Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Engineering catalyst interoperability in next-generation tandem reactions for intensified chemical processes

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.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

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.

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.

ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2019-COG

See all projects funded under this call

Host institution

AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS
Net EU contribution

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.

€ 1 982 188,00
Address
CALLE SERRANO 117
28006 MADRID
Spain

See on map

Region
Comunidad de Madrid Comunidad de Madrid Madrid
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost

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.

€ 1 982 188,00

Beneficiaries (1)

My booklet 0 0