Press release -
Membrane reactors make a decisive step towards industrialization. Politecnico di Milano partners project Horizon 2020 MACBETH
Catalytic Membrane Reactors (CMR) are able to perform synthesis and separation of chemical products in a single unit, thus reducing energy consumption and environmental impact.
The objective of the MACBETH project (Membranes And Catalysts Beyond Economic and Technological Hurdles) is to demonstrate in operational environment (TRL 7) the performance and reliability of the catalytic membrane reactors innovative technology.
Membrane reactors will be applied to three relevant cases for the energy sector and for the chemical industry, namely hydrogen production from biogas and natural gas, propane dehydrogenation and hydroformylation.
CMR technology has already been applied to these processes in relevant environment (TRL 5) within the European projects BIONICO, CARENA and ROMEO, but it makes now a decisive step towards industrialization with more than 4,000 hours of testing for each case.
Moreover, within the MACBETH project the application of CMR technology will be for the first time extended to the biochemical industry to prove its potential in the process of selective enzymatic cleavage of fatty acids, which was previously studied by the European project COSMOS.
MACBETH technology aims at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of large-scale industrial processes by up to 45%, and at increasing energy efficiency by up to 70%. Furthermore, the production plants will be considerably smaller and safer, with decrease in CAPEX and OPEX by up to 50% and 80%, respectively.
Finally, the spin-off company “Lighthouse Catalytic Membrane Reactors”, which mainly involves Politecnico di Milano and TU/e (University of Eindhoven), will be created to commercialize the advanced models developed within the project and to act as a common platform of knowledge, integrating all tools and acquired in MACBETH.
The MACBETH Consortium involves 24 partners coordinated by the German group Evonik. Politecnico di Milano leads the modelling activity and will develop models for both the innovative membrane reactors and for the overall plant, with special focus on energy and biochemistry applications.
Macbeth has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under Grant Agreement No 869896
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Politecnico di Milano is a scientific-technological university which trains engineers, architects and industrial designers.
The University has always focused on the quality and innovation of its teaching and research, developing a fruitful relationship with business and productive world by means of experimental research and technological transfer.
Research has always been linked to didactics and it is a priority commitment which has allowed Politecnico Milano to achieve high quality results at an international level as to join the university to the business world. Research constitutes a parallel path to that formed by cooperation and alliances with the industrial system.
Knowing the world in which you are going to work is a vital requirement for training students. By referring back to the needs of the industrial world and public administration, research is facilitated in following new paths and dealing with the need for constant and rapid innovation. The alliance with the industrial world, in many cases favored by Fondazione Politecnico and by consortiums to which Politecnico belong, allows the university to follow the vocation of the territories in which it operates and to be a stimulus for their development.
The challenge which is being met today projects this tradition which is strongly rooted in the territory beyond the borders of the country, in a relationship which is developing first of all at the European level with the objective of contributing to the creation of a single professional training market. Politecnico takes part in several research, sites and training projects collaborating with the most qualified European universities. Politecnico's contribution is increasingly being extended to other countries: from North America to Southeast Asia to Eastern Europe. Today the drive to internationalization sees Politecnico Milano taking part into the European and world network of leading technical universities and it offers several courses beside many which are entirely taught in English.
