Renewable electricity driven chemical conversion: Novel pathways provided by plasma enhanced chemistry
Speaker
Richard van de Sanden
Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research (DIFFER); Eindhoven Institute for Renewable Energy Systems (EIRES)
Abstract
Renewable electricity driven chemical conversion: Novel pathways provided by plasma enhanced chemistry
In a circular CO 2 neutral society, the direct electrification of chemical conversion processes is one of the biggest challenge to achieve deep decarbonisation after 2030. The re-use of (air captured) carbon dioxide, the end product of the oxidation of dense energy carriers, for synthetic fuels and chemicals is required. Also in this context, nitrogen fixation in the form of NH 3 or NO x is unquestionably one of the most important chemical conversion processes. These electricity driven chemical conversion processes are also needed to mitigate intermittency of renewable energy sources by providing seasonal storage, as well as non-fossil based feedstock for the chemical industry. The use of electrons, from renewable electricity, or photons, directly from the sun, provide scientific and technological opportunities to develop novel pathways for chemical conversion. In this talk, after an introduction to the challenges facing the world in the next decades, I will discuss the opportunities of using plasmas, powered by renewable electricity, for scalable gas conversion of stable key molecules such as CO 2 and N 2. In particular, I will address the use of microwave generated plasma to dissociate CO 2 into CO and O 2 , the formation of NO x from N 2 /O 2 mixtures and the possible, often claimed, role of nonequilibrium vibrational kinetics in these conversion processes. An outlook on potential game changing application of non-thermal plasma, next to the use as a high temperature heating source, and in combination with catalyst and membranes, will be discussed.
Bio
RICHARD van de SANDEN is a research group leader at the Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research (DIFFER) where he has been director from 2011 until July 2020. He is also the scientific director of the Eindhoven Institute for Renewable Energy Systems (EIRES) and a professor at the Department of Applied Physics of the Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands. He received his Ph.D. in 1991 from the Eindhoven University on a fundamental plasma physics subject. In 1990, he was appointed an Assistant Professor, his main interest being the fundamentals of plasma assisted processing of materials. In 2000, he was appointed as a full-time professor at the Eindhoven University of Technology. At the DIFFER institute he focuses on the physics and chemistry of plasma-surface interaction and on research into the direct and indirect conversion of renewable energy into synthetic fuels and chemicals. In 2008 he has won the European William Crookes Plasma Prize. In 2009 he was awarded the Valorisation Prize for his achievements in transferring scientific knowledge to industry. Since 2013 he is a member of the Netherlands Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 2014 he won the Plasma Prize of the AVS Plasma Science and Technology Division for his career achievements. In 2018 he won the Lloyd Thomas prize of the Rarefied Gas Dynamics community. He has authored and co-authored over 500 papers in peer-reviewed journals and is the co-inventor of > 20 patents. He is a fellow of AVS, IUPAC, IOP and IPCS and serves on numerous scientific committees of international conferences and (inter-)national advisory boards. He has consulted for several companies (General Electric, Fujifilm, Novellus, BOC Edwards, Linde Gas Group, Tetrapak). Since 2015 he is a senior member of the Editorial board of Plasma Sources: Science and Technology and is a member of the editorial board of Plasma Processes and Polymers, Applied Sciences and Global Transitions. He is a member of several (scientific) advisory boards for (inter-)national programs, institutes and departments. He was the chairman of the advisory committee on Electrochemical Conversion and Materials (ECCM) between 2017-2022, and an active member of the Energy committee of the European Academies for Science Advisory Council (EASAC). In 2021 he became a member of the Dutch Research Council (NWO) Technical and Applied Sciences board and since 2022 he represents this board in the NWO-Dutch Science Agenda program committee. Since 2023 he is a member representing science and technology of the Topteam Energy (Captain of Science of Topsector Energy, an advisory boardfor the ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate).