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12 Shell Chemicals Magazine Autumn/Winter 2010

CATALYSTS

Latest generation of high selectivity EO catalyst promises industry leading yields

SELECTIVE
REASONING
Catalysts are crucial to speeding up chemical reactions, improving yields and delivering competitive petrochemical manufacturing. The discovery and commercialisation of a new high selectivity catalyst has provided another step-out improvement in Shells long history of innovation and development in ethylene oxide (EO) catalyst and process technology. It offers producers worldwide the chance of achieving the highest yields.

It may have seemed like just another day in the office - or rather the laboratory - for Marek Matusz, a Senior Research Chemist with Shell Global Solutions, but something in the results of the latest batch of catalyst screening tests caught his eye. Although not obvious at the time, the 20-year veteran of catalysis research and his team were about to make the most significant breakthrough of their careers. The samples under analysis that day back in late 2004 were the latest among hundreds of catalyst formulations being continuously screened at Shells Westhollow Technology Centre (WTC) near Houston. But Matusz and his technicians had hit upon a formula for the complex combination of elements that make up catalysts that would deliver a step-out improvement in yields for EO production. We were running routine tests and caught a glimpse of something in the data but werent exactly sure what we had found at first, he says. It took a lot of further tests and analysis to isolate and interpret the results, and then to convince ourselves they were real and repeatable. Their discovery of a new high selectivity catalyst, S-888 as it was later called, promised a significant improvement over all existing catalyst/process technology combinations. As remarkable as the selectivity being achieved in the laboratory with the newly identified catalyst, however, was the

Shell Chemicals Magazine Autumn/Winter 2010 13

speed at which Matuszs initial discovery was subsequently developed. Scaling up the new catalyst from the laboratory to a full commercial offering was one of the biggest challenges of the development process. Once the decision to commercialise S-888 was taken, a wider team of experts in catalyst testing, manufacturing and operational support swung into action. Close interaction between these supporting disciplines was key to the speedy commercial implementation. Within just a few years the blink of an eye in catalyst R&D terms production of S-888 had been scaled up, commercialised and the new catalyst loaded into five Shell-owned EO plants around the world. It has since achieved industryleading selectivity rates, which has an enormous impact on the overall economics of EO production. Catalyst selectivity determines how much EO is produced versus ethylene feedstock consumed. The ethylene feed accounts for around 80% of the total cost to produce one tonne of EO the catalyst no more than 5%. When youre burning a high value feed you try to get the highest selectivity, hence product yield, with the least amount of byproduct, explains Scott Baker, Shell Global Solutions Technical Excellence Manager for EO Catalysts. To put this into perspective a one percentage point increase in selectivity for a world scale EO

plant can be worth $2-3 million per year in value. An improvement of two or three percent, as S-888 can deliver, becomes a major competitive advantage, especially given that significant increases in yield are becoming harder and harder to find. He adds that an efficient catalyst also helps to reduce plant CO2 emissions as less of the greenhouse gas is produced as a byproduct. The S-888 high selectivity catalyst is now an integral part of the package of proprietary EO process technology that Shell licenses to other EO producers around the world. Income generated by technology licensing is critical for funding ongoing R&D efforts and maintaining our market leading position, says Baker. Shells own plants will always be the first to benefit from any future breakthroughs. Shell has been developing EO catalysts and process technology for more than 50 years [see below]. The WTC labs use enhanced

MASTERS OF THE EO PROCESS


Shell has pioneered many of the advances in ethylene oxide process technology since 1958. The Shell MASTER Process for converting ethylene to ethylene oxide has been proven over many years operation, in both Shell plants and those of co-producers across the world. It has been developed to maximise the performance of high selectivity catalysts where Shell, through its affiliate CRI Catalyst Company, has also led the industry. The selectivity of EO catalysts had grown incrementally until the mid 1980s when Shell technologists confounded the then current scientific thinking by breaking the 85% selectivity barrier. That discovery opened the way to the development of a new breed of high selectivity catalysts and even higher rates of conversion, culminating in the latest S-888 generation. Today, over 30% of the worlds EO is produced in Shell-licensed and designed plants, and around 50% of global EO production uses Shell/CRI catalysts.

Left: Marek Matusz, whose team made the initial discovery that led to the development of the latest generation of high selectivity EO catalyst.

14 Shell Chemicals Magazine Autumn/Winter 2010

CATALYSTS

A PERCENTAGE POINT INCREASE IN SELECTIVITY FOR A WORLD SCALE EO PLANT CAN BE WORTH AS MUCH AS $2-3 MILLION PER YEAR IN VALUE.

Scott Baker, Shell Global Solutions Technical Excellence Manager for EO Catalysts.

experimentation techniques, micro- and nano-scale reactors and several pilot plants to carry out multiple simultaneous testing of potential catalyst preparations. Enhanced Experimentation provides the ability to accelerate research and development projects, allowing higher performance testing efficiency, which translates to shorter development phase for new products and accelerated time to market.

The S-888 generation of high selectivity catalysts is produced at the Shell/CRI Catalyst Company manufacturing facility at Martinez, California, USA.

interest to operators of some of the newest plants coming onstream in the Middle East and Asia, due to the favourable operating conditions these installations can achieve. Catalyst selection is usually a function of process constraints, explains Baker. Some facilities, especially older assets, may not be able to achieve the optimum reactor conditions needed for high selectivity. Modern plants are designed with process conditions that enable them to extract full value from S-888. technical services for optimising its performance. We can offer a prediction of what performance to expect from a catalyst and, as performance declines, suggest modifications to operating conditions to stretch it out as long as possible. S-888 has proved to be robust and able to handle variable process conditions, while its slow rate of decline adds to its performance advantage. While S-888 has raised the bar in EO catalyst performance, the pursuit of ever higher levels of selectivity continues. We never stop looking for the next incremental improvement because the potential impact of catalyst performance is so great, says Matusz. Theres always room for improvement in the existing technology and, who knows, maybe another big breakthrough is around the corner.

OPTIMISED FORMULATION
It was a key enabler in the commercialisation of the S-888 catalyst, reducing the testing time required to carry out screening experiments to optimise the formulation, resolve manufacturing issues and establish an intellectual property position to less than six months, compared to an estimated 12-18 months using convention R&D processes. Achieving a dramatic reduction in development time is especially valuable given the complexity of catalyst development. Identifying a breakthrough new catalyst is not quite like finding a needle in a haystack but its not far off, says Matusz. It can translate into thousands of experiments, using different combinations and ratios of elements. Our history and experience in the field of catalytic principles, combined with enhanced experimentation testing, helps us to focus on the formulas most likely to bring results and in the shortest possible time. There are now nearly 120 EO producers worldwide. In addition to Shell plants, the S-888 catalyst has been sold to nine third party plants during 2010 and there are 14 sales lined up for 2011. The S-888 generation is of particular

PRODUCTIVITY GAINS
He says there are also some trade-offs in catalyst selection. Higher selectivity catalysts typically have a shorter life-span, but for most producers the productivity gains far outweigh the shorter operating life. The life of S-888 is expected to be up to four years in modern plants depending on how hard the catalyst is working and other process factors. Bakers team also provide complete technical service support to both Shell plants and catalyst customers. A change of catalyst is a not just a significant upfront investment, it can also be a big expense in terms of plant downtime and getting the unit up to maximum productivity, he says. One of S-888s advantages is that it is simple to start up and achieves high selectivity very quickly. We work closely with customers over the life of the catalyst, from supporting the installation and startup processes to providing ongoing

For more information on catalysts visit:


www.cricatalyst.com

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