Victor Zaghini Francesconi studied chemical engineering and process engineering at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Since April 2022, he has been a PhD student in the department "Catalysts and processes for fuels and chemicals" at the Institute for Catalysis Research and Technology (IKFT). His research focuses on the synthesis of oxymethylene ethers (OME) as alternative fuels, as well as their modification and functionalisation to explore new fields of application outside the fuel sector.

Project

Production of fuels and chemicals from renewable resources by catalytic acetalization reactions.

The aim of the PhD thesis is the efficient production of fuels, chemicals and materials through catalytic acetalization reactions. In such reactions, a wide variety of aldehydes and alcohols can be converted into a variety of oxygen-containing products, so-called acetals. For this purpose, heterogeneous catalysts for such acetalization reactions are tested and the corresponding reaction kinetics are investigated. Concepts for the processing of the resulting product mixtures are also relevant. The acetals produced are comprehensively characterised and their suitability for a range of applications is considered.