Objectives and challenges
The FIREFLY project aims to support the sustainable transformation of the catalyst-based chemical industry by promoting electrification, circular use of metals, and reduced dependence on fossil energy and primary raw materials. Its main objective is to develop electro-driven technologies for recycling metals from spent and waste catalysts, integrate renewable electricity, and produce new (electro)catalysts for low-carbon chemical processes.
The key challenges addressed by FIREFLY include overcoming the environmental and economic limitations of conventional catalyst production and recycling, ensuring efficient integration of renewable energy, enabling data-driven decision-making, and demonstrating flexible, circular, and low-emission processes at pilot scale for critical chemicals such as ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, and bio-based products.
EU Grant Agreement N° 101091715.
2022-2026
Our role in the project
- Work Package Leader for the modeling, engineering, construction, and operation of the TRL6 FIREFLY process
- Multi-physics modeling of the electro-leaching process
- Design, construction, and testing of the FIREFLY small-scale pilot plant
- Benchmarking versus state-of-the-art technologies for catalyst production via alternative routes
- Benchmarking versus state-of-the-art technologies for producing value-added molecules using catalysts
Results
- Comprehensive modeling of the electro-leaching process for the recovery of PGMs and other catalysts
- Preliminary Piping and Instrumentation Design (P&ID) of the TRL6 FIREFLY process
Our competences in the project
- Project management
- Chemical engineering
- Multi-physics modeling using COMSOL
- Process design and assembly
- Automation system design, programming, and assembly