Catalyst Q&A Series – Part 3: Criteria for Selecting Industrial Catalysts
2025.11.14
In Parts 1 and 2 of this Q&A series, we explored the basic principles and functions of catalysts, and why they are gaining attention in the era of the hydrogen economy and carbon neutrality. Parts 3 and 4 shift toward real industrial applications, highlighting how catalysts are used across major sectors and which technologies matter most.
1. Why do different industries require different catalysts?
Industrial processes vary widely in terms of reaction temperature, pressure, feed composition, types of impurities, poisoning species, and operating conditions. When these variables change, the optimal catalyst composition and structure naturally change as well—even for the same type of reaction.
These differences appear clearly in real industrial environments:
- Automotive exhaust catalysts: Must activate quickly at several hundred degrees Celsius
- Semiconductor PFC destruction catalysts: Require ultra-precise reaction control and strong chemical durability
In other words, even within the same “oxidation reaction”, the choice of active metals, support structure, and particle size distribution differs by industry. For this reason, industry-specific catalyst design is essential. Heesung Catalysts incorporates these differences with precision, optimizing physical and chemical properties to advance beyond “general-purpose technology” and toward “adaptive catalyst technology”.
2. Why do catalyst requirements differ even within the same industry?
Even within a single sector, catalyst needs vary depending on reactor design, operating conditions, and exhaust composition. For example, reforming catalysts in refining and hydrotreating catalysts in petrochemicals are both metal-based, but their reaction pressures, temperatures, and surface properties differ. This is why customized catalyst design is a core capability that determines industrial competitiveness.
3. How does Heesung Catalysts develop industry-specific catalysts?
Heesung Catalysts designs catalyst formulations by tailoring metal ratios, support structures, and activation processes to each industry’s reaction environment. Using kinetic modeling and surface-analysis data, the company builds reaction models for each process and provides catalysts that meet performance, durability, and environmental standards.
4. What should be considered when selecting a catalyst?
Industrial catalysts cannot be evaluated by price alone. They directly affect process performance, maintenance cost, and energy efficiency. Therefore, catalyst adoption requires assessing total cost of ownership (TCO), process compatibility, durability, and the supplier’s technical support capability.
Key considerations include:
- Process compatibility: Reaction temperature, pressure, gas composition, flow rate, backpressure (ΔP), operating cycle
- Performance stability: Long-term activity and selectivity
- Replacement and regeneration cycle: Verifiable lifetime and regenerability
- Precious metal recovery efficiency: Systems for reclaiming and recycling spent catalysts
- Technical support: Availability of Lab–Pilot–Demo-scale testing data
These five factors are essential for ensuring both process efficiency and long-term sustainability.
5. How is catalyst durability evaluated?
Durability is assessed by measuring how consistently the catalyst maintains activity during long-term operation. Catalysts may degrade over time due to thermal aging, poisoning, sintering, and coking.
To evaluate this, Heesung Catalysts conducts accelerated aging tests to assess thermal stability, and monitors conversion changes and pressure drop (ΔP) after extended operation under realistic conditions. Surface-analysis techniques (SEM, XRD, BET, etc.) are used to examine particle growth or accumulation of poisoning species. When necessary, regeneration tests verify recoverability. These results guide replacement cycles, regeneration planning, and overall process optimization.
6. How are catalyst replacement and regeneration managed?
Replacement intervals depend on process conditions, feed composition, and operating hours. Typical indicators include declining conversion, rising pressure drop, and shifts in reaction temperature. Routine monitoring helps prevent premature replacement and reduces TCO.
If deactivation progresses beyond a certain point, regeneration methods such as decoking, washing, or thermal treatment can restore partial performance. If regeneration efficiency is low, recovering precious metals from spent catalysts is often the more economical option.
7. Why is precious metal recovery and recycling important?
Precious metals such as Pt, Pd, and Rh represent a significant portion of catalyst manufacturing costs and are highly sensitive to international price fluctuations. Recovering and refining these metals from spent catalysts can substantially reduce new material purchasing costs.
Since mining and smelting fresh metals generate high energy use and carbon emissions, recycling also supports carbon-neutral goals and ESG performance. Ultimately, precious-metal recovery is a key strategy for achieving both economic and environmental value.
8. What should be prepared before introducing a new catalyst?
When adopting or replacing a catalyst, sharing accurate process data with the supplier is essential. Preparing the following information in advance allows for efficient and precise catalyst design and evaluation.
① Process and equipment information
- Reaction temperature, pressure, flow rate, backpressure, space velocity
- Feed and exhaust composition, impurities (S, Cl, Si, etc.), moisture content
- Reactor specifications (fixed-bed, fluidized-bed, coated type), reactor volume, heating method
② Catalyst operation and performance details
- Target conversion, selectivity, productivity, charge amount, replacement cycle
- Existing issues (deactivation, pressure drop, poisoning, etc.)
- Annual catalyst consumption and expected replacement intervals
③ Economic factors and operating plan
- Target cost, operational cost-reduction goals
- Precious-metal recovery or recycling plan, settlement method (buyback, offset, etc.)
④ Project schedule and validation plan
- Testing schedule, commercialization timeline, sample-test plans
- Possibility of pilot or demo-scale validation, performance evaluation metrics
Reviewing these items with the supplier enables not just product procurement but a full optimization solution for performance, cost, and long-term operation.
9. What customized support does Heesung Catalysts provide?
Heesung Catalysts provides tailored support to help customers design catalysts optimized for their real operating conditions and continuously improve performance. Using each customer’s process data, the company operates a three-stage validation system—Lab, Pilot, and Demo—to ensure that required performance is achieved under actual operating conditions. This allows customers to focus not on “which catalyst to purchase,” but on the performance they can reliably achieve over time.
