This proposal concerns collaborative research in energy with South Africa. Four teams of scientists and engineers, two from academia (Universities of Natal and Cardiff) and two from industry (Sasol and Johnson Matthey) are collaborating to solve a particularly demanding problem related to transportation fuels. One of the main problems facing society on a global basis is the provision of energy in a sustainable way. While there is a political driver for investment in green and sustainable alternative energy sources, such as wind and tidal power, the reality is that for the foreseeable future most energy will be based on fossil fuels. Indeed, for South Africa there is a very heavy reliance on coal, due mainly to the vast reserves available. With respect to transportation fuels (i.e. gasoline and diesel), which are of prime importance within the overall energy requirements, there is a renewed interest in fossil fuel- based technology around the world. In particular, the conversion of fossil fuels to CO/H2 permits the synthesis of transportation fuels. By the very nature of the production process these fuels are sulphur-free and hence within the EU these fuels are becoming increasingly important with respect to meeting the stringent controls on sulphur levels in fuels. However, South Africa generates the major portion of its transportation fuels using this technology, and researchers at Sasol are acknowledged as world leaders in this technology. One of the key problems yet to be successfully addressed concerning one of the major by-product streams generated by this technology, namely the manufacture of C7-C10 linear alkanes in significant amounts (i.e. >> 1M tpa). These hydrocarbons cannot be used as gasoline as their octane number is too low and at present there is a need to upgrade this by-product so that it can be fully utilised. This is the objective of this collaborative research proposal and we will investigate the upgrading of these alkanes using selective oxidation. This methodology affords access to mild reaction conditions using heterogeneous catalysis and also gives access to a broad range of valuable products such as alkenes, ketones, aldehydes, alcohols and acids. These products can be used either as high value additives for fuels or as chemical intermediates for the synthesis of high value products. At present oxidation cannot be used to upgrade these by-products as suitable catalysts have yet to be identified, and this is the thrust of this proposal. Currently, non-green acid catalysis is used to upgrade these by-products and this involves corrosive reagents and generates significant waste. The oxidation of long chain alkanes represents a significant technological problem and we will address this using a two pronged approach using liquid and gas phase reactions with catalyst design backed up by fundamental theoretical studies coupled with in situ spectroscopy and diffraction. The overall aim is to identify and design novel high selectivity catalysts.

The aim is to exploit a recent discovery concerning the production of a new high activity catalyst for use in the production of hydrogen peroxide from the direct reaction between hydrogen and oxygen using pretreated supported gold-palladium alloy catalysts. The methodology uses a pretreatement of the support which switches off the sequential decomposition of hydrogen peroxide under reaction conditions thereby enabling very high selectivities to the desired hydrogen peroxide to be achieved together with high rates of production. Initial results show the new catalyst is over six times as active as the current equivalent commercial catalyst and retains complete specificity for hydrogen peroxide formation. Funding is requested to complete patent exemplification and to ensure commercial exploitation can be achieved.

Sustainable and secure fuels for road and air transport are essential to the vitality of both western and developing economies. Novel alternative fuels and supplies are required to meet the global challenges of declining oil reserves and concerns over the security of remaining supplies, as well as the enviromental imperative for greener fuels to offset CO2 generation. Liquid fuels offer the highest energy density for transportation applications and Synthetic liquid fuels, which can be produced from renewable and non-food bio feedstocks as well as solid and gaseous fuel supplies, offer exciting possibilities for partial or even total substitution of remaining fossil fuel supplies. There is a growing international interest in synthetic jet-fuels, for example, with the Fischer-Tropsch process central to their production. South Africa are pioneers and international leaders in the F-T process. The behaviour of these new fuels must be fully characterised and understood if they are to be widely employed and technologies developed for their effective deployment. This proposal relates to the vital and inter-related fuel characteristics of autoignition and burning velocity. In this collaboration with internationally leading South African synthetic fuels researchers at the University of Cape Town, these fundamental characteristics will be experimentally determined for both synthetic kerosenes, to be used in aviation jet-fuels, and synthetic gasolines for road transporation.The project also includes mathematical and computational modelling employing the data generated from the experimental studies, including on how autoignition and gas motion couple to generate pressure waves and pressure oscillations and engine cycle models to predict the performance and knock properties of synthetic fuels.

The aim is to exploit a recent discovery concerning the production of a new high activity catalyst for use in the production of formaldehyde from the oxidation of methanol using a novel nanorod catalysts. These new catalysts have been protected by a patent filing. The key feature of these catalysts is that they give higher yields that the current commercial catalysts. Funding is requested to complete patent exemplification and to ensure commercial exploitation can be achieved.

The aim is to exploit a recent discovery concerning the production of a new high activity catalyst for use in the production of organic carbonates. The methodology uses a new gold catalyst supported on an acidic support. Initial results show the new catalyst is over sixty times as active as the current equivalent commercial catalyst and retains complete specificity for the carbonate product. This enhanced activity represents a step change in the manufacturing processes for these important chemical building blocks. Funding is requested to complete patent exemplification and to ensure commercial exploitation can be achieved.