The AVN Blog

The patent literature described a catalyst for a carbonylation reaction of potential interest to a customer. AVN set up a stirred pressure reactor capable of carrying out the reaction under CO pressure. The unit was designed for semi-continuous operation, which allowed product to be removed and catalyst to be added during operation. An experimental program… Read More

An equilibrium-limited reaction was identified as a candidate for reactive distillation, which would potentially offer substantially reduced investment and operating costs. The separations were modeled with Aspen Plus, which helped identify several process options for reactive distillation. However, kinetic information on the rates of the catalyzed reactions involved were not known. Laboratory experiments were designed and carried out to investigate… Read More

AVN undertook a project to test the performance of novel catalysts for an alkylation process at pilot scale. A fixed bed catalytic reaction system was designed and constructed, with full automation and safeguards for operating with highly hazardous materials. The unit was safely started up and operated to prove the performance… Read More

AVN was approached by a customer who wanted to design and test a novel process concept for a thermal reaction that required pumping a viscous fluid at quite high temperatures under pressure. AVN reviewed the requirements for the specialized pump, identified a suitable design, and worked with a vendor to have the unit delivered. Meanwhile, the… Read More

A customer had observed that a solvent being used in a reaction of interest gave varying results, depending on the purification method. AVN carried out a study of the impurities present in the commercial material and the effects of a number of treatments on the product purity. Samples were then provided for… Read More