Procurement of Raw Materials and Catalysts

Abstract

Raw materials need to be pretreated before feeding them to the process units. The cost of impure raw materials along with cost of such treatments shall be compared with obtaining purified ready to use materials.

Conclusion

Certain catalysts that have high initial costs may also have high salvage value, which may partially offset the cost of replacement, e.g. use of platinized asbestos compared to vanadium pentoxide for the manufacture of sulphuric acid. However, the choice will depend on other factors also (as discussed above), besides impact on the cost of production by use of a particular catalyst. One should also consider the likely corrosion of equipment and wastage of raw materials due to incomplete conversion by use of cheap catalyst.

One should visit a plant (or request the manufacturer to arrange for a visit) where such catalyst has been in use for reasonable time. The claims made by the manufacturer should be verified against the performance data. In case of significant difference between the two, reasons such as different flow rates, temperature, concentration of feed to converter should be clearly understood before selecting a new catalyst.