Fuel Science Center – FSC
Since 2012, the premises at Schinkelstr. 8 have been entirely dedicated to the fundamental research of the Cluster of Excellence "The Fuel Science Center". The creation of a sustainable, shared research center in the core area of RWTH Aachen University significantly underlines the institutional structure of the Cluster of Excellence. In its orientation, the FSC can be assigned to the profile areas "Mobility & Transport Engineering" (MTE), "Energy, Chemical & Process Engineering" (ECPE) as well as "Molecular Science & Engineering" (MSE) and thus combines the competences of 6 of the 9 faculties of RWTH as well as partners of the Forschungszentrum Jülich and the Max-Plank Institutes CEC and Kofo in a unique, interdisciplinary approach under one roof.
The FSC provides over 1000 m² of laboratory space, including facilities for the detailed investigation of novel fuels under real combustion conditions. In addition to the expansion of the existing chemistry lab into a fuel lab with Advanced Fuel Ignition Delay Analyzer (AFIDA), a high-pressure chamber for visualizing injection processes was installed for this purpose. Several 1-cylinder research engines for thermodynamic and laser-optical investigations are used to explore the potential of new, sustainable fuels in terms of maximum efficiency and lowest pollutant emissions. Since the FSC also has 600 m² of office space, early career researcher and visiting scientists are based at the FSC in addition to staff from the TME, LTT and LOM. In addition to the junior professorship for multi-scale modeling of heterogeneous catalysis in energy systems initiated by the Cluster of Excellence, the Cluster Office and the speaker of the Cluster of Excellence are also located at the FSC. Furthermore, office space was created for the program coordinators of the two project houses "Power-to-fuel" (P2F) and "Center for Automotive Catalytic Systems Aachen" (ACA), which are thematically closely linked to the cluster.
The FSC thus provides space for inter- and transdisciplinary working groups and guest scientists and contributes significantly both to the continuation of the Cluster of Excellence "Adaptive Conversion Systems for Renewable Energy and Carbon Sources" and to the structural development of RWTH Aachen University.
Acknowledgement
The Fuel Science Center (FSC) is funded by the German Council of Science and Humanities (Wissenschaftsrat, WR) and by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ( DFG).