Guests of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at TU Darmstadt

My field of research is fascinating. The best way to explain it to non-specialists is…

Since nearly 80% of the world’s energy supply comes from burning fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas, and petroleum, a large amount of carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, which has become a major environmental and social issue. In recent decades, new CO₂ capture technologies have been proposed to capture CO₂ from the air or many pollution sources such as cement and steel industries. However, in the meantime, many challenges have arisen in the development of these technologies, such as excessive prices or the toxicity of the solvents, so further work is needed to optimize the process.

What research questions are you currently working on?

Although many studies have addressed CO₂ capture, few works investigated low price or environmentally friendly solvents for the CO₂ capture from large sources, such as power plants. The selection of the appropriate solvent has a great impact on the energy requirement and cost of CO₂ capture. We will examine different aqueous/non-aqueous mixtures of alkanolamines and the effects of adding some nanoparticles to the solvent on CO₂ capture.

My most important success in research to date is…

My research perspectives in the past years have focused on the fundamental understanding of microscale phenomena and the development of scalable CO₂ capture techniques. In particular, I have been studying the role of different solvents in the CO₂ capture devices' performance. These solvents are extensively used in CO₂ capture technology in the industrial sector.

Will the results of your research have a concrete impact on our everyday lives now or at some later date?

As we know greenhouse gases are released mainly through the use of fossil fuels. Increasing levels of greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, leading to climate change. Global warming has several negative impacts on our lives, such as rising sea levels, increased risk of floods, droughts, and other extreme weather events. A thorough understanding of the phenomena at CO₂ capture test facilities will enable the development of efficient conditions that address greenhouse gas control concerns.

I became a researcher because …

I was enchanted by the principles of the chemical phenomena since I was a child, so I selected chemical engineering as my major field since the undergraduate stage. Meanwhile, my interests, curiosity, and new learning caused me to start to become a researcher.

I have chosen TU Darmstadt because …

An excellent department in CO₂ capture makes it an ideal place for doing research. The group has unique research expertise in key areas of my project and also the department of energy systems and technology at the TU Darmstadt is also known as one of the leading centers studying gasification and CO₂ Capture, which is also one of my research interests in general. In addition, my host, Dr.-Ing. habil. Falah Alobaid has already developed many experimental installations and numerical models on CO₂ capture, which is critical in my proposed research as well.