The overall idea of CATCO2NVERS is to reduce greenhouse gasses emissions by transforming CO2 gas into five added-value chemicals: glyoxylic acid (GA), lactic acid (LA), furan dicarboxylic methyl ester (FDME), cyclic carbonated fatty acid methyl esters (CCFAMEs) and bio-methanol via different innovative processes. This project brought different academic, research institutes and industrial partners together to research the entire chain from suitable CO2 waste gas streams all the way to the different potential applications of the produced chemicals in the chemical, cosmetics and plastics industry
Within this project, EMI Twente investigates researches the applicability of various membrane based separation processes to design complex separation trains with the goal to produce the 5 key chemicals in the required purities. This is accomplished by performing experimental work on membrane based separations such as nanofiltration or electrodialysis, but also by performing desk-top studies with flow-sheeting software to design separation processes based on more established separation unit operation such as distillation.
