DFG Funds Research on Sustainable Chemical Production

When biomass is used as an alternative and sustainable feedstock for chemical production, its chemical composition and physical properties are not always constant, nor is energy from renewable sources consistently available. This presents new challenges for chemical process engineering, which to date has not had to deal with such fluctuations. While petrochemical processes are traditionally optimized for a single operating point, circular processes will be required in the future that can cope with such fluctuations and guarantee high performance over a wide operating range.

From partial optimization to process tolerance

“Within the Research Training Group, we will help shape this paradigm shift in chemical process engineering and develop tolerant processes that are robust and flexible when confronted with varying operating conditions,” explains Hannsjörg Freund, Professor for Reaction Engineering and Catalysis at the Department of Biochemical and Chemical Engineering and spokesperson for TALENT. Greater tolerance generally reduces process efficiency, which is why overcoming this “Tolerance–Efficiency Dilemma” is the overarching aim of the TALENT project. The acronym stands for “Tolerant, Sustainable, Efficient: Overcoming the Tolerance-Efficiency Dilemma for Robust and Flexible Future (Bio)Chemical Processes”. 

In the first funding phase, 18 doctoral students will conduct research on this transformation. In the frame of innovative projects – for example on the conversion of plant biomass to platform chemicals or the utilization of industrial waste streams – they will tackle the challenges at various process levels. The methods developed in the RTG will be transferable to other processes and can contribute to a sustainable and circular chemical industry. 

Strong research environment

TALENT is hosted at the Department of Biochemical and Chemical Engineering, whose working groups conduct research at the interfaces between chemistry, biology, chemical and bioengineering, and process engineering. Doctoral students benefit from the researchers’ close collaboration over many years and their joint development and use of methods and engineering tools. In addition, the early career researchers have the CALEDO lab infrastructure at TU Dortmund University at their disposal. The research building was inaugurated at the end of 2025 and offers ideal conditions for research into the design and innovative use of liquid phases for environmentally friendly and novel processes in chemistry and biotechnology. Furthermore, synergies exist between the new Research Training Group and large-scale international collaborative projects: Scientists at the Department of Biochemical and Chemical Engineering have been involved in research on solvent chemistry within the “RESOLV” Cluster of Excellence since 2012 and at the Research Center Chemical Sciences and Sustainability since 2022. Here, the partners of the University Alliance Ruhr are pooling their top-class international research into the molecular understanding of chemical reactions, processes and products. 

Participating in the new RTG as project leaders, alongside Professor Hannsjörg Freund as spokesperson, are seven other researchers from the Department of Biochemical and Chemical Engineering: Dr. Marion Börnhorst (Reaction Engineering and Catalysis), Professor Alba Diéguez Alonso (Transport Processes), Professor Norbert Kockmann (Equipment Design), Professor Sergio Lucia (Process Automation Systems), Professor Stephan Lütz (Bioprocess Engineering), Dr. Thomas Seidensticker (Technical Chemistry) and Dr. Lea Winand (Technical Biology).

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