Prof. Cris Vande Velde in feel the chemistry - on 12th May at 19:30 at Plein Publiek. 4 speakers will zoom into innovation paths around sustainable chemistry. Come and listen to their story, victories, struggles and vision of the future! It is free but you must sign up!
Leili Esrafili doctoral defense will take place on Monday 9th of may at 1 p.m
Prof. Helmut Rechberger from TU Wien was awarded a honorary degree nominated by iPPRACS Prof. Pieter Billen
Prof. Pieter Billen on the Circular Paradox
On September 23rd Prof Pieter Billen gave a talk on the webinar organized by Verhaert titled Beyond the Hype: The Circular Paradox. In this talked Prof. Billen highlighted the technological prospects of techno-chemical recycling of polyolefins. Moreover, he discussed a new method to predict recyclability based on entropy.
Technologies to replace SF6 in electrical switchgear; we helped demonstrating their lower carbon footprint
iPRACS has collaborated with Johan Braet (Engineering Economics) and Ben Maes (EMIB) to demonstrate the low carbon footprint of SF6-free technologies for high-voltage electrical switchgear; focusing in particular on the technologies based on 3M's Novec® gas mixtures. These gas mixtures, using decafluoro-2-methylbutan-3-one (C5-FK) and heptafluoro-2-methylpropanenitrile (C4-FN), are tested for deployment by several OEMs.
In our research, that was sponsored by 3M yet conducted and reported independently, we have shown that a phase-out of SF6 switchgear as of 2020 in favor of these new technologies could save 14 million tonnes of CO2-equivalents over a period of the next 50 years. Although this is not a staggering number on a European or global scale, given the fact that the technology is available at high TRL, makes such phase-out a potential quick-win for the battle against climate change. Other impact categories should also be studied though. We also tested a case where a phase-out starts in 2025, giving similar results. The technology is not ready for a complete deployment, yet a strong stance from a policy perspective could give it the boost it needs.
The complete article is published in the open acces journal Energies.
iPRACS will start to depolymerize rubbers in fall 2020
Funding for two parallel projects was granted to iPRACS to study the depolymerization of natural and synthetic rubber, using a novel methodology. The basic idea is to produce a new feedstock for the synthesis of renewed and potentially renewable materials, using for instance latex foams, sheets or maybe even discarded rubber tires as waste input materials. The experimental research will initiate this fall, and we will keep you posted with hopefully promising results. In the first trials, we will focus on the basic chemical mechanism, on model systems, and meanwhile (in a parallel project) study its application potential to discarded rubber tires (GRT - ground rubber tires).
You can find a description of the project here
However, you are also invited to contact one of the principal investigators, Christophe Vande Velde, Pieter Billen or Lukasz Pazdur, for more information.
It is a shame to waste plastic materials instead of recycling them
Pieter Billen explains in Knack how we should keep demanding more sustainable packaging materials, yet not be unrealistic about the timing, and certainly be careful when replacing plastics with other materials. (Knack)
Pieter Billen explains in Knack how we should keep demanding more sustainable packaging materials, yet not be unrealistic about the timing, and certainly be careful when replacing plastics with other materials. Industry is working hard on new recycling technologies, driven by upcoming legislation. We at iPRACS are doing our share to contribute to this effort. (article in Dutch)