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THYME: Transforming furfural via a hydrogen cascade reaction to methyl furan, the future of aviation fuel through lab on a chip

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Project Description

Furfural is an incredibly versatile platform molecule which is derived from various waste biomass sources. It is rapidly becoming a vital component of sustainable chemical feedstocks and fuel production. The market for furfural and its derivatives is expected to grow into the multi £Bn range by 2030. Current technologies used for transforming furfural are inefficient, potentially dangerous and lead to toxic waste streams. There is an urgent need for new technologies that are safer, reduce energy requirements, eliminate toxic wastes and improve utilisation of material inputs while increasing yields.

This project will demonstrate how nano engineered continuous flow microdevices can be utilised to overcome the deficiencies of current technologies. The extensive expertise at Hull and Teesside for microfluidic flow chemistry, catalysis and advanced fabrication will be applied to the catalytic transformation of furfural into a wealth of high value products such as methyl furan, a molecule of interest for aviation fuels and many other applications. Continuous flow microreactors, well known for their advantages over conventional technologies will be functionalised with engineered bimetallic nanocatalysts and these will be compared with batch reaction systems. Devices will be produced using both conventional and novel 3D printing techniques to demonstrate scalability of the technology.

Project Acronym Jetfire
Status Project Complete
Value £36,825.00
Project Dates Jul 1, 2021 - Apr 30, 2022
Partner Organisations ChemTrix BV

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