Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) has commissioned the largest single investment of the project to date as part of the large-scale CatLab project. The test facility built by the Berlin-based company ILS with eight parallel chemical reactors has now been delivered and installed at the Adlershof site. The investment volume is over 2.5 million euros.

The plant is designed to test thin-film and powder catalysts under realistic process conditions. It allows temperatures from room temperature to 780 °C, pressures up to 50 bar as well as variable flow rates and residence times – both in continuous and batch operation. This allows numerous reactions central to the energy transition to be investigated.

These include the conversion of carbon dioxide to methanol, the dry reforming of methane into synthesis gas, and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis for the production of synthetic fuels. The reactors are used for the rapid comparison of catalyst candidates, the determination of reaction kinetic data and, above all, the evaluation of long-term stability, which is crucial for later industrial use.

Project managers at HZB describe the plant as a future core component in the development of scalable thin-film catalysts. It is intended not only to advance the CatLab project itself, but also to support the center’s own basic research as well as ongoing and planned cooperation projects such as CARE-O-SENE, Greenquest and other newly launched initiatives.

Overall, CatLab aims to establish industrial-grade manufacturing processes for high-efficiency thin-film catalysts in order to accelerate the transition to a climate-neutral chemical and energy industry. The new reactor platform creates crucial experimental conditions for this.

Editor: X-Press Journalistenbüro GbR

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