Description

A catalyst is a material that accelerates a chemical reaction without being consumed. It acts by lowering the activation energy of the reaction through active sites present on its surface, where reactant molecules adsorb, react, and then desorb.  Catalysts are essential in the oil, petrochemical, energy, and chemical industries, where they increase yields, improve process selectivity, and reduce energy consumption.

Catalyst performance properties

A comprehensive evaluation of a catalyst is based on several fundamental properties:

Activity (reaction rate): The ability of the catalyst to accelerate the transformation of reactants. It is measured by the conversion rate or the rate of product formation.
Selectivity: The ability to favor the formation of the desired product over side reactions.
Stability and durability: The ability to maintain performance over long operating times or over many reaction cycles.
Resistance to deactivation: Sensitivity to poisoning, sintering, fouling, or coke formation.
Regenerability: The ability to restore the initial activity through thermal or chemical treatments.
Intrinsic activity: The efficiency of each active site, independent of the total amount of catalyst.

Vinci Equipment dedicated to catalyst performance measurement

The equipment developed by Vinci Technologies enables the experimental characterization of all these properties under conditions representative of industrial processes. These systems allow real-time monitoring of conversion, selectivity, and the evolution of catalyst performance.
They notably include:

* Laboratory catalytic reactors (batch or continuous flow)
* Controlled gas and liquid feed systems (high-precision flow meters)
* Precise temperature and pressure control
* Online analytical systems (chromatography, gas analyzers)
* Long-duration testing devices for studying deactivation and durability

A Key approach for R&D and Industry

Vinci Technologies’ solutions are a central tool for linking catalytic material science to the actual performance of industrial processes. They support:

* the development of new catalysts,
* objective comparison of formulations,
* optimization of operating conditions,
* validation prior to industrial scale-up.