The design of the electrosynthesis system requires in-depth knowledge of the processes involved, from the atomic to the macro scale and across the various time scales. At the Micro Scale, various aspects of the system, consisting of electrodes, electrolytes and membranes are studied by combining disciplines such as Catalysis, Material Science and Electrochemistry. At the Meso Scale, Transport Phenomena, Reactor Engineering & Process Intensification, Heat & Power Engineering and Separation Technology are needed to translate the insights obtained on the microscopic processes into practical tools to design, engineer and optimize the reactor components and process system design. At the Macro Scale, we focus on Process-, Energy- and System-Integration and Societal Embedding of the electrosynthesis systems. A timely assessment of the relevant system constraints- including the use of current assets, matching of supply and demand, evaluation of the environmental impacts, logistics and feedstock availability- will in the end determine which e-Refinery technology to use for a specific product-feed combination.

The indirect electro-thermochemical route

The indirect route produces hydrogen from water electrolysis using renewable electricity. This hydrogen can be used together with CO₂ from the air, biomass or point sources or nitrogen from the air in conventional thermochemical processes (e.g., Sabatier, reverse Water Gas Shift, Fischer-Tropsch) to produce sustainable fuels or chemicals at industrial scales.

The direct electrochemical route

In the direct route, we reduce CO₂ directly to base chemicals such as methanol, ethylene or CO on the catalytically active electrode surface in a CO₂ electrolyser by means of renewable electricity. In addition, in the direct bio-electrochemical route a microbial electrosynthesis system (MES) is to be developed, which uses micro-organisms as catalyst to reduce CO₂ to biofuels such as hexanoic acid.