Catalysis and Reaction Engineering
Contact
Professor Stan Kolaczkowski, group director.
Email: S.T.Kolaczkowski@bath.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 1225 386440
Throughout industry, the reactor is seen as the central part of the chemical process, where raw materials are transformed into useful products. This is therefore one of the most important operations, where improvements in selectivity, yield and conversion have a major impact on the commercial viability of a process.
Ideas that may well look interesting in a chemist's laboratory, need to be evaluated in a reactor, and reaction engineers play the key role in the translation of a good idea into a viable process.
Current trends towards Sustainable Development require the development of more efficient processes and novel multifunctional materials to support these processes. Our research includes microreactors, microporous and mesoporous materials, heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysis.
In detail
Our current activities are in the areas:
- Improved oil recovery processes
- Compact intensive reactors, process intensification
- Catalytic membranes and membrane reactors
- Reaction kinetics and catalyst characterisation
- Reactive separations
- Novel materials for reactive separations and catalysis, nanomaterials
- Production and storage of hydrogen
- Novel microreactors
- Biocatalysis
- Waste remediation (waste water, advanced oxidation processes).
- Feasibility of hydrogen storage on TiO2 nanotubes
- High-temperature capture of carbon dioxide
- Kinetics of double bond migration and telomerisation reactions
- Development of nanomagnetic catalysts
- Investigation of acidity in working bifunctional zeolite catalysts used for conversion of light alkanes
- New oxide-based materials for catalytic applications
- Coking under supercritical conditions
- Downhole gasification for improved oil recovery
- Combining bio and chemical catalysis
- Singlet oxygen photochemistry.
Catalysis Laboratory: in a well-serviced laboratory, fundamental experiments are performed on powdered catalysts to assess the characteristics of the catalysts, reactions mechanisms, number and location of active sites, etc.
Reaction Engineering Laboratories: experiments are performed in autoclaves (batch, semibatch) and continuous single/multi-channel reactors under reaction operating conditions resembling the commercial process. The apparatus is mounted on benches, or purpose built frames, with the exhaust from each rig connected to a local fume extract duct. This creates a truly professional working environment. Larger pieces of kit are placed in full-height, walk-in fume cupboards.
Catalytic Combustion & Reaction Engineering Laboratory: this contains three modern purpose built walk-in fume cupboards, in which the apparatus is constructed and operated. When performing experiments at elevated temperatures fugitive emissions arise from metal surfaces as they are heated, and the products of the combustion reaction need to be removed. These emissions are contained within the fume cupboard and then extracted by the ventilation system.
Two High Pressure Test Cells: these modern facilities include a separate control room. The cells are suitable for experiments where there is a risk that a rupture could occur, or an explosive atmosphere arise e.g. high pressure experiments using hydrogen. Currently housing a high pressure porous wall liquid recirculating reactor.
Improved Oil Recovery Laboratory: this contains two walk-in, enclosed safety areas in which 3D combustion cells and gasification reactors are operated. A special separated laboratory area is devoted to high pressure accelerating rate calorimetry (ARC). Extensive open laboratory area is available for small experiments and analytical work.
