Chemical Engineering April 2022 - 8

stances reveal the suspended
material to be porous, but the
membrane selectivity appears
to diverge from the size exclusion
principle. Whereas the
passage of inert gas molecules
is hindered, condensable species
like water are found to
cross vitreous bilayer silica a
thousand times faster in accordance
with their superficial
affinity, the researchers report.
SMART CATALYST
In an effort to develop catalysts
that allow better spatiotemporal
control of chemical
reactions, scientists from the
Gwangju Institute of Science
and Technology (South Korea;
www.gist.ac.kr)
have
under
developed
a " smart " catalyst that
deactivates
ultraviolet
(UV) illumination. " In contrast
with previously reported photoresponsive
catalysts for which
light turns on the catalytic reaction,
our catalysts exhibit the
opposite behavior; that is, they
deactivate
when
illuminated
with UV light, offering a new
mode of photoswitching, " says
professor Sukwon Hong.
This feat was achieved by
strategically combining a wellknown
ruthenium catalyst -
cyclic(alkyl)(amino)carbeneruthenium
(CAAC-Ru) - with
azobenzene, a photo-responsive
organic compound. Their
findings, described in a recent
issue of ACS Catalysis, pave
the way to new modes of photolithography
and cooperative
catalyst systems, the latter of
which could be used for synthesizing
sophisticated chemicals.
SEWAGE UTILIZATION
The Ministry for the Environment,
Climate Protection and
the Energy Sector of BadenWürttemberg,
Germany
is
funding
six new projects as
part of the Bio-Economy Bio
Up-Cycling program. One of
the projects, named RoKKa,
aims to demonstrate the viability
of recovering raw materials
from wastewater. " Until
now, the task of a wastewater
treatment plant was mainly to
clean wastewater, " says Marius
Mohr, RoKKa project manager
at the Fraunhofer Institute
for Interfacial Engineering and
(Continues on p. 9)
8
Making 'green' methanol from steel-mill gases
Fraunhofer Umsicht
process that
produces
methanol
from
the
Temperature
profile
A
gases generated at
a steel mill will soon
be field tested. The
process has been
under development
for the last five years
by researchers at the
Fraunhofer Institute
for Environmental,
Safety and Energy
Technology (Umsicht; Oberhausen, Germany;
ww.umsicht.fraunhofer.de) as part
of Carbon2Chem project (www.thyssen
krupp.com/en/carbon2chem). A demonstration-scale
plant, which produces 2 L/h
of methanol, has been successfully operating
in Oberhausen.
Control tower
The demonstration plant features a fiber-optic
temperature-measurement system
(diagram) with 36 measuring points
along the reactor axis. They allow a detailed
evaluation of the catalyst activity.
" To further optimize the processes, we
combined simulation and experimental
studies at demonstration scale, " says
Andreas Menne head of the Low Carbon
Technologies department. " At the same
time, we would like to further link the results
from the process simulation and the
operation of the plant, " says Menne. For
this purpose, a digital twin of the plant
is currently being created. In the future,
it should be possible to control the plant
in such a way that it can respond in advance
to fluctuating boundary conditions,
such as hydrogen availability, gas volume
flows and gas compositions. Necessary
maintenance intervals, for example to
change or regenerate the catalytic converter,
could also be planned precisely.
After the completion of this test phase
in February, the demonstration plant will
be moved to the Carbon2Chem technical
center at a steel mill in Duisburg, Germany
later this year. There, the demonstration
plant will be operated under real industrial
conditions until the end of the project term
in May 2024.
Pilot plant to produce 'greener' acrylonitrile at
cost parity for carbon fiber
A
pilot facility currently under construction
in Charleston, W.Va.
will produce renewable acrylonitrile
(ACN) without requiring the
traditional petroleum-based propylene
as feedstock. Since ACN is the raw material
used to make carbon fibers, the
new route to ACN allows the production
of bio-based carbon fiber. Acrylonitrile
is also used as the raw material for acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene
(ABS) plastic,
acrylic fiber, nitrile butadiene rubber
and acrylamide.
According to developer Trillium Renewable
Chemicals (Knoxville, Tenn.;
www.trilliumchemicals.com), the process
cuts greenhouse gas emissions by
70% compared to the traditional propylene
route, and uses a feedstock (glycerol)
that is significantly cheaper than
propylene. The Trillium process begins
with glycerol, a byproduct of biodiesel
manufacturing that is converted to acrolein
via a dehydration reaction. Next,
the acrolein undergoes an ammoxidation
reaction in the presence of ammonia
and oxygen to generate acrylonitrile.
The core innovation for the process is
a proprietary catalyst for the dehydration
that Trillium licensed from Southern
Research Institute (Birmingham, Ala.;
www.southernresearch.org). " The catalyst
exhibits both high conversions in
the reaction, as well as high selectivity, "
notes Trillium CEO Corey Tyree.
In 2014, Trillium began a partnership
with Solvay SA (Brussels, Belgium;
www.solvay.com), which was interested
in a bio-based route to carbon fiber.
Earlier this year, Trillium and Solvay
announced a scientific partnership in
which they intend to develop a supply
chain for bio-based ACN. Now, Trillium
is becoming qualified as a supplier of
ACN for Solvay carbon fiber materials.
The pilot plant, which is slated for
completion in mid-2022, will be followed
by a larger demonstration plant
in 2023 and a commercial-scale site in
2025, Tyree says.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
APRIL 2022
Gas heating
Reactor
Product condensation
& separation
Methanol
Crude
circulating gas
Feedgas &
methanol
https://www.umsicht.fraunhofer.de/en.html https://www.thyssenkrupp.com/en/newsroom/content-page-162.html https://www.thyssenkrupp.com/en/newsroom/content-page-162.html https://www.gist.ac.kr https://www.southernresearch.org https://www.solvay.com https://www.trilliumchemicals.com http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
Chemical Engineering April 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering April 2022
