PID ENG & TECH Just Installed at KAUST the First Multipurpose Automated
Catalysis Laboratory Available in the World

MADRID, June 30 /CNW/ - PROCESS INTEGRAL DEVELOPMENT ENG&TECH (PID ENG&TECH), a Spanish company specializing in the design and manufacture of reactors and plants on a pilot or laboratory scale, just installed the first multi-catalysis and automated laboratory available in the world. The installation was at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and consists of 24 independent catalytic Microactivity-Reference reactors for the KAUST Catalysis Center.

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The Microactivity-Reference reactor supplied to KAUST includes the following patents, which make it unique in the world of catalysis and appropriate to the objectives of the KAUST Catalysis Center, currently directed by renowned Professor Jean Marie Basset.

    
    1)  WO-2006008328/EP-1757930/US-2008063565 Automated
        Microreactor universal system with high performance and
        repetitiveness.
    2)  WO-2006021603/EP-1775504/US-2007241296 Pressure control
        System that minimizes the pulsing flow through the reactor.
    3)  WO-2006021604/EP-1757911/US-2007238753 Micro-level
        Control sensor at L/G separator that reduces by 100 times the
        standard Volume of these systems.
    4)  P200930603 (Patent Pending) Application of micro-level
        Control to GTL reactions where two liquid phases need to be
        separated. A new, open door to the Catalyst's future.
    

All these Patents have been developed in collaboration with and licensed from the Spanish Council of Scientific Research to PID Eng&Tech.

The particular configuration of the Microactivity-Reference reactor allows it to be used for very different types of chemical reactions of any nature. Because of its universal design it will allow the KAUST Catalysis Center to quickly deal with the development needs prevailing in a country like Saudi Arabia, where the Chemical Industry (especially Petrochemistry) increasingly demands an effort to develop catalysts with maximum energy savings and maximum respect for the environment.

Eight of the twenty-four units supplied to KAUST incorporate the most recent contributions of PID Eng & Tech into the rapid development of the Science of Catalysis, and consists of a phase separator at the product output of the high-pressure reactor which, with no dead volume allows the real-time separation of two immiscible liquid phases (water and hydrocarbons, standard products in the conversion reactions of gaseous hydrocarbons into liquid hydrocarbons using F-T) and non-condensing gases.

This allows the design of experimental techniques that will greatly reduce a catalyst's development time, precisely in a strategic and rapidly developing area over the coming years.

About PID Eng&Tech

PID Eng&Tech was born in 2003 as a spin-off company of the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) with 20 years of previous accumulated experience. The Process Control Group of the Institute of Catalysis and Petrochemistry (ICP) of the CSIC have devoted its activity since 1989 to the development of technologies dedicated to improving design, construction and operation mode of laboratory-scale reactors and micro-scale pilot plants, and their data acquisition, supervisory and control systems.

PID Eng&Tech was awarded with the "Contest of Ideas for Spin-off companies of Researchers" prize, granted by the Universities and Research General Management.

PID Eng&Tech primary target market are universities and research centres, in both private and public sectors, which fulfil their research activities within the fields of basic chemistry, petrochemistry, environment, catalysis, agrochemistry and food technology, supercritical fluid extraction and new energies. In addition, the company has a worldwide net of distributors that cover the following countries and areas: The United States of America, Canada and Mexico, Germany, Switzerland and Austria, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, Egypt, India, Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.

About KAUST

The KAUST Catalysis Center (KCC) will be a world-leading node for the establishment of a multidisciplinary approach to "catalysis by design." The world's energy needs will increase throughout this century, driven by population and economic growth. Meeting these needs will require both the development of new energy resources, especially carbon-free ones, and the efficient and environmentally responsible utilization of fossil fuels. In this context, catalysis is a critical enabling science for our energy future and our clean environment. It is the number one technology for transforming raw materials into technologically useful forms - whether for the chemical or petroleum industries or for the newly-emerging energy industry. Catalysis has a huge impact on the industrial, agricultural, and consumer sectors and catalysts are enablers for a broad range of devices including sensors, fuel cells, exhaust gas converters, and water purifiers. Development of new catalytic processes across the chemical, petroleum, and new energies industries will increase resource and energy utilization efficiencies and reduce waste and overall environmental footprints. It is one of the most promising tools for sustainable development and green chemistry.

For further information: Juan Antonio Valverde Andreu, [email protected], [phone]