Jul 28, 2020   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Fuzionaire and ETH Zurich Enter Collaborative Research Agreement to Scale New Desulfurization Process for Fuels

Fuzionaire, Inc. (“Fuzionaire”) today announced that it has entered into a collaborative research agreement with ETH Zurich, one of the world’s leading universities for technology and the natural sciences. The collaboration will develop Fuzionaire’s patented potassium-based fuel desulfurization method for high-volume industrial use.

Fuzionaire’s desulfurization technology uses a breakthrough in alkali metal-based chemistry to remove sulfur from fuels with a simple, low-cost process. The desulfurization method was discovered in the Caltech laboratory of Nobel Prize winner Robert Grubbs, and originally described in a 2017 paper in the scientific journal Nature Energy. The method uses abundant chemicals, requires comparatively low temperatures and pressures, and achieves unprecedented levels of sulfur reduction in transportation fuels, such as reducing the sulfur content of very sour diesel from 10,000 ppm to just 2 ppm.

The collaborative project with ETH Zurich aims to develop a commercial catalytic process to produce sulfur-free fuels from inexpensive, sulfur-rich feedstocks. Initial focus will be on the production of sulfur-free diesel, but will be extended to biodiesel, gasoline, jet fuel, and sulfur-rich bunker fuel, among others.

The aimed-for result of the collaboration could be the first solid-state, ultra-deep desulfurization technique that does not rely on transition metals, and the most efficient, effective, and broadly applicable technique to produce sulfur-free fuels.

Sulfur emissions are considered the air pollutant with the largest public health impact, causing heart disease, lung damage, smog, haze, and acid rain. The annual economic impact from these emissions is in the hundreds of billions of dollars per year in a number of countries.

Fuzionaire’s research is supported by Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic initiative founded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Wendy Schmidt.

About Fuzionaire, Inc.

Fuzionaire is a central laboratory developing new technologies and ventures based on discoveries in fundamental chemistry made at Caltech. Leveraging Earth-abundant, alkali metal catalysts and reagents, the way in which we make and break bonds is versatile, efficient, and sustainable, creating new opportunities in energy, medicine, and materials. For more, visit us at: www.fuzionaire.com.

About ETH Zurich

ETH Zurich is one of the world's leading universities for technology and the natural sciences. It is known for its excellent education, ground-breaking fundamental research and for implementing its results directly into practice. Founded in 1855, ETH Zurich today has more than 22,000 students from over 110 countries, including 4,000 doctoral students. To researchers, it offers an inspiring working environment, to students, a comprehensive education. Twenty-one Nobel Laureates, including Albert Einstein, have studied, taught or conducted research at ETH Zurich, underlining the excellent reputation of the university. Visit the ETH Zurich website: www.ethz.ch.

About Schmidt Futures

Schmidt Futures is a philanthropic initiative, founded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt, that finds exceptional people and helps them do more for others together. We knit talent into networks, bet on the most promising ideas through diverse forms of competition and support, and equip people to scale through partners and modern tools.

To realize this vision, Schmidt Futures uses a broad set of tools — including gifts, grants, investments, and startup activity — for charitable, educational, and commercial efforts with a public purpose. For more, visit us at: www.schmidtfutures.com.