Chemist who has improved refinery performance?

 Chemist who has improved refinery performance?

The system increased the porous size of the zeolites, the catalysts used to refine oil and take fuels like petrol and diesel.

“Molecular highways” increase fuel quality and production

Innovation produces energy more efficiently, sustainably and economically.

Four years ago, Andrew Dugerti, a former student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), found the same center where he trained a partner to start an innovative project in the power sector: a new innovative technology to improve the efficiency of oil refineries. Xavier Garcia-Martinez.

Traditional therapeutic system and its imperfections

Petroleum refining uses porous material called zolite as a catalyst. When hydrocarbon compounds pass through the micropores of a zeolite they break down into transport fuel and gas. The problem with the traditional therapeutic system is that in this process large hydrocarbons are lost due to the porous size of the jellies, which cannot pass very low.

Molecular roads: an invention that increases the value of a barrel by 2.5 euros

The chemist García-Martínez had designed zeolites with pores 10 times larger. In practice, this means that refineries can get more crude production and consequently increase their profits: about 2.5 euros more per barrel. Furthermore, expanding the micropores of the zeolites and converting them into mesopores increases the quality of the fuels. "These mesopores act as highways that connect the smallest micropores, improving molecular traffic within the zeolites," explains García-Martínez in a statement posted on the MIT website.

Molecular Highway Technology from Rive Technology on Vimeo.

Rive Technology, the company that markets the invention

In 2006, both researchers founded the Rive Technology company with the chemical engineer Larry Evans to commercialize García-Martínez's invention and transform, thanks to nanotechnology, the refining of oil and obtain a modern, more efficient, sustainable and economical energy production. .

The largest oil company in the world, is already part of its client list

Large oil companies had spent decades investing in research to find a catalyst that would improve the process of transforming crude into fuel, gasoline or diesel. Now, all of them have been interested in the invention of Javier García-Martínez. Among the most noteworthy, the largest oil company in the world is already listed as a client: Saudi Aramco.

Other apps

This technology is applicable to other processes, such as air and water treatment, and the conversion of waste and biomass into useful materials and energy. Also, a study funded by the United States Department of Energy in 2012 indicates that the system can reduce the energy used in separating propane from propylene by 70%.

The brilliant career of Javier García-Martínez

This young chemist born in Logroño (Spain) in 1973 trained at MIT. His area of ​​expertise is focused on nanotechnology applied to new materials. He currently has 40 patents to his credit: among them, the one for the catalyst that has enabled refineries to get more out of each barrel of crude.

In 2005 he received the European Medal, awarded annually to the best European chemist under 35 years of age; In 2006 he received the silver medal of the European Young Chemist Award, he is a member of the Council of Emerging Technologies of the World Economic Forum and combines his business work with teaching as director of the Molecular Nanotechnology Laboratory of the University of Alicante.