200 College St.
Abstract
Our current linear way of producing chemicals and fuels is unsustainable. The petrochemical industry needs to transform from its current fossil basis to renewable resources for its energy and raw materials. Since chemicals and most fuels cannot be decarbonized in the literal sense, renewable carbon sources are needed to close the carbon cycle.
In this presentation, we will present our recent contributions towards a process systems engineering toolbox for developing a circular carbon economy. Circular carbon flows can be established by employing biomass, CO2, and waste recycling as carbon feedstock for chemical transformations. To optimize the required novel conversion processes, we integrate the molecular design of solvents and catalysts directly into process design. Design objectives are not only economics but also environmental impacts. For this purpose, methods are developed to predict environmental impacts for molecules designed in silico. The resulting optimized processes are then integrated into a bottom-up model of the carbon-based industry for chemicals and fuels. Thereby, trade-offs and potential synergies can be resolved between the renewable carbon sources biomass, CO2, and waste recycling. The industry-wide model allows us to identify promising pathways towards a circular carbon industry within the planetary boundaries.
Speaker Bio
André Bardow is the professor for energy & process systems engineering at ETH Zurich since 2020. Previously, he was a professor and head of the Institute of Technical Thermodynamics at RWTH Aachen University (2010-2020); director of the Institute for Energy and Climate Research (IEK-10) at Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany (part-time, 2017-2022) and associate professor at TU Delft (2007-2010). He was a visiting professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara (2015/16). He earned his Ph.D. degree at RWTH Aachen University.
André is a fellow of the Royal Chemical Society and chairs the Technical Committee for Thermodynamics of VDI – The Association of German Engineers. He received the Recent Innovative Contribution Award of the CAPE-Working Party of the European Federation of Chemical Engineering (EFCE) in 2019, and the PSE Model-Based Innovation (MBI) Prize by Process Systems Enterprise in 2018. He was the first recipient of the Covestro Science Award. In 2009, he received the Arnold-Eucken-Award of the VDI-Society for Chemical Engineering (GVC). He is the recipient of RWTH’s “FAMOS für Familie” award for family-friendly leadership, and of teaching awards at RWTH and TU Delft.