It completes months’ worth of work in less than an hour: ReacTUNE, a new program from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), automatically computes the optimum geometry for chemical reactors and generates files for their immediate production with metal 3D printing. In this year’s NEULAND innovation contest, the new tool won the idea award in recognition of its potential industrial applications.
In the chemical industry, reactors play an important role in process engineering. Developing and producing reactors with complex geometries usually takes months and requires profound expertise. ReacTUNE, software for intelligent reactor design optimization developed by Mertcan Kaya and Professor Christoph Klahn from the Institute for Micro Process Engineering at KIT, reduces the time required for reactor design to 45 minutes. “It can be used to develop complex equipment quickly and efficiently even with little design knowledge,” Klahn said. “Users simply specify their requirements and ReacTUNE uses them to calculate the optimum reactor geometry. The result is an industry-standard 3D printable file that can easily be produced with the appropriate production equipment.” The process is enabled by a combination of computer-aided design and numerical simulation. The researchers have already successfully used the software in methanol synthesis, and they have validated the process at laboratory scale in real conditions. Now they are expanding the software’s range of uses and planning a spin-off.
KIT’s Best Application-oriented Ideas
In addition to ReacTUNE, KIT recognized two other high-potential projects in its NEULAND innovation contest. Second prize went to the team of Markus Fischer, Dr. Nico Leister and Laurids Pernice from KIT’s Institute of Process Engineering in Life Sciences for their hybrid extrusion printing project. They developed a process for producing meat substitutes with meat-like textures. Their method combines industrial extrusion (in which material is forced through a mold under pressure) with the precision of 3D printing. This process is particularly well-suited to whole-cut products, such as plant-based steaks or schnitzel, which consist of a single piece.
Professor Frederik Zanger and his team from KIT’s wbk Institute of Production Science also received an award for their CeraMMAM (Ceramic Multi-material Additive Manufacturing) project. The team developed a binder system for the additive manufacturing of multi-material ceramics. Their system enables maximum precision and could soon lead to new applications for ceramics in medicine, mechanical engineering and aerospace.
Transfer Prize for Tritium Analysis
KIT also awarded a technology transfer prize, which went to the team headed by Dr. Robin Größle of KIT’s Institute for Astroparticle Physics for its project involving a micro-Raman system for detecting hydrogen isotopologues (chemical variants of hydrogen with different masses). Working with smolsys ltd., their Swiss industrial partner, they refined analytical instrumentation for fusion research. Its expected uses include monitoring tritium in fusion reactors and analyzing heavy water.
About the NEULAND Innovation Contest
Every year KIT invites its researchers and doctoral students to submit their application-oriented projects to the NEULAND Innovation Contest. In addition to cash prizes totaling 19,000 euros, the winning teams receive support from KIT’s innovation managers in transferring their ideas to business and society.
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Being “The Research University in the Helmholtz Association”, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 10,000 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,800 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.