Abstract 
We review our progress in the area of Sustainable Mobility and Energy Production, that has been enabled exploiting advances in Aerosol Based Manufacturing (ABM), including nanoparticle synthesis, deposition and characterization. Highly compact, multifunctional ceramic reactors are developed for applications in Automotive Emission Control and the technology is further extended and cross-fertilized in the area of Solar Thermochemical Reactors for the production of Carbon-Neutral Fuels using exclusively renewable/recyclable raw materials.

Aerosol Based Synthesis and Deposition occurs in an integrated fashion in a dedicated pilot plant that combines aerosol spray generation, thermal treatment with a variety of sources (electric, burner and plasma) and deposition on structured substrates.

Catalytically coated ceramic monolithic reactors such as wall-flow Diesel Particulate Filters (DPFs) are the most complex component of today’s emission control systems (Zarvalis et al. 2009) as they need to incorporate different and often conflicting functionalities such as high soot nanoparticle filtration efficiency, low pressure drop behavior, direct catalytic soot oxidation activity, high oxidation activity for Carbon Monoxide, (CO) Hydrocarbons (HC) and Nitrogen Oxide (NO), as well as ability to reduce Nitrogen Oxides (NOx). We show how ABM can address these challenges and demonstrate a multifunctional reactor for Diesel Emission Control that exhibits significantly better performance with respect to state of the art.

An important spin-off activity from this research is the concept of a functionalized solar thermochemical reactor for the production of Carbon-Neutral Fuels. These solar fuels, can be synthesized from Hydrogen (H2) and Carbon Monoxide (CO) produced by solar thermochemical Water (H2O) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) splitting respectively, opening the door to the treatment of CO2 as a raw material, rather than as a waste to be disposed. In this way not only an alternative to CO2 underground storage is offered but also a solution to the problem of storing and transporting H2 is obtained. Aerosol technology holds promise not only for the production (Lorentzou et al. 2011) of appropriate redox materials that enable thermochemical Water (H2O) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) splitting, but also for the production of particles that enable CO2-capture from the atmosphere (so called air-capture).

The advent of solar Carbon-Neutral Fuels along with efficient Multifunctional Reactors for emission control is a promising route for the transition to a sustainable and clean future with only minimal changes in the existing fuel infrastructure and automotive technology.

About the Speaker
Dr. Konstandopoulos is a Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He is also the Founder and Director of the Aerosol & Particle Technology (APT) Laboratory at CPERI/CERTH (Thessaloniki, Greece), since 1996 and he also serves as Chairman of the Board and Managing Director of CERTH. He has been active since 1985 in the field of Green Mobility and Sustainable Energy researching automotive emission control (Diploma in Mech. Eng., Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece; MSc. Mech. Eng., Michigan Tech Houghton, Michigan, USA) and aerosol and particle technology with applications in clean energy, environment and materials (MSc Chem. Eng., MPhil, PhD, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA) receiving the First Place Award of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in 1991 and the H. P. Becton prize for the best PhD dissertation in the Yale Graduate School in 1992.

He is a specialist in nanoparticles and combustion aerosols, with extensive research and engineering consulting experience in the design, modeling and testing of structured reactors for many uses, including emission control for mobile and stationary sources, solar fuel production (renewable hydrogen and carbon-neutral hydrocarbons), and biotechnological applications.

He has coordinated and managed numerous research projects, funded by the European Commission and leading international industries and he is the author of more than 200 widely cited publications, while his research has been frequently covered by international communication media including the following: Euronews Channel, Financial Times, Die Welt, New Scientist, Chemistry World as well as the domestic press. The Visitor’s Centre of the European Parliament (“The Parlamentarium”) selected in 2011 to film a day of his life at APTL and host it permanently at the documentary exhibition "Daily Life", in Brussels, Belgium.

His international awards and distinctions include the 2006 European Descartes Prize (the highest scientific award in the European Union), the 2010 European Research Council Advanced Grant, the 2006 International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy (IPHE) inaugural Technical Achievement Award, the Global 100 Eco-Tech Prize at the 2005 EXPO in Japan and his election as a Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers (class of 2004). He is a founding member and member of the Board of the Hellenic Association for Aerosol Research having served as its President (2006-2014) and a past president of the European Aerosol Assembly (2012-2014).

Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

View all CyI events.