Optimizing analytics for improved data quality

Analytics are an integral part of our Flowrence® high-throughput technology, and they play a crucial role in ensuring the quality of experimental data. At Avantium R&D Solutions, we believe that the analytic solutions used to acquire data should be optimized for different chemistries and platforms. Balancing the analysis of all components and optimizing cycle time are two critical considerations for each application. The importance of these factors varies depending on the specific case, with some applications prioritizing more data points while others require more detailed component information. 

 

The Flowrence® Technology leverages the advantage of keeping reactor products in the gas phase, allowing for the direct feeding of the complete sample stream into online GC’s. This enables us to achieve complete speciation and ensures the most accurate determination of the mass balance. Our on-line GC solutions utilize a multi-dimensional approach to analyze different component classes of the sample. It eliminates cold spots and enables shorter cycle times, facilitating fast feedback crucial for the control loop. By utilizing these features, we are able to provide efficient and timely results. 

With more that 100 Flowrence® systems worldwide, we developed on-line GC analytics for Hydrocracking, Hydrotreating, Fischer-Tropsch, Isomerization, Hydro isomerization, Methanol to Olefins, Reversed Water Gas Shift, CO2 to Methanol, CO2 to Hydrocarbons, Methanol to DME, Ammonia synthesis and cracking, and more. 

Ammonia chemistry involves components which are hard to analyze using either GC or MS. On-line high-resolution FT-IR makes use of the very narrow absorption bands as present in the gas phase. A model fed by a span of dilutions for all components calculates the sample composition. Cycle times are around 1.5 min. depending on composition and dilution. 

Custom-made units play a key role in advancing new sustainable chemistries, particularly those involving adsorption or other rapid processes. Our custom-made units are equipped with advanced technology, including on-line mass spectrometry, fast gas chromatography, and on-line FT-IR which enable the fast response required to monitor breakthrough curves and provide high data density. Simpler sample matrices benefit from expedited analysis capabilities of online GC or MS. In some cases, online FT-IR can analyze target components that are not resolved by other techniques.  

Analytics for adsorption processes on BTEX streams require high data density. Optimization of chromatography and data acquisition results in fast online GC analysis with cycle times of less than 1 minute. Ethylbenzene, p- and m-xylene are well separated and quantified.  

Online MS is frequently applied to adsorption processes because of its speed and ability to distinguish between mass fragments of small molecules. Data density is by a cycle time of less than 12 sec. is high enough to study breakthrough curves of for example CO2 adsorption. 

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