chemical and thermal dependencies in tandem solid catalysts. Success will enable currently impossible tandem processes particularly relevant to meeting energy challenges.
Objective
"Process intensification and catalysis are considered key stepping-stones towards a future sustainable chemical industry. Potentially, a major intensification can be achieved by the integration of two catalysts in a single reactor, to steer sequential chemical reactions in a tandem fashion. Yet, tandem catalytic processes face a notorious barrier towards industrial realization: the challenge of harmonizing the rates at which the integrated catalysts individually process and collectively exchange molecules, to avoid e.g. derivation of intermediate products through undesired reaction pathways, something elegantly achieved in nature's enzymatic tandem reactions via complex substrate channelling phenomena.
TANDEng is set to break through this frontier limitation via an effort which encompasses aspects of chemistry, material science, physics and reaction engineering. The challenge is to tackle the current constraining dichotomy that close proximity of tandem catalysts, which is mandatory for an efficient transport of intermediate products between their active sites, prohibits individual adjustment of other key performance parameters such as temperature.
To break through this paradigm, the project seeks to realize a disengaged engineering of the chemical and thermal ""intimacies"" in tandem solid catalysts. Fundamental studies will guide the development of innovative catalysts featuring i) bespoke porosities for fast molecular transport, able to mimic a nanoscale proximity even for active sites residing in different macroscopic particles, and ii) implanted ancillary functions designed to achieve a catalyst-specific heating and thermometry in compact reactors with unconventional electromagnetic power supply.
The novel concept will be validated to unlock currently unfeasible tandem processes to address the timely challenge of valorising delocalized feedstocks, alternative to petroleum (unconventional gas and biomass), where process intensification is an enabling prerequi"
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.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels fossil energy petroleum
- natural sciences chemical sciences catalysis
- agricultural sciences agricultural biotechnology biomass
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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-COG - Consolidator Grant
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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-COG
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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.
28006 MADRID
Spain
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.