Chemical Engineering May 2018 - 25

because this is an important industrial
catalyst for hydrogenation reactions, "
she says. ThruPore's C/Pd catalyst
is six times more active than existing
catalysts, and requires 30-50% less
precious metal to achieve the same
performance, she says.
ThruPore has formed a manufacturing
partnership with Inventure
Renewables, Inc. (Tuscaloosa Ala.).
Current production is approximately
20 ton/yr, and the next step will be
100-200 ton/yr, says Sayler.
Control of particle size
In slurry-type polymerization reactions,
the size of the catalyst support
can be an important parameter.
Evonik has recently introduced its latest
generation of Catylen Ziegler and
Ziegler-Natta catalyst, Catylen S 300,
which features a magnesium ethanoate
support material that is produced
in precisely the required particle size.
The size can be selected within a
range of 18 to 80 µm - up to 20
times smaller than the support material
of its predecessor, Catylen S 100,
according to Budo Richter, head of
R&D Olefin Polymerization Catalysts.
The particle size distribution can be
controlled to within ±1 µm.
3-D printing
For the last few years, Johnson Matthey
has been developing 3-D printing
(additive manufacturing) as a forming
procedure to create experimental
ceramic shapes that were previously
unobtainable using traditional forming
methods, like extrusion or pelletization,
says Alex Munnoch, a research scientist
at JM. " With this technology, we
can control internal features and spatial
distribution through a 3-D printed
structure; such structures could then
be utilized in combination with active
catalyst materials, which could be incorporated
through a variety of traditional
methods, such as impregnation,
precipitation, and coating, " he says.
" At the moment, we are focusing our
research on the powder bed binder-jetting
method, where we start with a 3-D
model using CAD, [computer-aided
design] and then use an ink-jet type
printer to print 2-D slices of the shape
onto successive thin layers of ceramic
powder to create the final 3-D structure
of the support precursors, layer by
layer. The subsequently sintered structures
have a complex shape with a high
geometrical surface area, making them
industrially important for mass-transferlimited
surface reactions, where the
amount of active material matters, "
says Munnoch. " Notably, the heat/
mass-transfer know-how developed as
part of our heat-exchanging structured
Catacel technology complements our
additive manufacturing R&D. "
" Although the printed materials
are very open and look fragile, these
sintered ceramics have comparable
strength to existing supports, " he
adds. " The combination of our R&D
printers and our demonstration plant
allows us to produce multi-tonn
quantities whilst maintaining flexibility
of materials and designs, he adds. n
Gerald Ondrey
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Chemical Engineering May 2018

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