Field of Work
The core areas of expertise at the Institute of Chemical Technology are the development of solid catalysts (= heterogeneous catalysis) and the transfer of chemical reactions from the lab to production (= reaction engineering). Solid catalysts have a key role to play in efficient and sustainable substance conversion. The crucial factor here is their pore system, as well as the nature and distribution of the active centers in which the reaction occurs. At the Institute of Chemical Technology, solid catalysts such as zeolites and metal/carrier catalysts are synthesized, characterized and tested. All the equipment required is available, including autoclaves, x-ray powder diffractometers and catalyst test rigs. Reaction engineering provides the theory and methodology based on measurements in the lab to generate the technical data for transfer to production scale. This requires project-specific lab facilities that map the technical process at laboratory scale.
Personal Information
Prof. Elias Klemm's research interest lies in the acceleration of dynamic reactions by means of catalysts. Born in Franconia in 1965, Klemm studied chemical engineering at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. He obtained his doctorate there in 1995 at the Institute of Chemical Technology I with a dissertation on “The selective control of modified faujasites taking the example of the disproportionation of ethylbenzene”. He then habilitated in 2003 and was appointed a C4 professor of chemical technology at TU Chemnitz. Six years later he was appointed a W3 professor of chemical technology and heterogeneous catalysis at the University of Stuttgart. He received the Young University Lecturer Award in 1997 and the DECHEMA’s Jochen Block Prize in 2000, as well as being awarded the DGMK's Carl Zerbe Prize for Young Scientists in 1999. In 2020 he received the DECHEMA Medal for outstanding achievements in the field of chemical apparatus engineering and for special commitment in the field of chemical engineering.