The Laboratory of Catalytic Processing of Renewables

The laboratory of catalytic processing of renewables was established in 2008 after the merger of the Group of catalytic technologies for the carbon materials synthesis (headed by Vadim Yakovlev, PhD) and the Group of catalytic processing of solid fuels and waste (headed by Alexander Simonov, PhD).

Initially, the main research areas of the laboratory included the development of catalysts for hydrofining natural oxygenates to obtain components of biofuels, the development of approaches to obtain nanostructured carbon materials from biomass and the development of combustion processes of substandard hydrocarbon fuel in a fluidized bed of deep oxidation catalysts.

Now, more than 10 years later, not only the main scientific directions have been developed, but some new ones have been added, mainly related to the today’s demands of the Russian industry.

Currently, the laboratory consists of 22 employees: one Doctor of Science, 12 PhDs, 2 graduate students and 2 students (by the beginning of 2019).

Today, the key areas of interest in the laboratory include:

• Catalysts for the hydrogenation of oxygen containing organic compounds of natural origin - lipid derivatives, products of the depolymerization of lignocellulose. The purpose of the technologies using these types of catalysts is to obtain components of biofuels, including octane-and cetane-enhancing additives, jet fuel, as well as chemical products with increased added value.
• Carbon-mineral composites with a varying range of textural characteristics, derived from high-ash biomass. Carbon materials, including those with maximum textural characteristics (specific surface area, pore volume), can be used as sorbents, gas absorbers, and anode mass for supercapacitors.
• The spherical alumina and catalysts based on it with the enhanced strength characteristics for gas chemical processes with a moving catalyst bed.
• Catalytic processing of fuels and wastes under fluidized bed conditions. This area includes research and optimization of the combustion processes of various types of raw materials (liquid, solid and gaseous) in a fluidized bed of catalyst, as well as the development and improvement of catalytic systems with increased mechanical strength and catalytic stability.
• The processes of hydrogen-free processing of heavy oil feedstock with an emphasis on partial steam catalytic cracking (aquathermolysis) using nanodispersed catalysts to increase the depth of crude oil processing.