WS-CRDS for Monitoring Catalytic Processes
Metallic and organo-metallic catalytic processes used in the petrochemical industry are characterized by incredible turnover rates. But conversely, these catalysts are easily poisoned; a trace amount of the wrong gas can permanently bind to all the surface sites, rendering the catalyst useless and causing shutdown. In addition to lost yield and downtime, there is also the cost to recover or replace the catalyst. One example is H2S, which has a low activation energy for forming sulfates on alkali metal catalysts. However, any process stream where there is any potential for catalyst poisoning can benefit from continuous monitoring for the culprit species. These applications all therefore need real time (seconds) monitoring capabilities at the ppbv level. These are the main reasons why Picarro WS-CRDS analyzers are used in these catalytic processing applications. In addition, these applications also benefit from the ruggedness of the analyzers and their ability to operate unattended in remote or inaccessible locations, providing months of continuous quantitative data without the need for recalibration.