SBIR-STTR Award

Current structured catalyst packings using particles enveloped in a wire-mesh sandwich used in most reactive distillation columns have very poor liquid/solid catalyst contact leading to low catalyst utilization. To compensate for the lower efficiencies, higher loadings of catalyst (hence larger reactors) are used in reactive distillation units leading to high investment costs. This disadvantage has limited the use of reactive distillation technologies to the production of ethers mainly – MTBE & TAME. Epsilon Technologies is developing a unique high-efficiency catalyst substrate shaped to enhance both gas-liquid and liquid solid mass-transfer rates. The higher catalyst effectiveness coupled by intimate gas/liquid mixing will lead to considerable lower catalyst loadings and hence reactor volumes leading to greater economic advantages. The overall objective of this development program is to commercialize a family of “Ultra-Clean Fuel Technologies” to produce environmentally friendly, high-octane additives to reformulated gasoline. Phase I will establish the technical viability of using this substrate in a reactive distillation column. We will develop critical hydrodynamic parameters to benchmark performance of the new multifunctional catalytic system. We will use this information to asses its advantage over conventional structured catalysts.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:
This high-efficiency catalytic substrate will usher in a new generation of clean-fuel technologies for the industry using reactive distillation columns. For U.S. refiners, this will provide a simple and economic alternative to replacing MTBE while meeting the new tier-2 sulfur specifications.

The United States is the largest producer of refined petroleum products in the world, with 25 percent of global production and 163 operating refineries. U.S. refineries are also the largest energy consumers in manufacturing and spend $4-$6 billion annually in pollution abatement costs. Ultimately, such cleaner-by-design process technologies that use “engineered catalysts” could cut down significantly on energy usage and bring about a paradigm shift in the petroleum refining industry. This project will develop a light naphtha isomerization technology using catalytic distillation, which will produce isomerate (iso-pentanes and iso-hexanes) having a higher octane rating than conventional fixed-bed technologies. In Phase I, the hydrodynamic feasibility of using a multifunctional catalyst substrate in a multi-phase, counter-current, reactor operation was established. Phase II will develop the multifunctional solid-acid that will be used in a catalytic distillation reactor to produce isomerate from normal paraffins. Multifunctional catalysts will be designed, synthesized, and tested in both fixed-bed and catalytic distillation reactors. Information from the performance tests will be used to optimize catalyst design, reactor configuration, and process parameters.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:
Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) has been banned as a gasoline additive in California, and groundwater contamination associated with MTBE has forced refiners all over the world to find a viable alternative. An appropriate blend of C5-C6 isomerates with alkylates would match the volatility of gasoline and be a perfect replacement for MTBE. The new isomerization technology would thus provide U.S. refiners with a viable alternative to MTBE.