Timo Schaerfe

Team Lead "Process Design and Intensification"

Contact

+49 9131-12538135

E-Mail

https://www.hi-ern.de/profile/schaerfe_t

Researchgate

Web of Science

Address

Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH
Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße
52428 Jülich

Building HIERN-Cauerstr / Room 4011

Research topic

"Research design is the roadmap that sharpens questions and turns them into meaningful conclusions."

Renewable energy sources are being massively expanded worldwide to tackle the climate crisis. However, their potential is limited by their variability. In Central Europe, efficiently utilizing renewable sources requires transferring energy across seasonal periods and intercontinental distances. The future goal should be to overcome the spatial and temporal mismatches between energy generation and consumption..

Chemical energy carriers can be a powerful addition to complement electrical technologies and replace fossil fuels at this scale. To realise their potential, a deep understanding of catalytic reaction engineering and thermodynamics is essential to design and intensify processes. Our team is committed to this challenge by understanding the scientific context, developing and operating mini-plants in the lab, and drawing conclusions that enable the upscaling of these technologies for customized applications.

Through collaboration on multiple projects with international and global players, as well as local industrial partners, our technical expertise drives innovation forward. We address each project’s unique needs and contribute our scientific insights in line with the project scope and timeline, ensuring successful outcomes.

Vita

05/2023 – now
Team lead "Process Design and Intensification"

Project coordination

- HyScale: Development of a LOHC system to compensate for seasonal fluctuations in energy prices (HyScale)

- TransHyDE - LNG2Hydrogen: Utilization options for hydrogen import (LNG2Hydrogen)

- SOFC-LOHC Integration

- Autothermal Dehydrogenation subproject 1

- H2-Extraction in Haßfurt: Green hydrogen in fuel cell quality from the municipal gas grid

07/2019 – 09/2023
Research Associate at HI ERN

07/2018 – 06/2019
Scientific Research at Merck KgaA and TU Dresden: „Faster process transfer in the fine-chemical industry through modularization and scalable recipes“

01/2017 – 07/2017
Masterthesis: „Resilience of Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier Based Energy‐Storage Systems”

10/2011 – 12/2017
B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering (CBI) at FAU in Erlangen

Publications

Pappler, S.; Mader, T.; Blasius, M.; Gräser, T.; Schärfe, T.; Geißelbrecht, M.; Seitz, A.; Wahl, S.; Wasserscheid, P. Recovery of solid oxide fuel cell waste heat for hydrogen release from liquid organic hydrogen carriers. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 2025, 156, 150245. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2025.150245.

Henseler, J.; Schärfe, T.; Steffen, J.; Görling, A.; Geißelbrecht, M.; Wasserscheid, P. Detailed analysis of coke precursor formation in catalytic perhydro benzyltoluene dehydrogenation processes. Fuel 2025, 398, 135500. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2025.135500.

Rüde, T.; Lu, Y.; Anschütz, L.; Blasius, M.; Wolf, M.; Preuster, P.; Wasserscheid, P.; Geißelbrecht, M. Performance of continuous hydrogen production from perhydro benzyltoluene by catalytic distillation and heat integration concepts with a fuel cell. Energy Technology 2023, 11 (3), 2201366. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ente.202201366.

Rüde, T.; Dürr, S.; Preuster, P.; Wolf, M.; Wasserscheid, P. Benzyltoluene/perhydro benzyltoluene – Pushing the performance limits of pure hydrocarbon liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) systems. Sustainable Energy Fuels 2022, 6, 1541-1553. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D1SE01767E.

Jander, J. H.; Kerscher, M.; Cui, J.; Wicklein, J.; Rüde, T.; Preuster, P.; Rausch, M. H.; Wasserscheid, P.; Koller, T. M.; Fröba, A. P. Viscosity, surface tension, and density of the liquid organic hydrogen carrier system based on diphenylmethane, biphenyl, and benzophenone. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2022.04.275.

Schmidt, P. S.; Kerscher, M.; Klein, T.; Jander, J. H.; Berger-Bioucas, F. E.; Rüde, T.; Li, S.; Stadelmaier, M.; Hanyon, S.; Fathalla, R. R.; et al. Effect of the degree of hydrogenation on the viscosity, surface tension, and density of the liquid organic hydrogen carrier system based on diphenylmethane. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 2021, 47 (9), 6111-6130. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.11.198.

Klose, A.; Merkelbach, S.; Menschner, A.; Hensel, S.; Heinze, S.; Bittorf, L.; Kockmann, N.; Schäfer, C.; Szmais, S.; Eckert, M.; et al. Orchestration Requirements for Modular Process Plants in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industries. Chemical Engineering & Technology 2019, 42 (11), 2282-2291. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ceat.201900298.

Rüde, T.; Bösmann, A.; Preuster, P.; Wasserscheid, P.; Arlt, W.; Müller, K. Resilience of Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier Based Energy‐Storage Systems. Energy Technology 2018, 6 (3), 529-539. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ente.201700446.

Last Modified: 22.07.2025