Catalyst Processing

A chemical processor making their own catalyst needed a better system to process the catalyst, with less labor, less operator exposure to the product, and better control of gradation.

The catalyst, produced by calcining in saggars or pans, was brick like. Operators were breaking the product from the pan, then manually chipping the chunks to feed manually into old, undersized mills. The process was very slow, very dusty, and provided little control of the end product.

For maximum effectiveness, the catalyst needed to be -12 x +30 mesh. Any undersize virgin catalyst was to be crushed to -100 mesh, for a different use. Spent granular catalyst, rejuvenated in a separate process, needed to graded and packaged as well.

The process was housed in a small, garage like structure with very low headroom, within the catalyst plant. Entry into the structure was in fact, via 8 ft. wide roll-up garage doors. To keep the project cost down, the customer preferred to avoid demolition or alteration of the structure, and have the system be modular and pre-tested for fast installation and startup.

Applicon designed and built a unique, compact but serviceable system, including:

Applicon built the principal processing system as a single skid which could be easily rolled into the room, with quick connections to the outlying handling and packaging components. The system was pre-assembled and run prior to shipment, with the skid mounted devices pre-wired to the control panel, also mounted on the skid. Remote devices (level sensors, prox sensors) were provided with quick connections. Site installation, wiring and startup required only a few days of effort.