The primary industrial objective of the PLEIADES project is to enable an integrated approach to the industry focused eco-design of aerospace products as part of existing engineering development workflows. The project will focus on the further development of the existing eco-design tools developed in collaboration with Rolls-Royce during the SAMULET project to enable a progressive transition from early stage eco-design through to extensive life cycle analysis (LCA) activities whilst appropriately reflecting and enabling the reduction of uncertainties and unknowns in the underlying engineering, environmental and sustainability data. The tools involved are already deployed as the basis for enterprise level materials information management systems at Rolls-Royce and many other leading aerospace manufacturers globally and already integrate seamlessly with other key design and product lifecycle management systems. These integration's will be extended and new integrated workflows introduced within the project in particular to accommodate appropriate information originating from supplier declarations and to manage the allocation of impacts within individual facilities to relevant materials, processes and products. A second important objective of the project is to bridge the current disconnect between the tools used for eco-design and for extensive LCA. This objective seeks to progressively capitalise upon the investment in data required for extensive LCA throughout the product development process and not just at the end of product development. It will provide the mechanisms to capitalise upon the knowledge gathered during previous extensive assessments of products seamlessly feeding appropriate information back into eco-design workflows. This objective seeks to progressively reduce the uncertainties observed during eco-design and will maximise the long term return on investment from generating primary environmental and sustainability data for materials and processes.

The REFHYNE project will install and operate a 10MW electrolyser from ITM Power at a large refinery in Rhineland, Germany, which is operated by Shell Deutschland Oils. The electrolyser will provide bulk quantities of hydrogen to the refinery’s hydrogen pipeline system (currently supplied by two steam methane reformers). The electrolyser will be operated in a highly responsive mode, helping to balance the refinery’s internal electricity grid and also selling Primary Control Reserve service to the German Transmission System Operators. The combination of hydrogen sales to the refinery and balancing payments create a business case which justifies this installation. This business case will be evaluated in detail, in a 2 year campaign of techno-economic and environmental analysis. The REFHYNE business model is replicable in markets with a similar regulatory structure to Germany. However, to expand this market to a GW scale, new business models will be needed. These will include valuing green hydrogen as an input to industrial processes (to meet carbon policy targets) and also on sales to H2 mobility markets. The REFHYNE project will gather real world data on these models and will use this to simulate the bulk electrolyser model in a range of market conditions. This will be used to produce reports on the conditions under which the electrolyser business models become viable, in order to provide the evidence base required to justify changes in existing policies. A campaign of targeted dissemination will ensure the results of these studies reach decision makers in large industrial sites, financiers, utilities and policy makers. The REFHYNE electrolyser will be the largest in the world and has been designed as the building block for future electrolysers up to 100MW and beyond. REFHYNE includes a design study into the options for a 100MW electrolyser at the Rhineland refinery, which will help prepare the market for deployments at this scale.

The IMPRESS project will demonstrate a new hybrid biorefinery process for the first time, integrating disruptive upstream and downstream technologies developed by the project partners. A main objective of the project is to develop and upscale separation and purification methods for the upstream process and modular downstream processes. New purification and separation methods will enable to produce new products, like xylitol, erythritol, bio-based ultra pure monoethylene glycol and monopropylene glycol and lignin derived activated carbon. All the process routes developed and up-scaled in the project are integrated to the IMPRESS concept by executing a Conceptual Process Design (CPD) of the different unit operations and then the CPD of integrated IMPRESS concept. It’s expected that the new purification and separation methods, and new high value products combined with benefits deriving from the integration will decrease OPEX by by 25 % and CAPEX by 20 %. In addition, the GHG emissions are expected to decrease more than 20 %. The decrease of CAPEX and OPEX will be calculated by CPD and the environmental performance of the IMPRESS concept and the developed products are evaluated by performing a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The results of the project and benefits of the IMPRESS concept will be disseminated to relevant stakeholders by preparing education modules concerning individual unit operations, the integrated process, and methodology such as LCA that will be easily integrated in existing curricula and modules for undergraduate level and lifelong learning programmes.

CIRCULAR FLOORING aims to enable circular use of plasticized PVC (PVC-P) from waste flooring by developing recycling processes that eliminate plasticizers including hazardous phthalic acid esters (e.g. DEHP). We will demonstrate the project results via production of highquality recycled PVC at TRL 5-6, reprocessing of eliminated plasticizers to new phthalate-free plasticizers and re-use of recycled polymers and additives in new flooring applications. Waste flooring will be subjected to the CreaSolv® Process, which dissolves PVC-P from the material mix and eliminates undissolved matter as well as co-dissolved plasticizers in an extractive purification step (>99%). Pure PVC is recovered from the solution and solvents will be reused completely in the process. Using a controlled catalytic reaction, extracted phthalate ester plasticizers will be converted completely (> 99%) to harmless compounds with plasticizing properties. Together with tailor-made additives, both recovered products are integrated in novel PVC flooring designed for circularity. Chemical and mechanical product analysis, process simulation, LCA, SEA, and business modelling will support process development, upscale and product design. The approach addresses exactly the scope of the call because (i) innovative solutions are developed for removing undesirable substances from secondary raw materials, (ii) removed plasticizers and additives pose health or environmental risks and would adversely affect the quality of the recycled materials and (iii) the hazardous compounds are handled safely and destroyed completely. Addressing the 500.000 t PVC flooring market with recommendations on design for recycling and novel circular materials produced at TRL 5-6, the expected impact on the flooring value chain will be substantial. An interdisciplinary team of 4 RTO, 6 industrial partners (3 SME) and 1 non-profit company will finally implement the new circular economy approach into the PVC flooring industry.

The AFTER-BIOCHEM project aims to create multiple new value chains, from non-food biomass feedstock to multiple end-products, by combining anaerobic batch fermentation and esterification. In the fermentation process robust mixes of naturally occurring micro-organisms will produce organic acids such as propionic, butyric, isobutyric, valeric, isovaleric and caproic acids, with a mineral fertilizer sidestream. Based on the acids, a substantial number of derivatives may be produced, such as Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM) and cellulose acetate. The esterification process will convert the acetic acid into ethyl acetate and the propionic acid into ethyl propionate to maximize product value and minimize waste and energy use. The feedstock of the fermentation process may be sugar production byproducts such as beet pulp and molasses, to increase the sustainability of sugar beet, a key European crop. The products will represent valuable renewable, bio-based, domestically-sourced alternatives to petrochemical products in numerous high-value applications such as flavorings and fragrances, hygiene products, pharmaceuticals, antimicrobials and polymers. The mineral fertilizer sidestream will contribute to the EU Action plan for the Circular Economy. The objective from 2020 to 2022 will be to commission the flagship biorefinery in France, which will then run at full capacity and integrate esterification from 2022 to 2024. Two further biorefineries should be initiated in Europe from 2024. The annual revenue generated by the three plants represents ca. €150 million, and at least 180 direct technical jobs and a commensurate number of indirect jobs would be created.