Short Presentation
Maria Schlüter studied Bachelor of Science Chemical Engineering at TU Dortmund University from 2014 – 2018 and Master of Science Chemical Engineering at TU Dortmund University from 2018 – 2021. Since July 2021 she is working as a Ph.D. student at the TU Dortmund University. Her research is promoted by a scholarship from the German Federal Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt DBU) and focuses on sustainable chemical recycling of PET bottles by closing the material cycle.
Therefore, chemical depolymerization of PET is performed via glycolysis. The resulting BHET monomer can be used as raw material for the production of fresh PET.
This equilibrium reaction is examined experimentally as well as theoretically. By means of thermodynamic modelling the yield of BHET monomers is optimized. In order to separate BHET monomers selectively out of the reaction mixture crystallization is used. The influence of process parameters on the efficiency of separation is determined by design of experiment. Finally, all process steps – from shredded PET flakes to pure BHET crystals – are performed one after another. Subsequently, the whole process is economically assessed.