Electrochemical synthesis and recycling of residual materials – from grams in the lab to tonnes per year.
ESy-Labs GmbH
Regensburg (Headquarters) · Gernsheim (Branch office)New on Amplifa
About ESy-Labs
ESy-Labs GmbH was founded in 2018 in Regensburg by Dr. Tobias Gärtner and Prof. Dr. Siegfried R. Waldvogel and specializes in organic electrosynthesis as well as electrochemical recycling of residual materials. Acting as a bridge between laboratory development and industrial application, the company develops electrochemical processes with the ESy-Screening and scales them using scalable electrolysis reactors whose throughput is increased by numbering-up. Quantities from a few grams to a few tonnes per year are realized, and large-volume applications are implemented in demonstrators. The service portfolio includes small-scale contract synthesis, engineering services for plant planning, safety assessments, as well as techno-economic and life-cycle calculations of the CO2 footprint. Core processes include the zinc recycling process ESy-zinc, Kolbe electrolysis for the production of bio-based paraffins from tall oil, and electrochemical processes for mono- and platform chemicals. With a team of 14, ESy-Labs serves customers from the chemical, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and recycling industries from its Regensburg and Gernsheim locations.
- Site
- Regensburg
- Processes
- Organic electrosynthesis (electro-organic synthesis), Electrochemical recycling of residual materials (upcycling/recycling), ESy-Screening / process development (statistical and software-supported experimental design), Scaling of electrochemical processes (including demonstrators), Small-scale contract synthesis (laboratory chemicals) with scale-up to the industrially relevant, Kolbe electrolysis (electrosynthetic production of paraffins/white oils from tall oil fatty acids), Distillation of tall oil (separation into components / TOFA recovery), Electrochemical processes for converting monoterpenes into platform chemicals
- Materials
- Zinc, Filter dusts (zinc-containing residual materials), Tall oil (crude tall oil), Tall oil fatty acids (TOFA), Oleic acid, Linoleic acid, Monoterpenes / crude turpentine, 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF)
- Founded
- 2018
- Employees
- 14
- Industries
- Chemical industry, Fine and specialty chemicals, Metal and zinc recycling, Pharmaceuticals, Cosmetics industry, Construction chemicals
- 01
ESy-Screening (experimental design)
- 02
Process development
- 03
Scaling of electrochemical processes (numbering-up)
- 04
Contract synthesis / demonstrator operation
- 05
Downstream processing
- 06
Plant planning and safety assessment
- 07
Techno-economic and life-cycle analysis
Materials and Processes
Organic Electrosynthesis
Direct electrochemical use of electricity for metal-free synthesis of chemicals without expensive or toxic auxiliary chemicals.
ESy-zinc (zinc recycling)
Electrochemical recovery of zinc from filter dusts and zinc-containing residual materials.
Kolbe electrolysis
Electrosynthetic coupling of fatty acids (TOFA) to produce bio-based paraffins and white oils.
Tall Oil Fatty Acids (TOFA)
Fatty acids such as oleic acid and linoleic acid distilled from tall oil as feedstock for electrosyntheses.
5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF)
Bio-based platform chemical from lignocellulose-containing residual materials, electrocatalytically converted to FDCA and DMF.
Hydrogen
Technical, renewable hydrogen as electron donor for H2-driven bioelectrocatalysis (SynHydro3).
Crude Tall Oil
Residual material from wood processing, separated into components by distillation and materially utilized.
Monoterpenes (crude turpentine)
Biogenic residual stream that is electrochemically converted into platform chemicals via periodate cleavage.
