Moving from discovery to real applications for your catalyst

Abstract

We discuss the importance of operating conditions and feed gas composition in evaluating any catalyst. Test conditions are often simplified in early catalyst evaluations, but ultimately catalysts need to be evaluated close to the anticipated process conditions if one wants to make generalizations about performance with regard to an anticipated product in the marketplace; the sooner the better. This will allow others to focus on the crucial steps that one has to take to apply a new discovery to a new or existing product. We examine several different test parameters that can significantly impact a number of different reactions. One focus is on testing catalysts early during the discovery/optimization stage under conditions which anticipate major operational hurdles down the road to eventual development and onto commercialization. In particular we discuss the importance of realistic feed-gas compositions, extreme operating conditions, understanding duty cycles, in test protocols, carbon formation, catalyst attrition, wet process feeds, transient exposure to contaminants in the feed, the need to understand the impact of pressure, and catalyst morphology. These catalyst features are applied to a variety of reactions including FCC, water gas shift, steam methane reforming, auto exhaust cleanup, ozone removal in aircraft, and refinery hydrogen production. A few extended examples are also provided using prior references that describe the conversion of lab discoveries to established commercial processes.