Volker Hessel,
Professor, School of Chemical Engineering,
The University of Adelaide
Professor Volker Hessel studied chemistry at Mainz University (PhD in organic chemistry, 1993). In 1994 he entered the Institut für Mikrotechnik Mainz GmbH. In 2002, Prof. Hessel was appointed Vice Director R&D at IMM and in 2007 as Director R&D. In 2005 and 2011, Prof. Hessel was appointed as Part-time and Full Professor at Eindhoven University of Technology, respectively. He was Honorary Professor at TU Darmstadt, Germany and is Guest Professor at Kunming University of Science and Technology, China. Prof. Hessel was appointed as Deputy Dean (Research) and Full Professor at the School of Chemical Engineering in the ECMS Faculty at the University of Adelaide, Australia. He is (co-)author of > 450 peer-reviewed (h-index: 54). He received the AIChE Award “Excellence in Process Development Research” in 2007, the ERC Advanced Grant “Novel Process Windows” in 2010, the ERC Proof of Concept Grant in 2017, the IUPAC ThalesNano Prize in Flow Chemistry in 2016, the FET OPEN Grant in 2016, and the ERC Synergy Grant 2018. He was authority in the 35-man teamed Parliament Enquete Commission "Future of the Chemical Industry" in Nordrhine-Westfalia.
Micro-Flow Resource Extraction: Marine Biomass, Minerals Processing, and Space
Friday, 6 October 2023 at 13:30
Add to Calendar ▼2023-10-06 13:30:002023-10-06 14:30:00Europe/LondonMicro-Flow Resource Extraction: Marine Biomass, Minerals Processing, and SpaceFlow Chemistry Asia 2023 in Tokyo, JapanTokyo, JapanSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com
The potential of micro-flow extraction has been investigated as early as microreactors have emerged, >30 years ago. Yet up to now no industrial use has been reported, despite the advantages being obvious, exploiting mass transfer as key advantage, and largely reported in literature. This is likely related to the fact that flow chemistry was and is largely driven by a market-pull principle from industrial side; mainly that of the pharmaceutical industry. The two potential industrial drivers in this presentation are either only cautiously testing the new frontier technology, mining industry, or are themselves a frontier market which is just developing, marine biomass market. Microreaction and flow technology has largely be developed in Europe, US, and some Asian countries; i.e. in zones that are typically poor in own resources, while resource-rich countries, in Australia, Africa, and South America, have been only slow adaptors of micro-flow technologies. This talk is given from the Australian perspective and market pull. A continent surrounded by huge ocean area has access to abundant marine biomass. The issue is to separate one compound selectively out of many dozens or even hundreds. As most marine biomass compounds are thermally labile, yet might profit from high-temperature extraction, the classical microreactor fortitude can be exploited – to do a processing job, impossible with current technology, in a very short time in a novel process window. For minerals processing, the ‘micro-flow job’ can follow manifold motivations. One is to extract all constituents (metals) from rich industrial (waste streams) and to concentrate it to a level that supports industrial post-processing. Another one is to selectively extract one metal in the presence of many others; both given for primary and waste streams. One more ‘job’ is to selectively remove several undesired compounds, leaving the right and wanted one in high purity. As these precious materials are typically given in low concentration, the extraction needs to be done at ppb-level. It will be shown how new functional materials with unseen properties can be designed via this ‘ultra-purity’. A third market with growing Australian relevance is space technology, and in the context of the presentation, lunar regolith simulant material is leached and extracted, to provide macronutrients (P, K) for plant growth in greenhouses on moon.
Add to Calendar ▼2023-10-05 00:00:002023-10-06 00:00:00Europe/LondonFlow Chemistry Asia 2023Flow Chemistry Asia 2023 in Tokyo, JapanTokyo, JapanSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com
Add to Calendar ▼2023-10-06 13:30:002023-10-06 14:30:00Europe/LondonMicro-Flow Resource Extraction: Marine Biomass, Minerals Processing, and SpaceFlow Chemistry Asia 2023 in Tokyo, JapanTokyo, JapanSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com
