Areas of application

Wastewater and water treatment

Keeping water clean, in particular by purifying waste water, is a central tenet of environmental protection. In this area, Fraunhofer IKTS focuses on methods free from chemical and biological agents, as well as on integrated reactor systems for the treatment of waste and process waters. With ceramic membranes or electrochemical and photocatalytic oxidation processes, potable water, municipal and industrial process water, mining water and geothermal deep water can be processed.

Exhaust gas treatment and gas processing

Many engineering processes produce gaseous mixtures containing extremely fine particles and gaseous pollutants that are hazardous to humans and damaging to the environment. Fraunhofer IKTS provides open-porous, cellular ceramic bodies and membranes for hot gas dedusting and particle filtration. Nanoporous membranes, for instance, enable separating individual components from gaseous mixtures. Another focus is on ceramic catalyst supports and catalysts for exhaust gas purification. As an alternative to precious metals, ceramic catalysts exhibit higher thermal stability. Furthermore, they tolerate common catalyst poisons, which critically affect precious metals, much better.

CO₂ reduction

Various strategies for preventing (CDA), as well as using and storing (CCU) CO₂ offer significant potential with a view to meeting the defined climate targets. Ceramics-based technologies for oxygen-enriched combustion, electrolysis, CO₂ capture and for the synthesis of higher-value products (Fischer-Tropsch) can become a game-changing contribution to this effort. In particular in carbon-intensive industries, such as the steel industry, it is possible to reduce emissions significantly by up to 95 % by producing hydrogen in a highly efficient solid-oxide electrolysis process and using it for the reduction of ferrous oxide.

E-fuels

On account of their high energy density and easy storage, liquid fuels will retain significance for mobility in the short and medium term. Fraunhofer IKTS shows ways to replace oil as the basic ingredient for fuel production by using alternative carbon-containing raw materials and compounds. This includes catalyst systems as well as process engineering methods and plants for the production of fuels and recyclable materials using chemical syntheses, such as the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis while taking hydrogen technologies into account. Powerful modeling and simulation allow for the development and supply of novel concepts in chemical reaction engineering.

MIEC (mixed ionic electronic conductor) membranes, developed at Fraunhofer IKTS, are at the core of the HiPowAr ammonia reactor. — © Fraunhofer IKTS

Oxygen production and utilization

In many combustion and oxidation processes, efficiency can be increased by adding oxygen. In order to obtain oxygen cost-effectively, Fraunhofer IKTS is developing oxygen-selective membranes and oxygen generators based on them. The higher combustion efficiency reduces the consumption of fossil fuels and thus CO₂ emissions. In the oxycoal or oxyfuel process, combustion with an O₂/CO₂ mixture instead of air produces a pure CO₂ waste gas that can be used as a material (CCU). Fraunhofer IKTS is also working on self-compressing combustion processes using oxygen storage tanks.

Resource recovery from liquid process media

Resource recovery from wastewaters and liquid process media, and their provision plays an important role in the efficient use of resources. Fraunhofer IKTS is able to cover the full wet chemical process chain, starting with the extraction from solids, to enriching using membrane-supported extraction processes, through to the target product. In this regard, electrochemical processes are preferred, but process combinations are also used. We have extensive experience in recovering rare earth concentrates from secondary raw material sources, preparing rare earth compounds in a pure state, as well as in recovering special and precious metals from scrap metal and dump materials.

Carbon recycling/chemical recycling

Chemical recycling is used when plastic waste cannot be mechanically recycled any further. Fraunhofer IKTS focuses on pyrolysis and gasification. This allows plastics, as well as biomass or mixed fossil waste, to be converted back into their chemical building blocks on an industrial scale and reused in the chemical industry. At the same time, the economic production of mass products and high-priced specialty products based on domestic carbon carriers is being investigated. Another focus is on linking chemical recycling processes with electrochemical conversion processes. This allows higher-value products such as synthetic kerosene to be produced and high levels of efficiency to be achieved.

Biomass technologies and nutrient recycling

The basis for sustainable agriculture and bioeconomy lies in the treatment and use of biomass and nutrient-containing residues that arise as by-products. These are processed in such a way that they can be fed back into the production cycle as fertilizer, raw materials (e.g. fiber), water and energy. Material cycles are not considered in isolation, but the complex interrelationships are automatically recorded and analyzed with the help of sensor systems. Optimized processes allow productivity to be increased and sustainability to be achieved at the same time. Fraunhofer IKTS provides a wide range of process engineering solutions for this purpose, such as disintegration processes, membrane and fermentation technology, evaporation and optimized mixing and stirring processes. With the help of test stands, standardized tests on plant availability and phytotoxicity of nutrients and fertilizers in soil-based and hydroponic systems can be carried out at IKTS all year round.

Environmental and Process Engineering