System for testing catalysts at elevated pressures

Abstract

A system for evaluating catalyst formulations at elevated pressures is disclosed. The system comprises a parallel reactor and a sensor for detecting catalytic activity of the catalyst formulations. The parallel reactor is adapted for providing reaction conditions that include pressure greater than one bar absolute, and comprises a multisample holder for supporting a plurality of different catalyst formulations, and a reaction chamber encasing the multisample holder, the reaction chamber comprising reactor walls and pressure-tight leads extending through the reactor walls for providing the elevated pressure. The parallel reactor can be a parallel batch reactor. The multicell holder can be, for example, a honeycomb or plate.

1 . A system for testing a plurality of catalyst formulations at elevated pressures, the system comprising 
 a parallel reactor adapted for providing reaction conditions comprising an elevated pressure greater than one bar absolute, the parallel reactor comprising (i) a multisample holder for supporting a plurality of different catalyst formulations, and (ii) a reaction chamber encasing the multisample holder, the reaction chamber comprising reactor walls and pressure tight leads extending through the reactor walls for providing the elevated pressure, and    a sensor for detecting catalytic activity of the catalyst formulation.    
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the parallel reactor is adapted for providing reaction conditions comprising a temperature greater than 100° C.  
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising an automated liquid delivery system.  
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising a pipette under robotic control.  
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the sensor is selected from chromatographs, temperature sensors or spectrometers.  
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5  wherein the chromatographs, temperature sensors or spectrometers are adapted for measuring temperature or products near each catalyst formulation, for example by multistreaming, multitasking, sampling, fiber optics or laser techniques.  
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 5  wherein the sensor is an infrared camera adapted for recording the relative temperature or heat absorption or emission at a number of catalysts formulations simultaneously.  
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 5  wherein the sensor is a detector for Raman spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, NMR spectroscopy, gas chromatography, mass spectroscopy, gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy, liquid chromatography and light emission spectroscopy.  
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 5  further comprising an array of catalyst formulations supported separately on the multisample holder.  
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the catalyst formulations comprise enzymes, chiral catalysts, inorganic oxides, transition metals or metallocenes.  
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1  where in the parallel reactor is a parallel batch reactor.  
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the parallel reactor is a parallel batch reactor comprising agitated containers.  
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the parallel reactor is a parallel stirred autoclave.  
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the multisample holder comprises a honeycomb or a plate.  
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the multisample holder comprises a plate having wells.  
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1  wherein the multisample holder comprises channels.  
     
     
         17 . A method for using the system of  claim 1  for testing catalyst formulations, the method comprising 
 supporting the formulations separately on a multisample holder,    encasing the multisample holder in the reaction chamber,    contacting the supported formulations with the reactant or reactants under reaction conditions comprising a pressure of more than one bar absolute, and    analyzing the products or reactants of the reactions catalyzed by the respective supported formulations to determine the relative efficacy of the candidate catalyst formulations.    
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the reaction conditions comprise a temperature greater than 100° C.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14  further comprising statistically designing the experiment for testing the catalyst formulations.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the catalyst formulations comprise enzymes, chiral catalysts, inorganic oxides, transition metals or metallocenes.