Locations
Regensburg
DEHeadquarters
- Lot size
- a few grams to a few tonnes/year
- Materials
- Organic electrosynthesis, zinc recycling
- Electrochemical reactor (scalable, numbering-up)
- Electrolyzer (Kolbe electrolysis)
- Laboratory plant for process scaling
- Demonstrators (under construction)
Gernsheim
DEBranch office (GreenTech Park FLUXUM, Merck site)
- Materials
- Electrosynthesis, recycling
- Electrochemical reactor (scalable)
- Demonstrators (under construction)
Components and Services
Inside the production
Industries
Processes & technical limits
| Processes | Tolerance | Max. part | Weight | Lot size | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Organic electrosynthesis (electro-organic synthesis)Other | – | – | – | a few grams – a few tonnes per year | Residual materials (chemical industry), Monoterpenes (crude turpentine), Fatty acids (tall oil fatty acids, TOFA), HMF-containing process water |
| Electrochemical recycling of residual materials (upcycling/recycling)Other | – | – | – | – | Zinc (filter dusts), Metal recycling from residual materials |
| ESy-Screening / process development (statistical and software-supported experimental design)Engineering | – | – | – | – | – |
| Scaling of electrochemical processes (including demonstrators)Engineering | – | – | – | – | – |
| Small-scale contract synthesis (laboratory chemicals) with scale-up to the industrially relevantOther | – | – | – | – | – |
| Kolbe electrolysis (electrosynthetic production of paraffins/white oils from tall oil fatty acids)Other | – | – | – | – | Tall oil fatty acids (TOFA), biogenic carboxylic acids, fatty acids from tall oil |
| Distillation of tall oil (separation into components / TOFA recovery)Other | – | – | – | – | Tall oil (crude tall oil), fatty acids |
| Electrochemical processes for converting monoterpenes into platform chemicalsOther | – | – | – | – | Monoterpenes (crude turpentine), carbonyl compounds, alcohol compounds |
| Electrocatalytic conversion of HMF to FDCA and DMF (coupled anodic oxidation / cathodicOther | – | – | – | – | 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), dimethylfuran (DMF), lignocellulose-containing residual materials |
| H2-driven bioelectrocatalysis / cofactor regeneration with hydrogenOther | – | – | – | – | Hydrogen, enzymes (hydrogenases) |
| ESy-zinc: zinc recycling process (recovery of zinc from filter dusts)Other | – | – | – | – | Zinc, filter dusts |
| Engineering services for plant planning, implementation, and safetyEngineering | – | – | – | – | – |
| Techno-economic and life-cycle calculations (CO2 footprint)Engineering | – | – | – | – | – |
| Metabolite screening of active ingredients by electrosynthesis (artificial liver model)Testing | – | – | – | – | – |
| Downstream processing (product purification)Other | – | – | – | – | – |
6 Anlagen & Maschinen
| Machine | Manufacturer / model | Quantity | Working area | Year built | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrochemical reactor (scalable, electrolysis core unit, operation via numbering-up) | – | – | – | – | Regensburg; Gernsheim |
| Electrolyzer (tailor-made, Kolbe electrolysis / laboratory plant for process scaling) | – | – | – | – | – |
| Boron-doped diamond anodes (electrodes for periodate generation) | – | – | – | – | – |
| Demonstrators (under construction, for tonnage scale) | – | – | – | – | Regensburg; Gernsheim |
| Distillation plant (tall oil distillation / TOFA recovery) | – | – | – | – | – |
| Laboratory plant for process scaling (with downstream processing) | – | – | – | – | – |
Additional services
Reference customers
History
- 2018
Founded by Dr. Tobias Gärtner and Prof. Dr. Siegfried R. Waldvogel in August 2018.
- 2019
February: SRR GmbH joins as a shareholder.
- 2020
Winner of the 2020 Founders' Prize of the Mittelbayerische Zeitung; development of the zinc recycling process ESy-zinc.
- 2021
April: Move into the current headquarters in Regensburg; finalist in the ACHEMA founders' competition.
- 2022
August: High-Tech Gründerfonds invests (HTGF III); October: opening of the Gernsheim branch office.
- 2023
Start of several funded projects; seed financing round with HTGF; Waldvogel becomes Director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Energy Conversion.
- 2024
Establishment of a core staff of 14 employees; funded projects SynHydro3, ESyParTall, NaPeMon, and ELEVATOR.