Research in the Process Chemistry & Engineering work package focuses on multi-phase manufacturing process chemistry and engineering with the integration of renewable power to design for grid intermittency, better process heat management, and fuel cells for chemical plants.
The challenging nature of scaling polymerizations due to their changing compositions and viscosities often requires them to be operated in batch/semi-batch processes. SCHEMA aims to establish robust, scalable and re-configurable future manufacturing systems for both batch and flow operations.
Key reagent and product characteristics like solubility, viscosity, diffusion rates and phase speciation measured in other work packages will help to elucidate multi-phase, temporal kinetic and thermodynamic data supporting the development of multi-scale engineering models and process demonstrators.
Research priorities are:
- Manufacturing 'prototypes' and digital twins to identify critical parameters for maximising selectivity and rate
- Innovation in separations and product isolation, reagent/catalyst recycling, re-manufacturing of waste for maximising sustainability efficiency
