Towards Perfect Chemical Reactors:<br/>Engineering the Enhanced Control of Reaction Pathways at Molecular Level via Fundamental Concepts of Process Intensification

Objective

Molecular-level control of chemical reactions presents undoubtedly the most important scientific challenge on the way to fully sustainable processes. Factors responsible for the effectiveness of a reaction include number/frequency of molecular collisions, orientation of molecules at the moment of collisions and their energy. Current reactors offer a very limited control of the above factors. Reactions usually take place in random geometries and the energy is brought to molecules by conductive heating which is non-selective and thermodynamically inefficient.

A groundbreaking solution here can only be achieved by creating a “perfect” reaction environment, in which the geometry of molecular collisions is fully controlled while energy is transferred selectively from the source to the required molecules in the required form, in the required amount, at the required moment, and at the required position. The current proposal aims at the first of its kind development of structured reactors using electric and electromagnetic fields for alignment, orientation and selective activation of targeted molecules. To engineer such “perfect” reaction environment the fundamental concepts of Process Intensification are applied. We build here on the Nobel Prize-awarded fundamental works in the area of the reaction dynamics and molecular reaction control that were not considered in chemical engineering thus far. Chemistries studied are mono- and bi-molecular reactions using CO2, CH4 and H2O, which are of paramount importance for clean fuel production and carbon dioxide management.

The proposal bridges chemical physics and chemical engineering incorporating the knowledge domains of chemistry, catalysis, materials science, electronics, computer modelling and micromechanical engineering.

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.

• natural sciences physical sciences electromagnetism and electronics electromagnetism
• natural sciences physical sciences molecular and chemical physics
• natural sciences chemical sciences catalysis
• natural sciences mathematics pure mathematics geometry
• engineering and technology chemical engineering

Programme(s)

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

• FP7-IDEAS-ERC - Specific programme: "Ideas" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)

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.

• ERC-AG-PE8 - ERC Advanced Grant - Products and process engineering

Call for proposal

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

ERC-2010-AdG_20100224
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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-AG - ERC Advanced Grant

Host institution

Beneficiaries (1)