Spray Drying Basics - Overview

CAI Catalysts’ clients often have an interest in exploring various methods for depositing active components onto support materials. In additional to impregnating a solution of metal salts, we regularly consider a variety of other approaches. One of the techniques that is frequently discussed is spray drying. For those of our readers who are unfamiliar with the use of spray drying and some of the key issues surrounding this technique, a recent issue of Chemical Engineering magazine featured an overview of spray drying parameters and controls (June 2012 issue, p. 33).

New Gas-To-Liquids Plant Announced in Pennsylvania

Calumet Specialty Products has announced plans to expand their Karns City, PA facility to include a 1,000-bbl-per-day gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant. This new unit will utilize Haldor Topsoe’s Autothermal Reformer technology and Velosys’ microchannel Fischer-Tropsch process. Plant design is to be completed by the end of 2012, with fabrication in 2013 and production start-up expected in the second half of 2014.

Modeling of the Dry Impregnation Process

The “dry impregnation” process is often used in the manufacture of catalysts. The term “dry impregnation” refers to the application of a liquid containing catalytic materials (usually metal salts in solution) to a solid support in such a way that the solid remains in a granular form throughout the process. This contrasts with a “wet impregnation” in which the solid support is saturated with an excess of solution containing the catalytic materials.