Alternative fuels

When used in vehicles or combustion devices, fossil fuels generate CO2 and other pollutants that are harmful to the environment. Alternative fuels from biomass and waste promise to be climate-neutral and significantly reduce the amount of emissions that affect the environment.

Catalytic procedures for supplying alternative fuels

• Production of methane from non-fermentable biomasses by means of hydrothermal gasification
• Production of liquid fuels and useful chemicals from organic waste, lignin and waste timber that are not in competition with foodstuffs production
• Oxidation of organic waste in supercritical water (Supercritical Water Oxidation, SCWO)

Skills

• Modelling dynamic and stationary technical processes with chemical reactions, heat and mass transfer
• Determination of organic substances in complex mixtures by means of high-resolution mass spectrometry
• Testing and characterizing catalysts for bio-energy processes, e.g. with regard to their rate of ageing
• Investigating chemical processes in a hydrothermal environment (up to 600 °C, 400 bar)
• Chemical analyses (elements, single substances and sum parameters) in solid, liquid and gaseous samples