01_AboutELECTRA

Motivation

To address climate change and further advance the use of renewable energy, we must move away from the use of fossil fuels and create alternatives that are technologically feasible and realistic. This means moving away from individual processes and toward a circular economy, exploiting synergies and using sustainable resources.

Although the use of regenerative energy sources seems to be established, they will have to be applied industrially in the future in order to develop sustainable products and processes. Electrochemical processes are therefore particularly well suited because they use green electricity for the electrochemical conversion of substances. This bypasses high-temperature and high-pressure applications, replacing energy-consuming industrial processes with alternative process solutions.

Such innovative process solutions are created in research, but the step from lab scale to industrial application is large and resources are often insufficient to bridge the Valley of Death. While resources are large at the beginning of the research due to available funding, scientific exchange and testing opportunities, they slowly decrease with higher TRL levels. Over time, both financial and infrastructural limits are reached. However, in order for innovations to be permanently integrated into industry, they must become established in demonstrators and pilot plants and thus make the leap to industry-relevant scale-up.

This infrastructural gap is the reason for the existence of ELECTRA. By providing technological infrastructure and financial resources, an innovation push is triggered on the research side. Ideas emerge and are further developed into prototypes. The sustainable process approaches from research are then further transferred as application pull with the help of industry partners. This will accelerate technology translation and overcome the Valley of Death. ELECTRA thus offers opportunities in the field of electrochemistry to explore novel process ideas and make them accessible to industry.

Goal

With the goal of an increasingly CO2-neutral to largely CO2-free economy by 2050, efficient, reliable and economically viable technologies for energy conversion must be new or further developed for all energy-intensive core markets. A key technology for achieving these energy and climate policy goals is electrochemistry. With their help, sustainable value chains and material conversion ("power-to-chemicals") from renewable energies can be realized. In addition to the use of CO2 from the atmosphere or from industrial exhaust air, the processing of saline industrial wastewater and the synthesis of alternative fuels or other basic chemicals are conceivable.

As an association of research institutions and companies, ELECTRA offers the opportunity for creative collaborations in these areas and accelerated development of radical innovations. The results achieved in ELECTRA, the continuous transfer of know-how as well as the training of new electrochemists and the associated preparation for the electrification of the chemical industry will improve the competitive position of the state of NRW. This goes hand in hand with the development of new markets, the securing and creation of new jobs and thus a strengthening of NRW as a business location.

Portfolio of ELECTRA

ELECTRA adopts a holistic approach to electrochemical research, beginning with the production and modification of electrodes. It focuses on designing electrochemical cells and modules that seamlessly integrate novel electrodes and innovative reactor concepts into overall processes. Development is supported by advanced analytical techniquesb for understanding electrochemical reactions and characterizing the morphology, composition, and structure of electrodes, while benefiting from close ties to the academic community. Additionally, ELECTRA features state-of-the-art test rigs equipped with online analytics and central control software, enabling automated process operation and real-time data recording.