To meet the urgent need to mitigate the growing concentration of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmosphere, one of the main causes of global warming and climate change, the eMetCO2 project was created. This project aims to develop an innovative and energy-efficient technology for converting CO₂ into e-methanol, a versatile fuel and chemical product with numerous energy and industrial applications.
The solution involves the electrochemical reduction of CO2 (eCO₂R), which offers a sustainable alternative for capturing, utilising and storing carbon. The lack of efficient electrolysers for eCO₂R, capable of offering a high conversion rate and long-term stability, represents a significant challenge to its implementation. The eMetCO2 project aims to overcome this limitation by developing an electrolyser with an innovative design and state-of-the-art electrocatalysts.
Through the team led by Francisca Moreira, a researcher at the Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Processes – Laboratory of Catalysis and Materials (LSRE-LCM) of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, FEUP is responsible for the line of research related to the ‘development, characterisation and optimisation of an eNETmix system’. An innovative electrolyser based on the NETmix static mixer will be developed and characterised with the aid of advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. At the same time, a laboratory-scale prototype will be developed in the facilities of the Net4CO2 collaborative laboratory, integrating the new electrolyser, in which eCO₂R optimisation tests will be carried out on e-methanol.
For the researcher, this project aims to speed up the implementation of this solution on the market. “eCO₂R is currently at a low technological readiness level (TRL) and requires significant advances in reactor design innovation and the development of state-of-the-art electrocatalysts. This technology will be developed on a laboratory scale under conditions relevant to subsequent industrial application, with the aim of increasing the technology’s TRL from 2 to 5 and attracting commercial interest”.
Along with Francisca Moreira, the LSRE-LCM team has the contribution of researchers Ricardo Santos, Tânia Silva and Vítor Vilar. “The integration of LSRE-LCM and FEUP in this innovative project provides access to international collaboration networks, bringing together complementary and specialised knowledge in different areas, which drives the development of truly innovative solutions with a global impact. In addition, participation in a project of this importance increases the prestige and visibility of the laboratory and the faculty, consolidating its position as a benchmark of excellence in the field of scientific and technological research”.
Collaboration between FEUP and Net4CO2
Born out of the ongoing collaboration between FEUP and the project coordinator, the Net4CO2 collaborative laboratory, which is housed in the Science and Technology Park of the University of Porto (UPTEC), this project is the result of a partnership that has promoted a strong synergy between fundamental and applied research, linking scientific progress to solutions with greater industrial applicability.
To achieve its overall objectives, the eMetCO2 project is supported by a collaborative, transnational and interdisciplinary team with recognised skills and experience in electrochemistry, electrocatalysis, materials science, chemistry, fluid dynamics and engineering, from academia and industry in three different countries: Portugal, Spain and Estonia.
Representing Portugal are the aforementioned FEUP and Net4CO2, as well as industrial partner Ria Stone. From Spain come the contributions of the Universities of Alicante and Cantabria, and from Estonia comes the contribution of the University of Tartu. The leadership of the six work packages that define the eMetCO2 project is distributed among these organisations.