Research: Synthesis of chemicals and materials, reduction of pollutants emissions, and energy conversion

Our research interests lie in the area of chemical reaction engineering, in particular in experimental, theoretical, and numerical investigations of heterogeneous (gas/liquid/solid) reaction systems for the synthesis of chemical and materials, the reduction of pollutant emissions and energy conversion. The work focuses on bridging the gap between surface science and heterogeneous catalysis as well as on understanding the interactions between chemical reactions and transport phenomena in chemical reactors and combustion systems. This approach is based on modern experimental investigations of the elementary processes in the gas phase and on the solid surface and further on measurements of the behavior of the entire reactor. The research also focuses on the development and application of computational tools for the numerical simulation of chemically reacting flows in laboratory experiments and in technical reactors under industrial conditions.

High-temperature catalysis Synthesis gas by catalytic partial oxidation of methane Partial oxidation of light alkanes to olefins Formation of oxygenates by partial oxidation of alkanes Conversion of ethanol to hydrogen Conversion of gasoline and diesel to hydrogen Conversion of kerosene to hydrogen Dry reforming of methane
Control of pollutant emissions Three-way catalytic converter Lean NOx trap Diesel oxidation catalysts Aging of automotive catalysts Urea-SCR catalysts Modeling of AdBlue decomposition
Multi-functional conversion of chemicals and energy
Spray/Wall-Interaction in Urea-SCR systems
Experimental studies of multiphase chemical reactions in exhaust aftertreatment systems
Combustion Optical diagnostics in combustion Catalytic combustion research for gas turbine application Catalytic radiant burner with energy recuperation
Materials synthesis Carbon nanotubes Pyrolytic carbon Materials World Network: Carbon-carbon composites
Solid oxide fuel and solid oxide electrolysis cells Modeling direct internal reforming in anode-supported cells Modeling transients in SOFC stacks   Multi-phase flow Scale-resolving simulation of reactive two-phase flows in monolith and solid foam reactors Hydrodynamics and mass transfer in Taylor flow Turbulence modeling of bubbly two-phase flows
Computational tools Detailed Chemistry models in CFD with DETCHEM Multi-Phase Flow with TURBIT-VOF Monte-Carlo-simulation of catalytic reactions with MoCKa Optimization of reactive systems
Reaction mechanisms Catalytic conversion over platinum Catalytic conversion over rhodium Catalytic conversion over nickel
Laboratories and Equipment Exhaust-Gas Center (Abgaszentrum) Karlsruhe Catalysis at High Temperature Laser Environment (CATHLEN) Optical Diagnostics Spacial Profiles in monolithic catalysts (SpaciPro) High-temperature catalysis reactors (CPOX-I, -II) Stagnation Flow Reactor Microscopy Analytics Computer cluster