Catalyst R&D that is efficient and responsive to its applications must consider not only performance, but cost and environmental impacts. In many catalyst companies, such information is evaluated by a business development group working closely with the R&D team. However, many catalyst researchers, particularly in academia and national labs, have little or no access to cost and life-cycle information. The recently released CatCost tool for catalyst cost estimation, published free of charge by the ChemCatBio consortium and the National Renewable Energy Lab, not only provides this information but offers it in an accessible, rapid-analysis format designed for working scientists and engineers. This presentation details the application of CatCost and life-cycle analysis (LCA) to a series of catalysts used for catalytic fast pyrolysis of biomass to fuels. The presentation will show how the combined use of performance, cost, and environmental impact data allows nuanced comparisons between Mo2C-, Pt/TiO2-, and ZSM-5-based catalysts. Analysis of all three dimensions highlights how the differing weighting of high performance, low cost, and minimal environmental impact in various applications makes catalyst selection and comparison a multifaceted yet accessible task. All of this insight is made easier than ever for bench chemists and engineers with the capabilities of CatCost, which requires no process engineering knowledge yet includes ton-scale synthesis templates, libraries of equipment and process steps, and flexible analysis tools for knowledgable power users. Two separate approaches for catalyst synthesis are available, including one based on synthesis at a contract manufacturer and one, for both small niche applications and large industrial applications, involving dedicated catalyst plants. The value of spent catalyst is considered in detail including metals recovery value and costs, as well as sale values and disposal fees. CatCost is especially designed for pre-commercial catalysts and includes advanced templates for nanomaterials and other emerging catalyst types.

Evaluating research catalysts by combined performance, cost, and life-cycle analysis: Application of the free CatCost tool to catalysts for biomass upgrading to fuels

2019 Fall National Meeting

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