Page 136 - Principles of Catalyst Development
P. 136
124 CHAPTER 6
moves to pilot unit testing or commercial demonstration stages, then tens
or even hundreds of kilograms are required. Commercialization may
demand plant capacities approaching hundreds of thousands of kilograms
per year. Commercial catalysts must not only faithfully reproduce the
performance of laboratory preparations but must also be uniform, con-
sistent, and economical. A typical production line is shown in Fig. 6.24.
Exact configurations vary from one product to another but follow similar
routes.
Although catalyst manufacturing follows the same procedures as
laboratory preparations, scale-up to marketable products introduces con-
siderations not encountered in small-scale operations. (182)
6.7.1. Duplication and Scale-Up of Laboratory Recipes
During the course of normal catalyst development, a successful recipe
is finalized and negotiations opened with a manufacturer to move to pilot
testing and possible commercialization. Before serious talks proceed, the
manufacturer will insist on testing the reproducibility of the recipe and
attempt to make the catalyst from the laboratory instructions. This is to
ensure that critical factors are understood and are not unknown artifacts of
specific conditions. As strange as it may seem, cases are known where
atmospheric dust in the laboratory was a key ingredient to nucleation of a
gel and other environments did not work. This emphasizes the importance
of keeping complete records during the research stages, not only for patent
reasons but also as a source for tracing irregularities. Once the manufacturer
satisfies himself that the recipe is accurate, then he can proceed with the
question of scale-up.
m. m
FIL TER
DRIER &
y\{ ~ .~ ...... CALCINER MIXED OXIDES
~~. ~.---------------- & CARBONATES
.<r..J PRECIPITA TION (0 oj"
MIXED SODIUM & AGEING :
METAL CARBONATE VESSEL
NITRATES TANK
TANK FEED
POWDER GRAPHITE
MIXER WEIGHING
BIN MACHINES
PARTIAL
REDUCTION FINISHED
___ IN __ •· ..,-
CATALYST
REACTOR PELLETS PELLETTING
MACHINE
Figure 6.24. Typical production line for catalyst manufacturing.