Project Details
Projekt
EXC 236: Tailor-Made Fuels from Biomass
Subject Area
Fluid Mechanics, Technical Thermodynamics and Thermal Energy Engineering
Process Engineering, Technical Chemistry
Process Engineering, Technical Chemistry
Term
from 2007 to 2018
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 39030946
The continuous rise in energy demand and its associated carbon dioxide emissions (CO2), combined with the limited availability of fossil-based energy reserves, poses one of the greatest challenges to society. The research in the area of energetic utilisation of renewable raw materials, as a substitute to the usage of fossil energy resources, is, hence, steadily gaining importance.
The cluster of excellence at the Technische Hochschule Aachen adopts an interdisciplinary approach towards research of fuels on biomass basis. Custom synthetic conversion pathways, based on new catalytic systems and integrated production processes with intensified process steps towards fuel production, shall be researched, in order to design biomass-based fuels in the most efficient manner possible. Through the formulation of new fuels, with purpose-fitted properties, the potential of clean and efficient low temperature combustion systems shall be studied. With the new selective process for conversion of the entire plant material (so-called lignocellulose), the designed fuels would not compete with the food chain, unlike many current bio-fuels.
The cross-disciplinary research approach follows a model-based procedure: Selected fuel components with tailor-made properties are derived from the requirements of the combustion process. The definition of this fuel would depend on the success of the research on feasible catalytic conversion pathways and the complexity of their production.
The project presents a challenge, simultaneously, for chemo and biocatalyses, process and systems technology, combustion research and engine technology. Close cooperation between the scientists in pure and applied science disciplines of the Technische Hochschule Aachen, as also with those involved on behalf of the partner institutions, namely, the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology, and the Max Planck Institute of Coal Research, Mülheim, was started through the jointly founded Fuel Design Center.
The cluster of excellence at the Technische Hochschule Aachen adopts an interdisciplinary approach towards research of fuels on biomass basis. Custom synthetic conversion pathways, based on new catalytic systems and integrated production processes with intensified process steps towards fuel production, shall be researched, in order to design biomass-based fuels in the most efficient manner possible. Through the formulation of new fuels, with purpose-fitted properties, the potential of clean and efficient low temperature combustion systems shall be studied. With the new selective process for conversion of the entire plant material (so-called lignocellulose), the designed fuels would not compete with the food chain, unlike many current bio-fuels.
The cross-disciplinary research approach follows a model-based procedure: Selected fuel components with tailor-made properties are derived from the requirements of the combustion process. The definition of this fuel would depend on the success of the research on feasible catalytic conversion pathways and the complexity of their production.
The project presents a challenge, simultaneously, for chemo and biocatalyses, process and systems technology, combustion research and engine technology. Close cooperation between the scientists in pure and applied science disciplines of the Technische Hochschule Aachen, as also with those involved on behalf of the partner institutions, namely, the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology, and the Max Planck Institute of Coal Research, Mülheim, was started through the jointly founded Fuel Design Center.
DFG Programme
Clusters of Excellence
Applicant Institution
Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen
Participating Institution
Fraunhofer-Institut für Molekularbiologie und Angewandte Oekologie; Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung; Öko-Institut e.V.
Spokesperson
Professor Dr.-Ing. Stefan Pischinger
Participating Researchers
Professorin Dr. Miriam Agler-Rosenbaum; Professor Dr.-Ing. André Bardow; Professor Dr. Lars Blank, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Carsten Bolm; Professor Dr.-Ing. Jochen Büchs; Professor Dr. Rainer Fischer; Professor Dr. Henner Hollert; Professorin Dr. Ingrid Isenhardt; Professor Dr. Jürgen Klankermayer; Professor Dr.-Ing. Reinhold Kneer; Professor Dr. Walter Leitner; Professor Dr. Kai Leonhard; Professor Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Marquardt; Professor Dr.-Ing. Hubertus Murrenhoff; Professor Dr. Jun Okuda; Professor Dr.-Ing. Herbert Olivier; Professorin Dr. Regina Palkovits; Professor Dr.-Ing. Heinz Pitsch; Dr. Roberto Rinaldi; Professor Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Schröder; Professor Dr. Ulrich Schwaneberg, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Ferdi Schüth; Professorin Dr.-Ing. Antje Spieß; Professor Dr.-Ing. Matthias Wessling
