Each project includes a feasibility study regarding the selection and assessment of operation conditions of the catalyst based on the client’s raw materials specification, followed by a customised kinetic design of the chemical reactor(s). A typical design project is carried out in two phases, with a decision point at the end of phase I.

The first phase includes the assessment of various catalysts and process flowsheet alternatives. We perform a catalyst selection, kinetic assessment and investigation of robustness, as well as compositional characterisation of the raw materials and end products. The catalyst assessment is performed in our continuous laboratory plant in similar operating conditions used later in the process design. The plant includes plug flow fixed bed reactor, as well as reactive distillation set-up. If necessary, the feasibility of critical phase separations can also be investigated experimentally. In the second part several flowsheet alternatives are developed, including an estimation of capital and operation costs that allows the client to make his choice. At the end of phase I, the client receives the feasibility report and a recommended process alternative, as well as sample(s) of biodiesel produced from the client’s feedstock and their analytical characterisation.