News mit CRI/Criterion Inc

CRI/Criterion Inc., (CRI) a wholly owned subsidiary of the Royal Dutch Shell Group of Companies, and hte Aktiengesellschaft – the high throughput experimentation company (hte) announce the recent extension of their collaborative relationship within the field of ethylbenzene dehydrogenation.

The extension follows the success of the joint research program which began in 2005, focusing on the discovery and development of a new styrene catalyst. During this project, the use of hte’s proprietary 48-fold high throughput testing tools enabled CRI to vastly increase the number of new catalyst formulations that could be screened in a shorter time frame than would normally be possible using conventional catalyst testing methods. hte technology has allowed CRI to carry out catalyst process variable tests over periods of several months.

After testing hundreds of different catalyst formulations within the first two years of the collaboration, several promising leads were identified and selected for further optimization and subsequent scale up. In November 2007, CRI successfully launched the commercialization of two new catalyst products: AstraCat Gold and AstraCat Select, the first CRI catalyst products to be developed using high throughput testing methodology.  In continuations close collaboration; CRI will introduce another product in early 2010 to provide of thiits clients more choices to optimize performance and lower cost in their styrene production.

AstraCat Gold provides unsurpassed activity, and AstraCat Select provides the best combination of activity and selectivity. the new catalyst will provide improved selectivity over conventional catalysts at comparable or improved activity, and offers clients additional options to optimize productivity.

"This strategic relationship ensures rapid knowledge transfer which gets products to market as soon as possible," says Dirk Demuth, CEO, hte. "A further extension of the relationship will enable hte to apply the latest generations of high throughput technology to CRI's strategic catalyst development programs."

"High throughput experimentation and hte have been key to the success of our catalyst development program," says Laurent Fenouil, Global Business Director, CRI. "The speed at which we have been able to invent, develop and commercialize these new products directly benefits our clients by delivering leading edge solutions ahead of their competition."

About CRI/Criterion Catalyst Company Limited

CRI/Criterion Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell Group of Companies, supplies total packages of catalysts, services and solutions for refinery and petrochemical plants. CRI/Criterion Catalyst Company Ltd. is a subsidiary of CRI/Criterion Inc. CRI/Criterion Catalyst Company Ltd. and other affiliates of CRI/Criterion Inc. provide hydroprocessing, reforming and speciality catalysts to the refining industry and EO, VAM, styrene, hydrogenation, speaciality and environmental catalysts to the petrochemical industry.

hte Aktiengesellschaft

hte - the high throughput experimentation company - is a leading provider of technology solutions and services to clients in the energy, chemical and environmental sectors. These solutions enable significant enhancement in productivity for R&D in catalysis, materials science and formulations. hte brings the benefit of its extensive expertise in deploying methods for high throughput experimentation to its clients via two complimentary offerings: (i) Technology Solutions - implementation of tailored, integrated hardware and software solutions at the client's site; (ii) R&D Solutions - collaborative research programs based at hte's state-of-the-art facilities in Heidelberg.

For more information:

CRI/Criterion
Fiona Powell
2 York Road, Waterloo, London SE1 7NA, UK.
T:+44 207 934 3800
Fiona.Powellshell.com

hte Aktiengesellschaft

Sascha Vukojevic

Kurpfalzring 104, 69123 Heidelberg, Germany
T: +49 6221 7497 154
F: +49 6221 7497 134
Sascha.Vukojevichte-company.de