Doctoral themes 2023

From biogenic carbon emissions to liquid fuels and chemicals using plasma catalysis 

Supervisors

Carmen Bacariza, maria.rey@tecnico.ulisboa.pt

José Nuno Lopes, jnlopes@tecnico.ulisboa.pt

Nuno Pinhão, npinhao@ctn.tecnico.ulisboa.pt

Registration Institution

Instituto Superior Técnico

Project description

More efficient and less carbon and energy-intensive routes for the production of high value-added chemicals/fuels are key to meet the EU and UN climate goals. Thus, alternative pathways for the greener synthesis of liquid oxygenates such as methanol, ethanol, dimethyl ether or acetic acid represent a promising option to reduce carbon footprint and decarbonise sectors where they are used.

Biogas, mainly composed by CH₄ and CO₂, constitutes an attractive renewable carbon source to address the global energy demand while reducing waste and greenhouse gases emissions. Furthermore, alternative catalytic approaches (e.g., plasma catalysis) are key to boost reaction yields while integrating renewable energy. The production of liquid oxygenates from CO₂>/CH₄> mixtures by plasma catalysis was recently reported in literature, but significant efforts must be done to increase products selectivity and energy efficiency by elucidating the underlying mechanism of plasma catalysis. 

This PhD thesis intends the optimization of a plasma catalysis system and the development of mechanistic and kinetic models for liquid oxygenates production from CO₂>/CH₄ mixtures using plasma catalysis, involving:- The numerical optimization and construction of a plasma-catalysis reactor; 

- The evaluation of the properties and performances of a series of catalysts under plasma catalysis conditions; 

-The modelling of the plasma chemical kinetics and plasma-surface interactions using collisional radiative models; 

-The study of the surface reactions using reactive molecular dynamics; 

-The utilization of advanced plasma diagnostics techniques (e.g., Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas, Ecole Polytechnique, Paris).

Keywords

Biogas valorisation

Plasma catalysis

Molecular dynamics

Kinetic models

Heterogeneous catalysis