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Life Cycle Assessment of promising catalytic routes for the sustainable production of 1-propanol
Have you always wanted to learn about Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and process design? In this thesis, you will work on the assessment of different synthesis routes for the production of 1-propanol. This also involves exciting parts of chemical engineering, meaning process design, and Thermo-Economic Analysis (TEA). Early-stage investigation of future chemical routes is necessary to identify key challenges and promising research directions. In this project, you will exactly do this for the production of 1-propanol from sustainable feedstocks like CO2. You will identify promising routes and assess them based on TEA and LCA. Your results will then be used to guide research in catalysis and process development.
Keywords: Life Cycle Assessment; Thermo-economic analysis; modeling; 1-propanol; sustainability;
**The group**
The research of the Energy and Process Systems Engineering (EPSE) group at ETH Zürich focuses on sus-tainability in energy and chemical process systems. Headed by Prof. Dr. André Bardow, we develop methods to advance sustainable energy and chemical process systems from the molecular to systems scale.
In our work, we combine computer-aided molecular design with process design to optimize molecules and processes simultaneously. To holistically evaluate the environmental impacts of chemicals and energy sys-tems, we develop predictive methods for Life Cycle Assessment. Our technological focus currently lies in Pow-er-to-X & sector coupling, sustainable carbon feedstock, and carbon capture, utilization & storage.
**Background**
The reduction of CO2 emission requires the use of CO2 to mitigate climate change. CO2 utilization to chemi-cals offers the advantage of mitigating climate change and replacing fossil-based chemicals. 1-Propanol is a platform chemical that is used in multiple processes and applications. However, sustainable production routes for 1-propanol are still the topic of current research. The same applies to catalysts that would enable CO2-based synthesis of 1 propanol. Besides the technical feasibility of synthesis routes, new production technolo-gies must also be economically feasible and environmentally beneficial compared to fossil-based alternatives. Therefore, techno-economic analysis (TEA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) should be used at an early stage of process development to estimate costs and environmental impacts, respectively.
**The group** The research of the Energy and Process Systems Engineering (EPSE) group at ETH Zürich focuses on sus-tainability in energy and chemical process systems. Headed by Prof. Dr. André Bardow, we develop methods to advance sustainable energy and chemical process systems from the molecular to systems scale. In our work, we combine computer-aided molecular design with process design to optimize molecules and processes simultaneously. To holistically evaluate the environmental impacts of chemicals and energy sys-tems, we develop predictive methods for Life Cycle Assessment. Our technological focus currently lies in Pow-er-to-X & sector coupling, sustainable carbon feedstock, and carbon capture, utilization & storage.
**Background** The reduction of CO2 emission requires the use of CO2 to mitigate climate change. CO2 utilization to chemi-cals offers the advantage of mitigating climate change and replacing fossil-based chemicals. 1-Propanol is a platform chemical that is used in multiple processes and applications. However, sustainable production routes for 1-propanol are still the topic of current research. The same applies to catalysts that would enable CO2-based synthesis of 1 propanol. Besides the technical feasibility of synthesis routes, new production technolo-gies must also be economically feasible and environmentally beneficial compared to fossil-based alternatives. Therefore, techno-economic analysis (TEA) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) should be used at an early stage of process development to estimate costs and environmental impacts, respectively.
**Task description**
In this project, you will investigate different synthesis routes for 1-propanol from different feedstocks. The task involves the design of synthesis routes and processes. The different synthesis routes are modeled using simu-lation software and short-cut models for estimation of energy and material flows. Afterward, the different pro-cess routes are evaluated and compared based on thermo-economic analysis and Life Cycle Assessment methods. The project also includes a review of promising routes and the suggestion of promising possible future routes. Therefore, you identify key challenges and future research tasks for the development of catalysts for 1-propanol synthesis. Furthermore, you will use the programming language Python, which requires knowledge in Python or the willingness to learn Python. You will be part of a young and motivated team at the Energy and Process Systems Engineering Laboratory (EPSE).
**Subtasks**
- Literature review of synthesis routes for 1-propanol
- Route modeling of 1-propanol synthesis
- Thermo-economic analysis and Life Cycle Assessment to compare 1-propanol synthesis routes
- Suggestion of promising synthesis routes and identification of key challenges in catalyst development
**Task description** In this project, you will investigate different synthesis routes for 1-propanol from different feedstocks. The task involves the design of synthesis routes and processes. The different synthesis routes are modeled using simu-lation software and short-cut models for estimation of energy and material flows. Afterward, the different pro-cess routes are evaluated and compared based on thermo-economic analysis and Life Cycle Assessment methods. The project also includes a review of promising routes and the suggestion of promising possible future routes. Therefore, you identify key challenges and future research tasks for the development of catalysts for 1-propanol synthesis. Furthermore, you will use the programming language Python, which requires knowledge in Python or the willingness to learn Python. You will be part of a young and motivated team at the Energy and Process Systems Engineering Laboratory (EPSE). **Subtasks** - Literature review of synthesis routes for 1-propanol - Route modeling of 1-propanol synthesis - Thermo-economic analysis and Life Cycle Assessment to compare 1-propanol synthesis routes - Suggestion of promising synthesis routes and identification of key challenges in catalyst development
Interested?
Feel free to contact Lukas Spiekermann (lspiekermann@ethz.ch) in case of any questions.
We look forward to receiving your application with the following documents:
- CV
- Brief letter of motivation
- Transcript of records
Contact
ETH Zurich
Lukas Spiekermann
Phone +41 44 632 64 95
lspiekermann@ethz.ch
https://epse.ethz.ch
Interested? Feel free to contact Lukas Spiekermann (lspiekermann@ethz.ch) in case of any questions. We look forward to receiving your application with the following documents: - CV - Brief letter of motivation - Transcript of records