MACBETH is the acronym for "Membranes And Catalysts Beyond Economic and Technological Hurdles". The consortium of 24 partners provides a breakthrough technology of highly efficient catalytic membrane reactor (CMR) for advanced downstream processing by combining catalytic synthesis with the corresponding separation units in a single reactor. The revolutionary new reactor design will guarantee substantially smaller and safer production plants and thus reduce operational and investment costs.
PROJECT NR: GA 869896. CALL (PART) IDENTIFIER: H2020-NMBP-SPIRE-2019. PROJECT BUDGET: 20,7 M€
For more information please visit: www.macbeth-project.eu/
After extensive testing of the individual pilot units, the complete BOC pilot plant was successfully assembled at the Solutex laboratories in Spain. Since then, we have accumulated over 2000 hours of demonstration time. Over 4000 litres of crude fish oil have been processed during the trials. The demonstrator runs 24/7 at a flow rate of 1.4 L/h. Various operating parameters have been tested at TRL6 and the whole process is already being continuously optimised.
Initial analytical results are very promising. Starting from an omega-3 concentration of ~30% in the raw material, it can be shown that the value has been increased to over 50% in the final product. However, there is still room for improvement.
Optimised catalysts with better selectivity profiles have now been developed and tested on a smaller scale. Promising candidates have been identified and produced on a large scale for testing under operating conditions. These tests will be completed in the first quarter of 2025 to conclude the demonstration phase of the BOC case.
