The circular economy is crucial for reducing waste, conserving natural resources, and meeting global sustainability goals. Research and process optimization both have a key role to play in overcoming the many challenges on the road to a resource-saving and end-to-end value chain.
The topic of the circular economy is relevant across all industries and is a key component for meeting long-term sustainability goals. Industry is therefore keen to find solutions that allow resources to be used efficiently, minimize the generation of unwanted by-products and emissions (or ideally avoid them altogether), and close energy and material cycles.
CO2 as C1 building block:
Two specific examples are the purification of pyrolysis oils and the integration of CO2 as a C1 building block in chemical value chains. Pyrolysis oils are produced by converting waste streams. However, they typically contain numerous impurities such as oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine, and metals. Purifying pyrolysis oils of this kind requires catalytic processes, a high level of analytical understanding, and extensive knowledge of handling demanding raw materials.
Purification of pyrolysis oil:
Another key topic is the chemical use of CO2. Despite being available in large quantities, it must first be separated, concentrated, and purified before it can be used as a raw material in a chemical value chain. Only then can it be converted into synthesis gas, for example via dry reforming or reverse water gas shift, which can then in turn be converted into intermediate chemicals and basic products in further process steps.
Many circular economy processes are not yet ready for market or are too cost-intensive. However, advances in catalyst development and process optimization continue to deliver improvements here.
At the same time, new processes are constantly being developed in order to meet the ambitious goals of the circular economy, as many of the technologies and processes required for this simply do not yet exist.
Publication
In this publication, we take a detailed look at the use of renewable raw materials such as vegetable oils, animal fats, and sugar, as well as recycled materials such as used cooking oil and pyrolysis oils. The evaluation, testing, and conversion of these raw materials is often challenging, and many processes for using these material flows have not yet been commercially implemented.
At hte, we are the world’s leading provider of solutions for lab-scale R&D workflows. We also have comprehensive application knowledge and established workflows for the circular economy, such as:
We successfully master demanding processes for our customers across the globe. These include processes for producing C1 products and converting them at high pressure and high temperatures, as well as for handling demanding input materials.
hte is the world’s leading solution provider for lab-scale R&D workflows. Our offering includes:
Accelerate your research with our laboratory systems: We offer you a wide range of test systems for your lab.
Work with us and achieve high-quality results quickly: We offer you various research services in our laboratory with more than 50 test systems.
Work with us to overcome your challenges: With our comprehensive lab-scale R&D workflows, we accelerate your process development and evaluation of new raw materials.
