Research Unit

Laboratory for Chemical Technology

Acronym
LCT
Duration
02 January 2012 → Ongoing
Group leader
Other information
Research disciplines
  • Engineering and technology
    • Biocatalysis
    • Heterogeneous catalysis
    • Homogeneous catalysis
    • Reacting systems
    • Catalysis and reacting systems engineering not elsewhere classified
    • Particle design and technology
    • Chemical product design and formulation not elsewhere classified
    • Chemical kinetics and thermodynamics
    • Modelling, simulation and optimisation
    • General chemical and biochemical engineering not elsewhere classified
    • (Bio)chemical reactors
    • Chemical process design
    • Intensification
    • Polymer reaction engineering
    • Powder and particle technology
    • Process control
    • Process engineering not elsewhere classified
    • Separation technologies
    • Separation and membrane technologies not elsewhere classified
    • Air pollution and control
    • Carbon capture engineering
    • Recycling
    • Sustainable and environmental engineering not elsewhere classified
    • (Multiphase) flow
    • Heat and mass transfer
    • Microfluidics/flow chemistry
    • Transport phenomena not elsewhere classified
    • Other (bio)chemical engineering not elsewhere classified
Description
The Laboratory for Chemical Technology (LCT) is a collaboration that continues a decades’ long tradition. Hundreds of publications from the LCT are available in prominent international journals and dozens of invited presentations are given on world congresses. At present, 10 full time ZAP-members of the department EA11 are performing their research by mutual agreement within this collaboration and they confirm their intention to continue to do so. The LCT comprises about 100 persons, among which amajority of PhD students but also post-docs and master thesis students. The daily operation of the LCT is supported about 10 full-time ATP members. This collaboration doesn’t only reflect the history, it is, even more, directed towards the future to realize the required synergy to compete with other, at least as extensive research groups. The participating ZAP-members meet monthly on the following important agenda items: personnel and project requests. Every two weeks there’s a discussion between the steering-committee members. As important are the many informal discussions between LCT-members on an ad-hoc basis as part of the daily operation. A LCT-seminar is organized on average every two weeks. And last but not least there are thematic meetings on a regularly basis where a scientific topic, within the interest of a majority of the research group, is discussed. Examples of similar laboratories in Europe are: Centre for Sustainable Catalysis and Engineering, KULeuven (Director: Bert Sels);Multi-Scale Modelling of Multi-phase Flows, Eindhoven (Director: Hans Kuipers); Inorganic Materials & Catalysis, Eindhoven (Directeur: Emiel Hensen), Instituto de Tecnologia Quimica, Valancia (Director: Hermenegildo Garcia); Department of Chemical Engineering & Analytical Science (CEAS), Manchester (Director: Chris Hardacre); Laboratory of Industrial Chemistry and Reaction Engineering, Abo (Director: Tapio Salmi); KinCat: Strong Point Centre Kinetics and Catalysis, Trondheim (Director: Edd AndersBlekkan); Laboratory of catalysis and catalytic processes (LCCP), Milaan (Director: Enrico Tronconi), Chemical Reaction Engineering and Chemical Kinetics (CRECK) Modeling, Milaan (Director: Tiziano Faravelli); Physical and Chemical Process Engineering, Magdeburg (Director: Kai Sundmacher); Combustion Kinetics (KinCom), Nancy (Director: Frédérique Battin-Leclerq); Laboratory of Polymer Reaction Engineering (LPRE-CPERI), Thessaloniki (Director: Voutetakis Spyros); Génie de la Réaction et de l’Energie (GRE-IRCELyon), Lyon (Directeur: David Farrusseng) The laboratory belongs to the “vakgroep “ of Chemical Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture of the University. The challenge for Chemical Engineering science is more than ever to bridge the gap between molecule and chemical plant. Increasing environmental constraints impose a “molecular” control of any, either existing or new, production process. The Laboratory for Chemical Technology is one of the few in the world who can claim to cover the wide spectrum of competences required to be successful in this respect. The research is focused on the design of new and the optimization of existing industrial processes in the field of transportation fuels, energy carriers and functional materials. New feedstocks, e.g. renewables, new processes, e.g. controlled radical polymerization, and new functional materials, e.g. nanostructured polymers are aimed at. A common theme of the research projects is the development of multi-scalemodels of the relevant reactions and reactors with emphasis on the interaction between complex chemical kinetics and complex transport phenomena. A first principles approach is combined with experimental validation whenever possible. Kinetic studies are not limited to the determination of empirical correlations between the reaction rate and the reaction conditions but are based on the fundamental knowledge of the involved elementary steps. When possible, ab initio calculations of rate coefficientsare performed. A better understanding of the reaction mechanism is implemented in the kinetic models and is providing guidelines for product, catalyst and process optimization. The kinetic modeling of reactions involving several hundreds of types of molecules belongs to the specific expertise of the laboratory. For the design and the simulation of industrial reactors, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) are applied. The hydrodynamics of multiphase flow are investigated separately i.e. in the absence of reaction. Transport of energy, mass and momentum is described with commercial and in-house developed codes. The latter can handle both gas and gas-solid flow.