IsoPROPEL has successfully achieved its first technical milestone with the design, construction and commissioning of an advanced laboratory platform for CO2 conversion. The new infrastructure will support the development of the project’s innovative route towards renewable isopropanol (IPA) as a liquid energy carrier, using CO2 as the sole entry carbon feedstock.
The platform combines a fixed-bed reactor with two complementary heating technologies: a conventional tubular furnace and a radiofrequency (RF) induction system capable of delivering energy directly to suitable materials inside the reactor. This direct heating approach offers the potential for faster temperature changes and reduced thermal inertia, key features for the temperature-swing looping concept pursued in IsoPROPEL.
Precise gas control is complemented by online GC, micro-GC and fast mass spectrometry, providing time resolutions from ca. 15 minutes down to 0.5 seconds and enabling detailed monitoring of both steady and transient operation.
The system has been fully commissioned and successfully operated with both heating modes. It provides IsoPROPEL with a versatile experimental platform to develop catalysts and oxygen carriers and demonstrate dynamic, directly electrified CO2 conversion towards carbon-neutral fuels.
