Industrial Chemistry and Reaction Engineering – research and personnel
The activities in Industrial chemistry at Åbo Akademi started in 1920 as the Borgström professorship in chemical technology was established within the Faculty of Chemical Engineering. Today the laboratory has three chairs in the field of Industrial chemistry and reaction engineering (Teknisk kemi och reaktionsteknik, TKR): chemical technology, chemical reaction engineering and chemical process intensification. The chemical spectrum of our research is broad, but still strongly focused: from reaction mechanism to reactor design, from green chemistry to green process engineering is the business idea of TKR at Åbo Akademi.
Industrial chemistry and reaction engineering, the hard core of chemical engineering focuses on catalysis, chemical kinetics and chemical reactor technology. The key domain in our research is process intensification (PI) through the development of new catalysts and new chemical reactors and the use of non-conventional forms of energy, such as acoustic and microwave irradiation. Micro- and millistructured reactors are developed for energy-efficient, for more enhanced and more selective chemical processes. New structured catalysts, such as fibers, monoliths, solid foams and 3D printed structures are developed and utilized for process intensification. The trend of today is to shift from batch processes to continuous reactor technology: we are among the global pioneers in this domain.
The use of ultrasound and microwave irradiation has resulted in breakthroughs, particularly in the modification chemical compounds originating from biomass, such as hemicelluloses, lignin, terpenes and fatty acids. The use and valorization of organic molecules by catalysis is the core area in our research, particularly hydrogenation, oxidation, epoxidation and isomerization of multifunctional molecules. The reaction products are used as fine and specialty chemicals, components in green fuels as well as ingredients in pharmaceutical and alimentary products. The lignin platform is studied actively, particularly the lignin depolymerisation and transformation of the products to ingredients in green aviation fuels. The utilization of biogenic carbon dioxide as an inexpensive reagent is investigated in methanation processes and carbonation of epoxides.
In the field of water treatment technology, intensive research is in progress in the removal of harmful pharmaceutical components from wastewater. A unique demineralization technology has been developed, based on the combination of ozonation and heterogeneous catalysis. With this approach, the partially oxidized intermediates formed in the ozonation process can be quantitatively destroyed.
In our strongly multi-disciplinary approach, we successfully combine experimental activities with advanced mathematical modelling of chemical kinetics, transport phenomena and flow pattern in multiphase systems. New theoretical concepts have been introduced by our scientists, for example, the theory of non-ideal reactive solids, semi-competitive adsorption and modelling structure sensitive kinetics in heterogeneous catalysis. Software is developed for complex multiphase reaction systems and reactors, based on the numerical solution of partial differential equations appearing in reactor models. The chemical spectrum of our research is broad, but still strongly focused: from reaction mechanism to reactor design, from green chemistry to green process technology.
Education and research are strongly connected in our daily activities. We provide courses at the bachelor (teknologie kandidat, TkK) and master (diplomingenjör, DI) levels in chemical reaction engineering – homogeneous reactors, industrial reactors, advanced reactor systems, heterogeneous catalysis, chemical process and product technology as well as courses at the postgraduate level on reaction kinetics and computer-aided chemical reaction engineering. The laboratory is an active partner in the IMATEC (undergraduate education) and INNOLAB (postgraduate education) consortia, the goal being the renewal of the university pedagogics in the field of chemical engineering. Students all-over the world are very welcome to join the international master’s program Sustainable Chemical and Process Engineering. Numerous undergraduate students from European Union perform annually their internship at TKR within the Erasmus++ exchange program. We are active partners of Johan Gadolin Process Chemistry Centre (PCC) within the profile area of Åbo Akademi and the SmartBio consortium of bio-related research. The environment in the Laboratory is strongly international – around 15 languages are spoken among the team members from different continents.
The annual scientific output of TKR comprises typically around 70 scientific articles in top journals in catalysis, chemistry and chemical engineering. More than 80 doctoral theses have been defended at TKR in recent 25 years. The European collaboration in the postgraduate education is vital, particularly in the fields of double degrees with Università di Napoli, Universidad de Valladolid and Normandie Université INSA-Rouen.
Research personnel
Laboratory Manager Kari Eränen, Docent in Development of Experimental Methods in Industrial Chemistry and Reaction Engineering
Research profile and publications
Professor Henrik Grénman, Chemical Process Intensification, Docent in Chemical Technology, Mainly Reactivity of Solids
Research profile and publications
Professor Jyri-Pekka Mikkola, Industrial Chemistry, Sustainable Development (part time), Docent in Organic Heterogeneous Catalysis, Professor at Umeå University
Research profile and publications
Professor Dmitry Murzin, Borgström Professor in Chemical Technology, Docent in Chemical Kinetics, Head of Subject
Research profile and publications
Associate Professor Päivi Mäki-Arvela, Chemical Technology, Docent in Organic Chemical Technology
Research profile and publications
Visiting professor Tapio Salmi, Chemical Reaction Engineering, Università di Napoli ‘Federico II’
Research profile and publications
Senior University Lecturer Johan Wärnå, Chemical Reaction Engineering, Docent in Modeling of Chemical Reactors
Research profile and publications
Researchers
Atte Aho, Docent in Characterization and Testing of Catalysts
German Araujo Barahona Project Researcher (Research Council of Finland/Finlands Akademi)
Adriana Freites Aguilera, Docent in Chemical Reaction Engineering for Multiphase Systems
Luis Gallego-Villada Project Researcher (Research Council of Finland/Finlands Akademi)
Mouad Hachhach, Maître de conference, Université Ibn Zohr, Agadir
Narendra Kumar, Docent in catalytic materials
Lilia Longo Project Researcher
Wander Pérez Sena Academy Research Fellow (Research Council of Finland/Finlands Akademi)
Vincenzo Russo, Professor (Università di Napoli ‘Federico II’), Docent
Glaydson Simoes dos Reis, Academy Research Fellow (Research Council of Finland/Finlands Akademi)
Pasi Tolvanen, Docent in Intensification of Chemical Processes Based on Renewable Assets
Zuzana Vajglová Docent in Practical Heterogeneous Catalysis
Pasi Virtanen, Project Researcher, Docent in Industrial Chemistry, Application of Ionic Liquids to Chemical Systems and Processes
Doctoral Students
Andrés Barreiro
Salvatore Capasso (double degree with Università di Napoli ‘Federico II’)
Pablo Gangotena, VTT
Simon Jansen (Hochschule Ruhr West)
Federica Orabona (double degree with Università di Napoli ‘Federico II’)
Jasmiina Palo, VTT
Technologies for a Sustainable Future
The research profile Technologies for a Sustainable Future develops new technology that can be used to replace fossil raw materials with renewable resources such as
Johan Gadolin Process Chemistry Centre – PCC
PCC merges chemistry and chemical engineering to provide the solutions for the future.
Future Refining of Forest Biomass
Åbo Akademi University’s Centre of Excellence 2015-2018 in the project Future Refining of Forest Biomass deals with developing new, sustainable production technologies for platform chemicals,