SusChem: Sustainable Chemicals Production Using Solid Polymer Electrolyte Reactors

主要研究者：Peter N. Pintauro编号：1437384非技术性描述为了解决与二氧化碳排放和依赖外国化石燃料来源有关的问题，化学加工行业正在努力将其制造方法转向更可持续的原材料和生产方案。提高有机化学品制造的环境和能源可持续性的潜在转型战略将涉及用从可再生资源获得的电力直接驱动的过程取代热驱动的反应。 一个最好的例子是有机化学品与氢气的反应，以制造各种新的化学品，这一过程称为氢化，在典型的化学过程中占所有反应步骤的20%。 氢气通常从天然气的重整中获得，这是一个需要化石燃料的能源密集型和复杂的过程。 基于电化学的新系统提供了一种可持续的替代方法。 本研究的总体目标是开发一种电化学反应器，以电、水和有机化学原料作为唯一输入进行有机化学品的加氢。 特别地，促进电化学反应的固体聚合物电解质（SPE）反应器是用于此目的的潜在有效平台。这些反应器内部产生氢气，氢气供给在反应器系统的阴极处发生的氢化反应。阴极处的温和温度和高氢气浓度可促进多种商业上相关的氢化有机产物的生产。 该项目的创新方面包括使用电力，最好来自可再生资源，以在温和的温度和压力条件下驱动化学反应，开发新型催化阴极以提高产品选择性，以及使用水作为氢源。 本项目将培养电化学、化学工程、化学催化等多学科理工科的研究生。技术说明本研究的总体目标是开发一种电化学反应器，以电、水和有机化学原料为唯一输入，进行有机化学品的加氢反应。 低成本、可再生电力的可用性可以通过使用固体聚合物电解质（SPE）驱动有机氢化反应的电化学反应器的商业用途的显著扩展来推动化学品加工行业的转型。这种反应器的扩大使用和改进设计将受益于更好地理解阴极组成、反应器操作参数、产物产率和电流效率之间的相互关系。 为此，本项目将研究使用新型催化材料和电化学/化学混合催化体系作为SPE反应器的阴极电极，并研究多功能有机底物的选择性加氢。 将进行实验以将反应器操作条件和进料组成与功率消耗和产物产率相关联。 电化学有机底物氢化和氢生成的催化阴极的机理细节将阐明通过分析间歇淤浆反应器实验的动力学数据。该项目将培养多学科科学和工程技术的研究生，包括电化学，化学工程和化学催化。

Principal Investigator: Peter N. PintauroNumber: 1437384Nontechnical DescriptionTo address concerns related to carbon dioxide emissions and dependence on foreign sources of fossil fuels, the chemical process industry is working to transition its manufacturing methods towards more sustainable raw materials and production schemes. A potentially transformational strategy to improve the environmental and energy sustainability of organic chemical manufacturing would involve the replacement of thermally driven reactions with processes that are driven directly by electricity obtained from renewable resources. A prime example is the reaction of organic chemicals with hydrogen gas to make a variety of new chemicals, a process called hydrogenation, which accounts for up to 20% of all reaction steps in a typical chemical process. Hydrogen gas is typically obtained from the reforming of natural gas, which is an energy-intensive and complicated process requiring fossil fuels. New systems based on electrochemistry offer a sustainable alterative. The overall goal of this study is to develop an electrochemical reactor to carry out the hydrogenation of organic chemicals using electricity, water, and the organic chemical feedstock as the only inputs. In particular, solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) reactors which promote electrochemical reactions are a potentially efficient platform for this purpose. These reactors internally generate hydrogen which feeds the hydrogenation reaction that is occurring at the cathode of the reactor system. The mild temperatures and high hydrogen concentrations at the cathode can promote the production of a variety of commercially relevant hydrogenated organic products. The innovative aspects of the project include the use of electricity, preferably from renewable resources, to drive the chemical reactions under mild conditions of temperature and pressure, the development of novel catalytic cathodes to improve product selectivity, and the use of water as the source of hydrogen. The project will train graduate students in multi-disciplinary science and engineering technologies, including electrochemistry, chemical engineering, and chemical catalysis.Technical DescriptionThe overall goal of this study is to develop an electrochemical reactor to carry out the hydrogenation of organic chemicals using electricity, water, and the organic chemical feedstock as the only inputs. The availability of low-cost, renewable electricity could drive a transformation in the chemicals processing industry via a significant expansion in the commercial use of electrochemical reactors that use solid polymer electrolytes (SPE) for driving organic hydrogenation reactions. Expanded use and improved designs for such reactors would benefit from a better understanding of the inter-relationships between cathode composition, reactor operating parameters, product yields, and current efficiencies. Towards this end, this project will investigate the use of new catalytic materials and hybrid electrochemical/chemical mixed catalytic systems as the cathode electrode in SPE reactors, and study the selective hydrogenation of multifunctional organic substrates. Experiments will be performed to correlate reactor operating conditions and feed composition to power consumption and products yield. The mechanistic details of electrochemical organic substrate hydrogenation and hydrogen generation on catalytic cathodes will be elucidated through analysis of kinetic data from batch slurry reactor experiments. The project will train graduate students in multi-disciplinary science and engineering technologies, including electrochemistry, chemical engineering, and chemical catalysis.