Monday 17th December 2007
State-of-the-art Equipment Accelerates Commercialisation
As part of a planned expansion of its development facilities, Oxford Catalysts has placed an order worth approximately Euro 700,000 (US$1 million) with the German company Amtec for the purchase of two Spider16 high-throughput screening reactors. The first, due to be delivered at the end of February 2008, will be used to speed up the commercialisation of Oxford Catalysts’ hydro-desulphurisation (HDS) catalysts. The second, due to be delivered at the end of March 2008, will be used to further the development of catalysts for use in gas to liquids (GTL) and other Fischer-Tropsch (FT) processes.
Catalyst development is a time consuming process. Tests to assess the performance of each FT or HDS catalyst generally take over a week. Each of the Spider reactors includes 16 individual continuous flow fixed bed reaction chambers. The Spider16 reactors will help to dramatically reduce the development time required for new catalysts by making it possible to test up to 16 candidate catalysts simultaneously.
Derek Atkinson, Business Development Director says:
"Developing new FT and HDS catalysts means we need to perform hundreds of experiments. Because the Spider16 reactors will allow us to carry out many more experiments at the same time we will be able to do the optimisation work very much faster. Having these Spider16 rigs will allow us to cement our position as the leading catalyst technology company for clean fuels by ensuring we can bring our exciting and innovative solutions to the market place faster.
"We chose the Spider16 high throughput reactors because of Amtec's experience in designing these types of system, and its track record of successful on-time delivery, short delivery times, quick installation and start-up times and competitive pricing. But even more important was Amtec's ability to customise the equipment to meet our specific needs, and its flexible customer service capability."
Michael Krusche, Managing Director at Amtec GMbH says:
"We are delighted to be chosen to provide the microreactors that will help Oxford Catalysts to speed up development and commercialisation of its new FT and HDS catalysts, and we look forward to working with them to ensure that they are able to take full advantage of the technology our reactors can offer."
For further information, please contact:
Derek Atkinson, Business Development Director, Oxford Catalysts 01235 841 700
Nina Morgan, Science Writer 01608 676 530
Notes to Editors
Oxford Catalysts Group PLC, the leading catalyst innovator for clean fuels, designs and develops specialty catalysts for the generation of clean fuels from both conventional fossil fuels and certain renewable sources such as biomass. Its patent-pending technology is the result of almost 20 years of research at the University of Oxford's prestigious Wolfson Catalysis Centre, headed by Professor Malcolm Green, one of the world's most respected inorganic chemists. Oxford Catalysts was founded by Professor Green and Dr Xiao in October 2004 and was admitted to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange on 26th April 2006, having raised £15m before expenses from a solid base of institutional investors.
Oxford Catalysts' strategy is to license its catalysts for commercial application by entering into co-development partnerships with leading manufacturers, producers and suppliers in the petroleum, petrochemicals, fuel cells, biogas, steam applications and catalysis markets.
Oxford Catalysts has two key platform technologies. The first is for a novel class of catalysts made from metal carbides which, for certain reactions, can match or exceed the benefits of traditional precious metal catalysts at a lower cost. Applications of these metal-carbide catalysts include the removal of sulphur from crude oil fractions (known as hydro-desulphurisation or HDS), the conversion of natural gas or coal into virtually sulphur-free liquid fuels via the Fischer-Tropsch reaction (known as the GTL and CTL processes respectively), and the transformation of biogas (waste methane) into syngas - the building block of liquid fuels.
The second platform relates to chemical reactions involving a liquid containing a renewable fuel, such as methanol, ethanol or glycerol, and dilute hydrogen peroxide. The company's novel catalyst can be used to release hydrogen gas from this liquid, instantaneously starting from room temperature. This groundbreaking Instant Hydrogen technology has the potential to significantly accelerate the commercial adoption of fuel cells in the portable and other mobile markets, by providing the much needed source of cheap, safe, transportable hydrogen.
Another of the company's catalysts can be used to produce steam at temperatures between 100ºC and 800ºC+ instantaneously starting from room temperature, from a liquid fuel containing dilute hydrogen peroxide and either an alcohol, sugar, glycerol, starch or formic acid. Such Instant Steam could have important applications in a broad range of markets, from cleaning and disinfecting, to green energy in the form of motive power or electricity.
Amtec GmbH develops, produces and markets worldwide screening and sampling reactor systems for automated high throughput experimentation in chemistry and materials research. Its mission is to provide advanced machinery and leading edge technology for experimental chemistry and to provide superior support to chemical, pharmaceutical and materials companies to allow them to significantly reduce the time-to-market of new chemicals, catalysts, drugs or other materials. Amtec is a consortium member of TopCombi, a European Commission project to develop new technologies in combinatorial catalysis.
The Fischer-Tropsch Process
The Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process was developed in Germany in the early part of the last century as a way to produce liquid fuels, such as diesel, from coal. In the FT process, a synthesis gas consisting of a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, is converted into paraffinic hydrocarbons over a catalyst. The catalysts are typically based on cobalt and usually need to be modified by the addition of precious metal promoters in order to obtain the desired activity. Oxford Catalysts' patented technology allows the cobalt catalysts to be produced without the need for precious metal promoters, whilst maintaining strong performance.
Hydro-desulphurisation
Hydro-desulphurisation (HDS) encompasses a range of catalyst-driven processes used to produce clean fuels − including petrol (gasoline), ultra low sulphur diesel, jet fuel and bunker fuel − from sulphur-containing feedstocks. Oxford Catalysts is working to develop a range of HDS catalysts that will allow refiners to use higher sulphur containing lower priced sour crudes yet still maintain the quality of its products. It is also working to develop HDS catalysts that offer competitive performance – or catalyst activity – while containing significantly lower amounts of expensive metals such as molybdenum.
