High-Pressure Hydrogenation Laboratory

What the facility does

Explosion-proof high-pressure hydrogenation lab featuring three Hastelloy corrosion-resistant stirred batch reactors

Areas of expertise

Homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis in batch reactors under extreme conditions.
Conversion of biomass derived substrate (sugar derivatives, pyrolysis bio-oil) to value-added products by through hydrogenation and hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) reactions.
Quantitative analysis of complex reaction mixtures by GC, GC-MS, IR, NMR.
Kinetic, thermodynamic and statistical analysis of complex catalytic reaction cascades.
Remediation and valuation of bauxite residues (“Red Mud”).

Research services

Lab-scale catalytic hydrogenation reactions (25-250 mL reaction volume) at temperatures ranging from ambient to extreme conditions (up to 450 °C and 340 atm of hydrogen pressure).
Sampling from these reactions at temperature and pressure.
Qualitative and quantitative analysis of these samples.
Data processing and (statistical) analysis of results from these analyses.
Design of experiment studies.

Sectors of application

Chemical industries

Clean technology

Energy

Manufacturing and processing

Mining, minerals and metals

Specialized labs and equipment

Equipment	Function
Parker Autoclave Engineers 100 or 300ml (switchable), Hastelloy C-276 High Temperature Bolted Closure Reactors (3)	The reactors enable (hydrogenation) reactions at under extreme conditions, e.g. in super-critical water and/or under high hydrogen pressure. Features: • 5,000 psi maximum pressure. • Metal seal ring for 510ºC maximum temperature. • MagneDrive rated for 3,000 max rpm, 16 in/lbs torque, Dispersimax Impeller, Purebon 658RCH bearings, 1/2 HP, 90 VDC XP motor, IS speed sensor. • The reactors have a sample tube with air op valve and manual metering valve, vent with manual valve, sparge tube with manual valve. • The reactors have a 7,500 psi gauge and 10,000 psi pressure transducer. • Mass flow controllers capable of measuring hydrogen consumption of the reactions at temperature and pressure (up to 1,500 ± 2 psi or 4,500 ± 5 psi). • Temperature will be controlled by a Type-K process thermocouple, Type-K external thermocouple and a 120 VAC purgeable electric furnace.

Equipment

Function

Parker Autoclave Engineers 100 or 300ml (switchable), Hastelloy C-276 High Temperature Bolted Closure Reactors (3)

The reactors enable (hydrogenation) reactions at under extreme conditions, e.g. in super-critical water and/or under high hydrogen pressure.

Features:

• 5,000 psi maximum pressure.

• Metal seal ring for 510ºC maximum temperature.

• MagneDrive rated for 3,000 max rpm, 16 in/lbs torque, Dispersimax Impeller, Purebon 658RCH bearings, 1/2 HP, 90 VDC XP motor, IS speed sensor.

• The reactors have a sample tube with air op valve and manual metering valve, vent with manual valve, sparge tube with manual valve.

• The reactors have a 7,500 psi gauge and 10,000 psi pressure transducer.

• Mass flow controllers capable of measuring hydrogen consumption of the reactions at temperature and pressure (up to 1,500 ± 2 psi or 4,500 ± 5 psi).

• Temperature will be controlled by a Type-K process thermocouple, Type-K external thermocouple and a 120 VAC purgeable electric furnace.

Private and public sector research partners

Rio Tinto ALCAN
Los Alamos National Laboratory (USA)
Federal University of Lavras, Department of Chemistry (Brazil)
Institute for Chemicals and Fuels from Alternative Resources (ICFAR)
Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) (China)

Additional information

Title	URL
Research Group Website (Publications)	http://www.chemistry.uoguelph.ca/schlaf/publications.html