Project R-15027

GC-VUV - High performant gas chromatography combined with vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopy for advanced molecular analysis of complex reaction mixture (Research)

The chemical industry is making a move towards becoming net zero-emission sector by reducing its carbon footprint. One way to achieve this is by using renewable feedstock, such as plastic, agricultural, and food waste. However, processing these materials in (bio)refineries can create a complex composition of products that are difficult to analyze. While state-of-the-art (chromatographic) tools equipped with various detectors have been used, they have proven to be insufficient in clarifying the product composition. More advanced tools, such as advanced 2D gas and liquid chromatography and 2D NMR, are under investigation, but they also have limitations. Therefore, this project aims to obtain an advanced analytical tool that can analyze the molecular composition of complex product mixtures, providing comprehensive or complementary compositional information. Proper molecular identification and quantification of the mixtures are critical for both FUNDAMENTAL research, such as understanding refinery chemistry, and for VALORISATION purposes, such as chemical synthesis. The proposed tool is a GC-VUV detection system that has not been widely explored for analyzing product mixtures from renewable feedstock despite its proven merits for analyzing raw and fractionated fossil oils. This tool is designed to overcome identification and quantification issues for complex mixtures due to its unique sensitive detection properties.

01 May 2024 - 30 April 2028