Aachener Verfahrenstechnik - Chemical Process Engineering (AVT.CVT)
The Chair of Chemical Process Engineering (AVT.CVT), headed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Wessling since 2010, focuses on innovative reaction and separation technologies. A central research area is the cluster Electrochemical Process Engineering & Biomass Conversion (EB), which encompasses the development of functional components (electrodes, membranes), the design of electrochemical reactors, and their process integration, with applications including water electrolysis, electrochemical CO₂ reduction, and the conversion of bio-based platform chemicals.
In addition, the Fluidics and Additive Fabrication (FAF) cluster develops additively manufactured reactor concepts for investigating transport phenomena, while Membrane Fabrication & Molecular Transport (MemS) concentrates on the production of microporous membranes and ion-selective processes such as water desalination.
Within the PHOENIX project, AVT.CVT is working on the development and process engineering optimization of electrochemical Power-to-X processes, with a focus on low-temperature CO₂ electrolysis. Specifically, the chair investigates gas diffusion electrodes for the efficient reduction of CO₂ to CO, combined with anodic water splitting or chlorine evolution, and develops long-term stable reactor concepts based on these systems. The work ranges from experimental evaluation and optimization of the electrodes to process operation strategies and the scaling of laboratory reactors (25 cm²) to larger systems (100 cm²) in order to replicate industrial operating conditions and establish a foundation for the defossilization of chemical value chains.
