Dr. Marion Börnhorst has actually been a group leader at the Chair of Reaction Engineering and Catalysis in the Department of Biochemical and Chemical Engineering since 2022, having formerly studied chemical engineering at TU Dortmund University and earned her doctoral degree at the Karlsruhe Institute of Innovation (KIT). To successively change fossil energy sources and advance eco-friendly production in the chemical industry, scientists should establish key technologies that are efficient and sustainable. That is why Dr. Börnhorst is carrying out research into catalytic multiphase reactors and developing structured catalysts. Here, she is primarily studying those procedures in chemical reactors in which gases, liquids and solids respond with each other, along with analyzing how heat and compounds are exchanged between the stages and how the responses taking place can be made more efficient.
Her research study concentrates on brand-new kinds of driver assistance structures: If a reactor wall has a structured surface, for example, a larger amount of carbon dioxide can be soaked up into a solvent. The innovation might be utilized, on the one hand, to record CO2 straight from the ambient air and, on the other hand, help with much better emission control in energy-intensive commercial procedures. In addition, Dr. Marion Börnhorst is exploring how, in the context of electrification, microwaves instead of nonrenewable fuel sources can be utilized to heat reactors: The microwaves might warm only the solids inside the reactor while the surrounding reaction medium remains cool. This would suggest a substantial boost in performance. What’s more, this electrical variant would make it possible to change the reactor on and off quickly and on the button, in this method improving process control.
Reward allows research stays abroad
Dr. Börnhorst will utilize the prize money to money a one-month research study stay with Teacher Dionisios Vlachos at the University of Delaware in the U.S.A. in March 2026. Professor Vlachos is amongst the leading experts in multiphase response engineering and processes, multiscale modeling, and the electrification of chemical reactors. Dr. Börnhorst want to check out the potential of structured drivers for the electrification of chemical (multiphase) reactors with him. To this end, they have actually already planned to perform measurements together in the labs there.
Teacher Manfred Bayer, President of TU Dortmund University, and Dr. Gert Fischer, member of the board of the Rudolf Chaudoire Structure, offered the welcome addresses at the award event of the on the other hand 30th Rudolf Chaudoire Prize. Professor Nele McElvany, Vice President Research Study at TU Dortmund University, introduced the prizewinner. Teacher Norbert Kockmann, Dean of the Department of Biochemical and Chemical Engineering, spoke about new methods to environmental management and the circular economy, and placed Dr. Börnhorst’s research in this overarching context. He also commended the prizewinner’s dedication to supporting early career scientists in the network “Nachwuchs Reaktionstechnik” (NaWuReT), among her other activities. The musical backdrop for the evening was supplied by the HBahneros.