Dr Theodoros Papalas

Thodoris' research interests include chemical reaction engineering and process intensification, targeting to the development of novel materials and processes for heavy industry decarbonisation, high-value chemicals production and energy storage. During his PhD thesis, Thodoris focused on the carbonate looping technology and its application for the decrease of the carbon footprint of cement manufacturing, the intensification of natural gas reforming for high-purity H2 production and the demonstration of integrated CO2 capture and utilization. His experimental work consisted of the synthesis of CO2 capture materials and oxygen carriers/catalysts and the in-depth investigation of their activity under fixed or fluidised bed reactor experiments. His work is complemented with detailed thermodynamic and exergy analysis, process design, technoeconomics and life-cycle assessment of intensified CO2 capture processes. In his current study as postdoctoral researcher, Thodoris explores novel chemical looping processes for grid energy storage and NH3 production, two sectors whose state-of-the-art technologies have heavy environmental impact, thereby needing the development of more sustainable processes. Research on thermochemical energy storage aims to identify efficient chemical loops and materials that attain high and stable energy storage density. Similarly, the main challenge for chemical looping ammonia production is to develop materials with rapid kinetics for N2 activation and subsequent hydrogenation.