Parallel-screening equipment for advanced catalyst testing and process intensification

在过去的二十年里，催化剂的制造商和终端用户跟随制药行业的脚步，在其开发方案中越来越多地转向高通量方法。学术研究实验室通常没有反映出这种转变，在那里，一次一次的测试仍然盛行(特别是在英国)，通常作为催化剂准备、表征和评估的迭代周期的一部分。然而，随着用于固体材料配方和表征的快速和高通量技术的可用，现在学术实验室中催化剂的发现速度通常由性能测试的速度决定。在这个采购、委托和运营多床催化剂筛选反应器的项目中，我们将解决英国学术多相催化社区中缺失的这一环节。这个新设施将设在加的夫催化研究所(CCI)内，将使CCI及其广泛的学术和工业合作伙伴网络能够提高他们在催化剂发现和催化过程优化等关键领域的生产率。由于CCI是英国催化中心的主要参与者，该设施实际上将适用于几乎所有活跃于多相催化的英国学术团体。最初将针对的催化过程是CCI和英国催化中心的其他成员已经开始建设能力的那些过程：(I)使用柴油、汽油、混合或替代燃料的车辆的废气后处理和废热回收。(Ii)通过选择性氧化升级各种甲烷来源(如页岩气、沼气和搁浅天然气)。特别是甲醇和二甲醚。(Iii)将生物质衍生物转化为精细化学品和燃料。(Iv)以温室气体(如CO2和N2O)为软氧化剂，将烷烃氧化脱氢为单体和化学中间体。(V)优先氧化，以在原料净化过程中具体去除污染物。(Vi)将CO或CO2加氢为碳氢化合物或含氧化合物。随着原料的多样性和这些过程所需的操作条件，催化剂筛选设备将以最大限度地延长测试时间与停机时间的比例使用-当原料将被更换时，分析设备将重新校准，定义了新的测试协议并进行了基准测试。设备的运行和维修将由一名项目经理监督，他将是管理委员会的一部分，负责确定设施的优先顺序和分配进入设施的机会。

Over the past two decades, manufacturers and end-users of catalysts have followed the lead of the pharmaceutical industry and moved increasingly to high-throughput methodologies in their development programmes. This transition has not generally been mirrored by academic research laboratories, where one-at-a-time testing still prevails (particularly in the UK), usually as part of an iterative cycle of catalyst preparation, characterisation and evaluation. However, with the availability of rapid and high-throughput techniques for the formulation and characterisation of solid materials, the rate of catalyst discovery in academic laboratories is now often determined by the rate of performance testing. In this project to procure, commission and operate a multi-bed catalyst screening reactor, we will address this missing link within the academic heterogeneous catalysis community in the UK.This new facility, which will be housed within the Cardiff Catalysis Institute (CCI), will enable the CCI and its wide network of academic and industrial collaborators to increase their productivity in the key areas of catalyst discovery and catalytic process optimisation. As the CCI is a major player within the UK Catalysis Hub, the facility will in effect be accessible to almost every UK academic group that is active in heterogeneous catalysis.The catalytic processes that will initially be targeted are those in which the CCI and the other members of the UK Catalysis Hub have already started to build capability:(i) Exhaust-gas aftertreatment and waste-heat recovery for vehicles running on diesel, petrol, blended or alternative fuels.(ii) Upgrading of variable sources of methane (such as shale gas, biogas and stranded natural gas) through selective oxidation, particularly to methanol and dimethyl ether.(iii) Transformation of biomass derivatives to fine chemicals and fuels.(iv) Oxidative dehydrogenation of alkanes to monomers and chemical intermediates by using greenhouse gases (such as CO2 and N2O) as soft oxidants.(v) Preferential oxidation for the specific removal of contaminants in the clean-up of feedstreams.(vi) Hydrogenation of CO or CO2 to hydrocarbons or oxygenates.With the diversity of feedstocks and operating conditions that these processes require, the catalyst screening equipment will be used in a campaign mode that will maximise the proportion of testing time in relation to downtime - when feeds will be changed, analytical equipment re-calibrated, new test protocols defined and benchmark tests carried out. The operation and servicing of the equipment will be overseen by a Project Manager, who will be part of a Management Board with responsibility for prioritising and allocating access to the facility.