Publication: Commercial catalyst

Authors: Enrico Lorenz, Tobias Zimmermann, Alexander Higelin, Moritz Dahlinger and Joachim Haertlé (hte)
Nilenindran S. Govender and Sachin Teli (Sipchem)
Abdulaziz A. Almathami (Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd University)

Chemical Processing, November 2021

Maximizing process efficiency to ensure competitiveness and imroved margins continuously drives large-scale production of industrial chemicals. The catalyst is a key component of many of these processes. It not only requires tuning to achieve maximum activity but also tailoring of its physical and chemical properties to the surrounding process. High product selctivity avoids wasting valuable feedstock and protects the downstream section from energy-intensive separation and pollution of the equipment with side products. Furthermore, the catalyst must withstand feed impurities and provide flexibility with regard to process conditions. Upgrading a process during a turnaround with the latest-generation of the catalyst or even switching to an alternative technology offers significant opportunities to increase plant profitability but also involves technical and economic risks. This article describes how high-throughput catalyst performance evaluation can support chemical production plants in quantifying the potential gains and mitigating the risks early on in the catalyst selection process.