Typical service life of conversion catalysts
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How long is the typical service life of a conversion catalyst? How should the process be adjusted if a decrease in conversion efficiency is observed?
3-5 years. See if it’s domestic or imported. Usage is also a key aspect.
The service life of a catalyst is mainly related to its nature and space velocity. There are ones that last 5 years and others that last just 3 months. The service life of low-temperature catalysts is influenced by factors such as hydrogen sulfide concentration, temperature, gas-to-vapor ratio, water quality, impurities like oil, and oxygen. The conversion rate decreases; increase the temperature or the steam-to-gas ratio.
For imported products, it is generally 3-5 years; for domestically produced ones, it’s around 3 years. It also depends on whether the manufacturing process is stable – if the operation is not proper, the lifespan will be even shorter.
Generally, it takes about 3 years for catalyst activity to decline; specific measures must be taken based on the underlying reasons. For example, the shift catalysts used in the Lurgi gasification process tend to coking, and they can be regenerated by carbon burning. Other gasification processes do not suffer from coking issues, so carbon burning is not necessary. A general approach is to gradually increase the temperature to maintain the conversion rate.
The service life of the conversion catalyst can be extended by increasing the temperature
It depends on what type of catalyst is used, as well as your product requirements, and also on the configuration of the conversion process. Generally, there are two stages of conversion; for coal-to-methanol production, we use a wide-range conversion stage followed by a low-range conversion stage. The wide-range conversion stage lasts for about one year, while the low-range conversion stage lasts at least three years. Cobalt-molybdenum catalysts.
The low conversion rate usually persists for more than 3 years; if it can be determined that this is due to a decline in catalyst activity, the low-conversion catalyst can be re-sulfurized as a trial
If it is a cobalt-molybdenum type, the hydrogen sulfide level before conversion can be appropriately increased.
Our company has used it for six years; generally, it lasts around 5 years
For conversion catalysts, their activity is generally fine in the absence of major issues, whether they are domestic or imported; catalyst replacement is necessary due to high resistance and high pressure differences. Therefore, the service life of the catalyst is closely related to the quality of the gas in your system. As for the decrease in conversion efficiency, increasing the gas-to-vapor ratio and raising the temperature of the upstream catalyst can help.