CO2 capture and conversion: Materials, Activity and Stability
Prof. Christoph Müller
ETH Zürich (Switzerland)
May 14th
h. 15:30
Room 1-030 (Via Terracini 28, Bologna)
Abstract: In this talk, prof. Müller will present recent advances in the development of effective and stable CaO-based CO2 sorbents and strategies to integrate them into catalytic processes. CaO based CO2 sorbents are promising materials owing to their high CO2 uptake of 0.79 g CO2/g CaO. However, the low sintering temperature of CaCO3 leads to rapid deactivation. Here, prof. Müller will describe the work of his group at ETH aiming at elucidating the mechanisms that trigger deactivation and the development of strategies to stabilize CaO-based CO2 sorbents. The talk will be concluded by two examples of integrating CO2 capture into catalytic reactions. In the first process, the CO2 captured is directly converted into a synthesis gas (mixture of CO and H2) using a Ni catalyst. In the second process (sorbent-enhanced steam methane reforming), CaO is used to absorb a product of the reforming reaction (CO2), hence increasing the yield and purity of the hydrogen produced.
Bio: Prof. Christoph Müller graduated with a Diploma in Mechanical and Process Engineering from TU Munich (Germany) in 2004. In 2009 he received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge (UK). After a junior research fellowship from Queens’ College, University of Cambridge, he took up a position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering at ETH Zürich (Switzerland) heading the Laboratory of Energy Science and Engineering. In 2015 he was promoted to tenured Associate Professor. The Laboratory of Energy Science and Engineering develops (i) experimental techniques (e.g. magnetic resonance imaging, MRI) to probe the fluid-dynamics and their interplay with chemistry in single- and two-phase reactors and (ii) new materials for the reduction of anthropogenic CO2 emissions by capturing the CO2 of flue gas streams and the (catalytic) synthesis of chemicals and fuels such as hydrogen or methanol.