Commercial processes have been operated for years to dehydrogenate selected reactants by reaction at high temperatures (500-700°C) with special catalysts. A customer wanted to test this approach to the production of desired novel product. MATRIC assembled a laboratory reaction system capable of the required operating conditions and evaluated selected catalysts under conditions expected to [...]
A customer had studied the fixed-bed reaction of a solid particulate material with a gas under pressure at elevated temperature but wanted to study the reaction in a fluidized bed. MATRIC assembled a lab-scale reaction system that fluidized the solid reactant and provided precise control of temperature and gas flow rates. The reaction was [...]
A customer wanted to evaluate the products obtained from hydrotreating a non-traditional liquid feed. MATRIC assembled a catalytic reaction system employing a trickle-bed reactor containing about 100 g of catalyst, operating under typical hydrotreating conditions up to pressures of 100 atm. Feedstocks were processed to determine the extent of removal of sulfur, nitrogen, and other [...]
A reactor was designed for a continuous flow of gas and liquid that needed to be thoroughly mixed on entering the reactor at pressures up to 100 atm. The mixture was highly corrosive and flammable, requiring special materials of construction and rigorous operating procedures. After identifying and addressing several operational issues, the concept was successfully [...]
A reaction system consisting of two fixed-bed catalyst reactors in series was design and constructed for use in trickle-bed operation. The reactors were each about 1 meter long and 5 cm in diameter, with internal multipoint thermocouples. The reactors were valved to allow their individual operation as needed. This unit allowed operation of the two [...]
A catalyst test unit was constructed to evaluate the long-term performance of catalysts in a fixed-bed reactor. Two parallel reactors were installed with the capability of 24/7 operation unattended, with both liquid and gas feeds. Gas and liquid products were collected and analyzed on regular schedule to track catalyst performance. These catalysts were operated [...]
A customer had conceived of a series of potential new polymer products that could be produced by a liquid phase polymerization. MATRIC set up laboratory equipment to perform the polymerization and carried out several batch runs. Key steps included addition of the required amount of initiator, generation of the desired molecular weight product, and [...]
A customer was developing a new family of polymers and wanted to evaluate the properties of the new materials after a functionalization step by reaction with an additional monomer. The reaction needed to be performed under the same conditions used in commercial operation for the existing product line. MATRIC evaluated the commercial process, devised a [...]
A fermentation process was being developed by a customer for generation of a valuable product from biomass. In collaboration with the customer’s technical team, a process scheme was developed for isolation and purification of the desired product. After initial laboratory proof of concept, hundreds of kilograms of broth were provided for pilot-scale processing. The processing [...]
SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va.; Sept. 19, 2022 – Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research & Innovation Center, Inc. (MATRIC) today announced that Parvez H. Wadia, D.Sc., vice president, strategic initiatives, has received the national Earle B. Barnes Award for Leadership in Chemical Research Management from the American Chemical Society (ACS). Only one individual is recognized with this award [...]