Voltachem: for electrification in the chemical industry

E2C: Converting CO2 into chemicals and fuels

The Electrons to High-Value Chemicals (E2C) project developed two Power-to-X technology platforms that can drive the chemical industry closer to a green future. The Interreg 2 Seas collaboration brought TNO together with knowledge partners and industry leaders from the Netherlands, Belgium, France and United Kingdom. Both to advance these relatively new technologies and to stimulate regional economic development. The E2C project succeeded in building two working pilot installations.

The ZEUS platform converts CO2 and water into formic acid through electrolysis at the scale of 1 kg/h. And the SEDMES hydrogenation platform converts CO2 and green hydrogen into dimethyl ether at a rate of 3 kg/h. Both use sustainable electrochemical processes and produce essential chemical building blocks for applications in fuels and materials. The development team has a clear vision for what is needed to scale the concept for industry application and is ready to employ the platforms further for development of specific industrial cases.

For more information, visit the VoltaChem news page, or the Interreg 2 Seas page.

PERFORM: From renewable feedstocks to value-added chemicals

In PERFORM, a Horizon 2020 SPIRE project, TNO joined forces with organisations from Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden, Spain and the Netherlands to develop a system that uses electrochemistry to convert non-food, biobased feedstocks into chemical building blocks like maleic acid, valeric acid and glucaric acid. These building blocks can, in part, be converted into biobased plastics. The recently completed collaboration resulted in the creation of the PowerPlatform pilot installation, which was used to produce these chemicals from biobased feedstock but can also be used to test other electrochemical conversion routes. The platform uses less energy than traditional processes, makes more efficient use of resources and reduces CO2 emissions by more than 50% compared to the benchmark.

In addition to being the world’s first platform with the ability to generate tens of kilograms per day of biobased products on a 1 m2 stack platform using electrochemical conversion, the PERFORM project was a finalist for the EUSEW Award for Innovation. The consortium’s final event highlights the other accomplishments and milestones achieved.

For more information, visit PERFORM’s YouTube Channel or VoltaChem’s PERFORM page.

Synergies to accelerate Power-2-X implementation

The VoltaChem Shared Innovation Program’s primary aim is to accelerate Power-2-X development through collaborative research and development, in order to achieve a net-zero and circular society by 2050. Because of the inherent complexity and uncertainty of this domain, no single partner in the program can achieve the envisioned results themselves within the required timeframe. By investing and collaborating specifically in knowledge, technology and market synergies, risks and benefits can be shared, thereby accelerating development. The aforementioned projects are a typical example of this approach.

While working on distinct showcases in the two projects, using biobased products and CO2 as feedstocks for the manufacturing of different chemical building blocks, the core knowledge, technologies and experiences in electrochemical processes were advanced. Specific partners’ individual needs were met, whilst common understanding of dos and don’ts related to technology, business and regulatory domains increased for all.

Help take the industry to net zero

Although significant accomplishments have been made during these ground-breaking projects, there is still a great deal of work to be done in order to enable the industry to implement such electrochemical processes on a global scale. As a public research institute and orchestrator of the VoltaChem initiative, TNO will continue advancing the domain through follow-up projects with industry and equipment supply stakeholders, both in private and public/private collaborations, with the sole aim of accelerating the field towards rapid implementation.