SBIR Phase I: Catalyst Development MicroReactor

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This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)Phase I project proposes to develop a novel microfabricated reactor for catalyst testing applications. The novel reactor will enable substantial intensification in the catalyst discovery process, will improve the quality of the kinetic data obtained during the catalyst characterization phase of the process, and will reduce operating costs associated with the testing. The technology to be developed relies heavily on two micro reactor designs developed at MIT. The proposed project will focus on designing, fabricating and testing a catalyst test reactor that builds on the MIT technology. The resulting highly idealized isobaric, isothermal, differential catalyst test reactor also will be capable of rapid and controlled temperature changes and calorimetric reaction rate monitoring.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is that it provides enabling technology for the process of discovery and characterization of heterogeneous catalysts. Heterogeneous catalysis represents one of the most critical industrial technologies, with extensive applications across the chemical, pharmaceutical, and energy fields. In pure market terms, annual catalyst sales exceed $10 B/year, and leads to trillions of dollars of economic value generation. This new reactor technology will replace the dated conventional tube reactor technology and advances technology in the area of catalyst development, which hasn't seen much progress over the last several decades.