Drochaid Newsletter October '23
In September our MD Cathy Dwyer attended a 3-day meeting to commemorate heterogeneous catalysis research at the University of Glasgow and the career of Professor David Jackson, where she presented a paper titled ‘The Greening of Industry Through Catalysis’.
Reflecting the breadth of David’s impressive career, the meeting had a significant industrial presence with delegates from organisations such as Johnson Matthey, Avantium Technologies, Koch Technology Solutions and SABIC, as well as academics and students from around the UK including the UK Catalysis Hub.
"I attended EuropaCat in the beautiful city of Prague. It was a good opportunity to network with friends from academia and Industry "
Dr Hendrik van Rensburg
It was an outstanding year and September saw Drochaid’s quarterly Board meeting where our financial year end results was presented, reflecting the commitment and technical excellence of our great team.
We all celebrated with the Board members and are looking forward to building on our successes.?
During our visit to Eden Campus the above could not resist the opportunity of being pictured with "Scottie by the Sea"
Case Study 1: A biological solution to Carbon Capture: High pressure bioconversion of CO2 to formic acid using E. coli
A custom-built high pressure reactor system for Biocatalysis
?Showcasing our capabilities in:?
Reduction of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions is an important net zero target. One approach is the recycling of waste CO2 into useful chemicals. Our approach is to target the ability of E. coli to perform a mixed acid fermentation which produces formic acid. Formate hydrogenlyase (FHL), a redox enzyme comprising a molybdenum-dependent formate dehydrogenase linked to a nickel-dependent-hydrogenase, normally oxidises the resultant? formate to carbon dioxide and couples that reaction directly to the reduction of protons to molecular hydrogen. However, understanding and harnessing the reverse reaction - hydrogen-dependent carbon dioxide reduction – has the potential to unlock FHL as an exciting new carbon capture technology.
In this work, it was established that FHL can operate as a highly efficient CO2 reductase when gaseous CO2 and H2 are placed under pressure (up to 10 bar). Using intact whole cells, the pressurised system was observed to convert 100% of gaseous CO2 to formic acid. Indeed, >500 mM formate was observed to accumulate in solution after 20 hours incubation. The applied gas pressure is critical to the efficiency of the reaction. In this regard our safe, expert capabilities of handling flammable gases at elevated pressures could be exploited in this unique application of biocatalysis.
In this project the collaboration between mathematicians, biologists and industrial chemists, which stems from a strong involvement in bioscience networks in the UK, was able to demonstrate the feasibility of this route to CO2 valorisation. This paves the way to explore further modification of formic acid into other useful chemicals, using biotransformations.
“We value our collaboration with the group; not only have they brought to bear their considerable and complimentary technical expertise but have shown an open minded willingness to get involved in areas of? technology entirely new to them”
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???? “Together we have rapidly generated exciting new results”.? ? ???????????
Ian Fotheringham, Managing Director: Ingenza Ltd.
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Case Study 2: High throughput screening of tailored multi-component metal supported catalysts: Higher Alcohol Synthesis (HAS)
Showcasing our capabilities in:
Historically, hydrogenation of carbon? monoxide has been an important route for the transformation of synthesis gas (H2 + CO)? derived from coal and natural gas into?? liquid fuels? and chemicals. While Methanol Synthesis and Fischer-Tropsch chemistry are better known, Syngas-to-Olefins and Higher? Alcohol? Synthesis (HAS) processes have long been studied as interesting alternative routes to key chemical feedstocks.??
Global dynamics relating to feedstock supplies and net zero imperatives have led to renewed interest in syngas-based conversions which can make use of biogenic CO2 and green H2. Drochaid’s syngas conversion capabilities secured us a contract with a world? leading? energy? and chemical player to investigate HAS chemistry and explore whether an economically viable process can be developed through significant improvements in reaction rate and selectivity.??
Key performance indicators were evaluated for a range of HAS catalysts through the combination of:?
The combination of advanced characterization and high throughput screening techniques available at Drochaid provided our customer an accurate view of the crucial aspects of catalyst formulation, enabling them to continue with the next stage of their programme on the development of a commercial catalyst.
Meet Johanna Jordan, Drochaid’s PR and Administrator
Here Johanna is pictured with her cat named T, who is an elderly rescue now seeing out her days with an abundance of love and treats.
A key part of her job is keeping things organised and running smoothly, and acting as primary interface on our main phone line and email account.
She also handles key aspects of our PR – look out for a website update early in the new year.
T is also great company and takes great interest in any design work Johanna does.
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