When biomass is used as an alternative and sustainable feedstock for chemical production, its chemical structure and physical homes are not always constant, nor is energy from sustainable sources consistently offered. This provides brand-new obstacles for chemical procedure engineering, which to date has not needed to deal with such fluctuations. While petrochemical procedures are generally optimized for a single operating point, circular procedures will be required in the future that can manage such fluctuations and guarantee high performance over a wide operating range.
From partial optimization to process tolerance
“Within the Research Study Training Group, we will help form this paradigm shift in chemical process engineering and establish tolerant processes that are robust and versatile when challenged with varying operating conditions,” discusses Hannsjörg Freund, Teacher for Response Engineering and Catalysis at the Department of Biochemical and Chemical Engineering and spokesperson for TALENT. Greater tolerance usually decreases procedure performance, which is why conquering this “Tolerance– Efficiency Problem” is the overarching goal of the TALENT job. The acronym means “Tolerant, Sustainable, Effective: Overcoming the Tolerance-Efficiency Issue for Robust and Flexible Future (Bio)Chemical Procedures”.
In the first financing phase, 18 doctoral students will carry out research study on this improvement. In the frame of ingenious jobs– for example on the conversion of plant biomass to platform chemicals or the utilization of industrial waste streams– they will deal with the challenges at various procedure levels. The approaches established in the RTG will be transferable to other procedures and can contribute to a sustainable and circular chemical industry.
Strong research environment
TALENT is hosted at the Department of Biochemical and Chemical Engineering, whose working groups carry out research study at the interfaces in between chemistry, biology, chemical and bioengineering, and procedure engineering. Doctoral trainees benefit from the researchers’ close cooperation over several years and their joint development and usage of methods and engineering tools. In addition, the early career scientists have the CALEDO lab facilities at TU Dortmund University at their disposal. The research study building was inaugurated at the end of 2025 and offers perfect conditions for research study into the design and innovative use of liquid phases for eco-friendly and novel procedures in chemistry and biotechnology. In addition, synergies exist in between the new Research Training Group and large-scale international collective jobs: Scientists at the Department of Biochemical and Chemical Engineering have been involved in research on solvent chemistry within the “RESOLV” Cluster of Quality given that 2012 and at the Research Center Chemical Sciences and Sustainability given that 2022. Here, the partners of the University Alliance Ruhr are pooling their top-class international research into the molecular understanding of chain reactions, processes and products.
Participating in the new RTG as job leaders, along with Teacher Hannsjörg Freund as representative, are seven other researchers from the Department of Biochemical and Chemical Engineering: Dr. Marion Börnhorst (Reaction Engineering and Catalysis), Teacher Alba Diéguez Alonso (Transportation Processes), Professor Norbert Kockmann (Equipment Style), Professor Sergio Lucia (Process Automation Systems), Professor Stephan Lütz (Bioprocess Engineering), Dr. Thomas Seidensticker (Technical Chemistry) and Dr. Lea Winand (Technical Biology).
Contact for questions: