Process Intensification and Catalysis

Abstract

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FeCrAl as a Catalyst Support

“…To meet society’s aspirations of sustainable development requires innovation to substitute petroleum with renewable biosourced feedstocks, and catalysis will figure prominently in this paradigm shift. Already, industry applies catalysis in >80% of chemical processes, which represents 30% of the global gross product. , Solid catalysts have replaced harmful mineral acids and chloro-containing ones with the extra benefit of reuse compared to homogeneous systems. The incredible potential of heterogeneous catalysts is derived from their porous nature, which can be optimized to meet reaction conditions including high temperature, high pressure, and corrosive environments.…”

“…The incredible potential of heterogeneous catalysts is derived from their porous nature, which can be optimized to meet reaction conditions including high temperature, high pressure, and corrosive environments. Consequently, the share of solid catalysts in the chemical industry will continue to rise as a result of the growth in world population and the escalation of global energy demand, which was forecast to double from 2000 to 2035. , Heterogeneous catalysis is a key component of new processes targeting green chemistry and sustainability. , Indeed, in the last 20 years the field of environmental catalysts boosted the design of new solid materials capable of converting air and water pollutants generated by anthropogenic activities, as well as catalysts capable of converting heterogeneous substrates selectivelythose derived from biomass. − Despite their numerous and indisputable advantages, heterogeneous catalyst design faces challenges to develop new sustainable processes as well as to increase efficiency and decrease harmful and toxic byproducts in current processes. Catalysts comprising particles, pellets, and spheres add complexity to plant operations; mass and heat transfer resistance around the catalyst limits the reagent throughput and introduces uncertainty with respect to scale-up and modeling; and narrow pores limit applications to less bulky molecules .…”

Process intensification education contributes to sustainable development goals. Part 1

“…For instance, in the case of molecular reactors, simulations should integrate intrinsic kinetic models at a resolution of the micro-mixing scales, as well as nonconventional driving forces or heat and mass transfer rates at the reactor scale from a few to several hundred-litre volume. However, rapid advances in first-principle computational modelling promise that the software tools to simulate PI technologies may be soon available (Appendix 6.3 in Supplementary material), thus speeding up PI education and, as a consequence, its implementation at the commercial scale (Boffito and Van Gerven, 2019;Fontes, 2020;Ge et al, 2019) More recently, advances in both machine learning algorithms and computer hardware are opening up new possibilities to identify opportunities for process control (and the needed methods to teach it) (Rio-Chanona et al, 2019). For example, Reinforcement Learning can successfully generate an optimal policy of stochastic decision problems (Petsagkourakis et al, 2020).…”

Ultrasonic Intensification To Produce Diester Biolubricants

“…24 US intensifies reactions including selective reductions, esterification, transesterification, epoxidation, and polymerizations. 25 Several data concern the US-assisted conversion of triglyceride-based feedstock into methyl esters (biodiesel) through transesterification or esterification. For instance, in the presence of US, methanol, ethanol, and isopropanol transesterify canola oil within 1 min.…”

“…The main mechanism is acoustic cavitation; it produces gas bubbles in the liquid medium that accumulate energy before violently collapsing and releasing this power that becomes available to the reaction . US intensifies reactions including selective reductions, esterification, transesterification, epoxidation, and polymerizations . Several data concern the US-assisted conversion of triglyceride-based feedstock into methyl esters (biodiesel) through transesterification or esterification.…”