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Fluid Cracking
Catalyst Research and Development |
| Grace Davison has been active in FCC research
and development and testing of FCC catalysts since the beginning of the fluid catalytic
cracking process in 1942. Research and development are conducted at three major sites: the
Washington Research Center (WRC) in Columbia, Maryland; the Worms Research and Development
Center site in Germany; and the Davison Technical Center in Curtis Bay, Maryland. All
three sites contain state of the art laboratory equipment to assist in the invention and
development of new FCC catalysts. |
| The Washington Research Center
(WRC) houses facilities that support all aspects of catalyst research and evaluation.
Laboratory-scale catalyst can be prepared in bench-scale equipment in order to quickly
evaluate new materials. |
 Washington
Research Center |
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| Catalysts can also be prepared in the large- scale
catalyst preparation pilot plant. This pilot plant is capable of simulating our Lake
Charles plant on a small scale and can make all types of Grace Davison catalysts. This
equipment is used to prepare experimental catalyst samples as well as identify optimum
processes prior to further development. |
| Catalysts are evaluated both for physical/chemical
characterizations as well as for catalytic performance. Numerous analytical instruments
and techniques are available to characterize new FCC materials. |
| These include solid state nuclear magnetic resonance
spectroscopy (NMR); scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electron microprobe; atomic
force microscopy; laser raman spectroscopy; X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS); energy
dispersive spectroscopy (EDS); x-ray diffraction (XRD); x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy
(XRF); infrared spectroscopy (IR); mass spectrometry (MS); temperature programmed
reduction; oxygen chemisorption; gas chromatography atomic emission spectroscopy (GC-AES);
and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP). |
| Prior to catalytic testing, catalysts are deactivated
using one of 40 deactivation units. Catalytic performance is then quantified using either
large-scale or small- scale reactors. Davison uses nine fixed bed MAT reactors for
measuring catalyst selectivities and feed crackabilities. This test was adopted as a
standard for fluid cracking catalysts by the American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM).
State-of-the-art gas chromatographs (GC) are used with the MAT reactors for precise
measurement of product yields. |
| Catalysts can also be evaluated in the
large-scale Davison circulating riser pilot plant (DCR). The DCR was developed in 1986 and
is now considered the industry standard for FCC pilot plants. The computer-controlled DCR
operates in continuous mode and is capable of simulating commercial FCC operation at
approximately a 1:100,000 scale. Davison operates two DCR pilot plants at WRC and has
licensed the technology to 12 refining organizations worldwide. |
| The development facilities at the
Curtis Bay, Maryland and Worms, Germany Technical Centers provide scale-up and
manufacturing support for new catalyst formulations. These semi-works FCC catalyst plants
feature the most up-to-date equipment for processing inorganic chemicals and include
numerous proprietary and commercially available pieces of equipment. The basic operations include zeolite crystallization and washing;
catalyst preparation where the raw material streams are mixed together; spray drying; rare
earth exchange; and calcination. |
 Curtis Bay Technical Center |
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