Sustainable Process Engineering and Production

Research at LTH in the sustainable production of biofuels and bulk, as well as fine chemicals, based on renewable resources is among the best in the world. The SWEGENE project, financed by the Wallenberg Foundation, combined with a system-oriented, chemical-engineering approach, has allowed the development of new cellular platforms, or biocatalysers, using metabolic technology. Detailed reactor analysis using new simulation tools means that biomolecular reactions can be exploited on a large scale for sustainable production. New substances based on molecules are being developed for selective, sustainable heterogeneous catalysis.

LTH is the host for a national centre for process development based on renewable resources, including fractionation, bioconversion and processing. The centre is financed by the Swedish Energy Agency (Energimyndigheten). In the field of biogas, LTH researchers are collaborating with the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). The use of non-fossil fuels requires a broad system approach to achieve sustainability. The complexity of these systems demands advanced simulation tools for analysis and design on several levels, including separate processes and the whole process system, as well as for simulating the effects on the environment. In this context, LTH has unique competence for the development of sustainable systems.

LTH is also host to the Swedish Center for Bioseparation, whose aim is to develop new separation media and methods at the molecular level. Energy-efficient separation and drying are further examples of areas of special competence at LTH. Increased safety of industrial products means high demands on the integration of materials engineering, production engineering and design. The manufacturing industry, including subcontractors, is becoming increasingly responsible for system development, which affects research and training such that the boundaries between the design of products and production engineering are becoming less discernable. This also increases the demands on interdisciplinary collaboration. The knowledge base consists of a combination of basic subjects such as solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, materials engineering, metrology and automatic control, signal analysis and IT, all of which are prominent areas of research at LTH. To these areas, can be added process and production engineering, logistics, working environment studies and design.

 

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