We work on environmental and climate friendly novel chemical technologies. Our current research projects focus on the reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O) and local pollutants (NOx, particulate matter etc.) from processes in chemical industry, traffic, transportation, and the energy sector. Aside from developing advanced experimental tools for a better understanding of chemical reactors, we give a special emphasis on mathematical modeling and numerical simulation of technical processes.
The Deutschmann research group is part of the Institute for Chemical Technology and Polymer Chemistry (ITCP) and belongs to both the Faculty of Chemistry and Biosciences and the Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering within Division I at KIT.
In catalysis research, we are closely linked to the IKFT and the Grunwaldt group. Our joint work on emission control is part of the Exhaust Gas Center Karlsruhe and the CRC 1441 TrackAct. In the ENERMAT laboratory, we study fuel and electrolysis cells. Within the CRC/TRR150 and Clean Circles, we collaborate with TU Darmstadt on reactive flowsand carbon-free chemical energy carriers, respectively.
![Technologies for renewable fuel production](/deutschmann/img/content/NewsBilder/News-2024-08-MethQuest_ApplEn_OFurst_rdax_98.png)
Renewable methane is a versatile energy carrier that holds significant promise as a sustainable fuel. Within the MethQuest project, we have investigated an array of power-to-methane process chains to find novel ways to enhance the efficiency of the technology. The study supports the future development of commercially viable energy storage facilities and has recently been published in Applied Energy. 15.08.2024
Doctoral student Ahmet Celik won the Young Talent Award at the “Annual Meeting of Reaction Engineering and Electrochemical Processes” in Würzburg, Germany. He impressed the audience as well as a jury of members of the Early Career Reaction Engineers (NaWuReT) with his lecture on the topic "Process Development of Climate-Friendly Hydrogen Production by Pyrolysis of Methane and Biogas: From Reaction Engineering to Techno-Economic Studies". Congratulations! 15.05.2024
![Deutschmann group members at GeCatS in Weimar](/deutschmann/img/content/NewsBilder/News-2024-04_GeCatS_Weimar_rdax_98s.jpg)
Ten members of our group presented their latest results from catalysis research in a talk (Sofia Angeli et al.), several short talks and seven poster presentations at the 57th Annual Meeting of the German Catalysis Society in Weimar from March 13 to 15, 2024. Congratulations to Patrick Lott, who has been awarded the "Red Lion" for his continuous contributions to the GeCatS annual meetings in recent years. 03.04.2024
![DECHEMA Best Presentation Award for PhD student Andrea Düll](/deutschmann/img/content/NewsBilder/News_2024-03_AwardAD_1000dpi_rdax_1024x780_98s.jpg)
At the annual meeting of the DECHEMA subject division Multiphase Flows 2024 in Bremen, our doctoral candidate Andrea Düll received the Best Presentation Award for her talk on the “Experimental characterization of the three-dimensional wave dynamics of falling film flows on structured surfaces”. Her research project is a cooperation with the Institute of Thermal Turbomachinery (ITS, KIT) and is supported by the Friedrich and Elisabeth Boysen Foundation. 23.03.2024.
![Concept paper on digitalization for catalytic reaction kinetics](/deutschmann/img/content/NewsBilder/2024-03-News_ConceptPaperDigit_Chacko_rdax_98p.jpg)
Rinu Chacko et al. published an invited concept paper on Interconnected Digital Solutions to Accelerate Modeling of the Reaction Kinetics in Catalysis in ChemCatChem. The article highlights tools for efficient storage of research
data, establishment of automated workflows, algorithms for advanced model development for catalytic reaction systems such as Adacta, CaRMeN, DETCHEM, RMG. 19.03.2024
![Tail pipe emission reduction of hybrid electric vehicles by periodic operation](/deutschmann/img/content/NewsBilder/News_2024-02-Tail-pipe-em-red_rdax_98.png)
In collaboration with the Waseda University in Tokyo and Japanese automobile manufacturers, a new process has been developed to increase the efficiency of the three-way catalytic converter in a hybrid-electric vehicle at low exhaust temperatures. Inhibition of the catalytic converter by blocking the active sites at low temperatures can be prevented by periodic lean-rich switches of the exhaust gas. The work contributes to a better understanding of periodic processes in exhaust gas catalysis and has recently been published in Appl. Catal. B: Environ. 14.02.2024.
![Reducing C02 emissions in steel production](/deutschmann/img/content/NewsBilder/News_2024-01-Reducing_C02_emissions_in_steel-production_PB_rdax_1024x757_98s.jpg)
In cooperation with our industrial partner Paul Wurth SA we have demonstrated how 0.5% of the global CO2 emissions can be reduced with moderate investments by modernizing existing blast furnace technology for steel production.
In the process, CO2 is recycled from the blast furnace gas and converted with coke oven gas into synthesis gas, which can be used as a coke substitute in the blast furnace. It was demonstrated and validated in a pilot plant at the stock company of Dillinger Hüttenwerke (Dillinger) in Saarland. Further details are published in Energy Advances. 23.01.2024
![Clean Circles](/deutschmann/img/content/NewsBilder/News_2023_03_CleanCircles_Kuhn_rdax_98s.jpg)
Iron is a promising, recyclable energy carrier that allows energy to be stored in large quantities and over long periods of time. The project Clean Circles investigates the iron cycle with an integrated approach in cooperation with the TU Darmstadt and further partners. The energy is stored by reducing iron oxides with green hydrogen. Based on experimental results, a reaction mechanism and accompanied kinetic data for this process were derived and recently published. 23.03.2023
![Poster Award ADCR 2022](/deutschmann/img/content/NewsBilder/News_2023-05_PosterAwardADCR22_rdax_98s.jpg)
At the Annual Digital Catalysis & Catalysis-Related Science Conference 2022 of NFDI4cat, Johannes Riedel and Hendrik Goßler received the Best Poster Award for the contribution “Automatization of Interdisciplinary Research Data Management for Catalysis”. More information on the newly developed tool Adacta can be found in the recent CIT paper. 25.05.2023
Prof. Dr. Olaf Deutschmann
ITCP
Email: deutschmann ∂does-not-exist.kit edu
Secretary:
Tel. +49 721 608 43064
Fax +49 721 608 44805