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Advances in technology across industry

Research paves the way for custom-made catalysts

Ateam of researchers led by Jordi Llorca from the Nanoengineering Research Centre (CRnE) and the Institute of Energy Technologies (INTE) – both of which belong to the UPC – has studied how atoms move in a real catalyst and has demonstrated that they react differently depending on the type of support being used. This research opens the door to designing new custom-made catalysts for energy and industrial applications and for the removal of pollutant gases.

The catalyst chosen by the researchers contained metal (rhodium and palladium) nanoparticles prepared by the Dendrimers and Molecular Polygons Group at the UB. The nanoparticles were fixed to a ceria support. This catalyst is very effective at producing hydrogen, a product that could replace fossil fuels before they are depleted and allow the current energy model to be changed in favour of a more sustainable and environmentally friendly one.

Jordi Llorca explains that the results of the study pave the way for obtaining hydrogen in the most efficient way possible, that is, from water and ethanol – the latter of which is a renewable, inexpensive resource that is easily obtained from forestry and agricultural waste.

“The nanoparticles know where they are supported and react accordingly.” This discovery, he explains, “paves the way for custom-made catalysts that are more efficient because they can be developed or adapted according to the process for which they are required.”

In the case of hydrogen, the research team discovered that to produce it the atoms in the catalyst need to be in certain positions. These positions allow electrons to be exchanged between the metal nanoparticles and the ceria support appropriately when they break and form new chemical bonds to produce hydrogen.

In vehicles that use combustion engines (cars, motorcycles, planes, ships, etc.) with ceriasupported catalysts, new nanostructures could be designed or existing ones adapted to make them more energy efficient. Visit: www.upc.edu

World’s longest superconductor cable yields new knowledge

Essen’s superconductor has now been live for 4300 hours. RWE and its project partners have given a positive interim report on AmpaCity’s first 180 days at work. The world’s longest superconductor has amply fulfilled expectations, transmitting five times as much electricity as a conventional copper cable. As an added plus, dissipation is near-zero. Since commissioning the 1 kilometre-long cable in April 2014, RWE has used it to deliver around 20 million kilowatthours. Funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economics and Energy enabled the flagship project to go ahead. “The energy transition calls for bold innovation. We need to design an efficient and secure system to meet tomorrow’s energy needs. So we had no hesitation in choosing this excellent project for sponsorship under our energy research programme,” explained Uwe Beckmeyer, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Economics and Energy.

The superconductor transmits current at minus 200 degrees Celsius rather than minus 270. The properties of the superconductor’s special ceramic material, coupled with cooling to minus 200, make the cable an ideal electric conductor. In Essen, the 10,000-volt superconductor cable replaces a conventional 110,000-volt power line. This technology makes it possible to reduce the number of substations and shift them to the outskirts, releasing valuable inner-city land. “Operations have so far proceeded smoothly. We have gained valuable knowledge of this technology, which has helped us improve the whole superconductor system further,” reported Dr Joachim Schneider, technical director at RWE Deutschland. Visit: www.rwe.com

GDF SUEZ and Electrabel to support research against climate change

GDF SUEZ and Electrabel have signed a cooperation agreement with KU LEUVEN (University of Leuven) to support the unique SpaceBillboard project that aims to fund the design and space launch of a new type of satellite called a CubeSat.

Four aerospace researchers had the simple but so-far unique idea of funding their researches using a miniaturised satellite that will be the first advertising billboard in space on which companies can pay to display their logo or a message. “It should allow us to raise around €100,000, which would be enough to fund the construction of a base station to monitor this CubeSat here at KUL,” explains university professor Dirk Vandepitte.

GDF SUEZ and Electrabel are the original and lead sponsors of this world first, whose main mission will be to measure the heat emitted and absorbed by the Earth in order to analyse and gain a better understanding of climate change as the basis for combatting greenhouse gas emissions more effectively. Having been committed proactively to these issues for many years, GDF SUEZ has set itself the target of cutting its own CO2 emissions by 10% between now and 2020. Electrabel’s ‘Working Together for Less CO2’ plan has already reduced CO2 emissions from its power generating facilities by 6.1 million metric tons.

“It’s part of our commitment to aerospace and to achieving our targets in terms of limiting CO2 emissions,” explains Kristof Schelderman, communication manager for GDF SUEZ in Belgium. Visit: www.gdfsuez.com