Two Automated Testbed Reactors Installed with Donations from Industrial Member

Achievement date: 
2020
Outcome/accomplishment: 

Two automated testbed reactors were installed to support two research thrusts at the Center for Innovative and Strategic Transformation of Alkane Resources (CISTAR), an NSF-funded Engineering Research Center (ERC) based at Purdue University.

Impact/benefits: 

The testbed reactors allow for testing of catalysts at industrial conditions on a benchtop-scale and are automated for greater efficiency and faster data collection. One reactor is a Micro-BTRS (Boron Thermal Regeneration System) with eight parallel reactor tubes for simultaneous testing of eight catalyst samples. The Effi reactor is highly modular and can be configured to perform nearly any reaction desired within the scope of CISTAR. 

Explanation/Background: 

CISTAR collaborated with Micromeritics, an industrial consortium member, to provide the equipment through in-kind donations. The testbeds will further CISTAR’s technical vision of creating transformative engineered system to convert light hydrocarbons from shale resources to chemicals and transportation fuels in smaller, modular, and highly networked processing plants.