Impact case study database

Cardiff research established commercially viable CO-removal catalysts based on robust understanding of relationships between preparation, catalyst structure and activity. These have been sold around the world to produce a breathable atmosphere for people working in extreme environments, including miners, submariners and hospital patients under anaesthesia.

4.1 Commercialising research for Molecular Products

The primary economic beneficiary of the Cardiff-based research is the Molecular Products Group, which has a turnover of £14.4M and over 130 staff (2018). Dr Mandy Humphreys, former Technical Director of Molecular Products from 2003-14, stated that the research was “ pivotal for our business” [5.1]. As a result, the company adopted the technique of co-precipitation and optimised the formulation and preparation of the Hopcalite-based catalyst, Moleculite [5.2], which is sold worldwide for the oxidation of CO and volatile organic vapours.

Prior to the Cardiff research, the manufacturing process for Moleculite was susceptible to delivering batches of catalyst with varying performance, an unacceptable risk given the planned applications. Molecular Products stated that: “ Prolonged control of low levels of carbon monoxide in breathing systems is often considered the 'holy grail' from an industrial perspective, and this formed a corner stone strategic goal for the business. The fundamental research at Cardiff was required to crack this very difficult nut” [5.1].

With Cardiff’s involvement, Molecular Products achieved a “ step change in the efficacy of our catalytic products” [5.1]. The research supported a significant expansion of Molecular Products’ product range and enabled penetration into new markets and novel utilisations of current technology (as noted in Section 4.2, below). Cardiff involvement was also credited with increasing client confidence in the catalysts as Molecular Products stated: “ The research from Cardiff University was essential to allow us to engage with new markets and customers across the globe, which led to forming long-term sustainable relationships leading to strategic contracts for military and commercial applications” [5.1].

Molecular Products’ catalysts business continues to expand at a faster rate than other areas of their business, driving a strong increase in revenue. The collaboration with Cardiff, supporting improved product design and access to expert knowledge, “significantly contributed to the financial viability of the business” [5.1]. [Text redacted] Molecular Products’ financial reports for 2014-2020 reveal that sales and profits continued to increase throughout the REF period, increasing total turnover to £99M between 2014 and 2020, an increase of 14% over the previous seven years [5.3]. In 2017, the company won the Sunday Times ‘Ones to Recognise’ award as one of Britain’s top 100 private companies with the fastest-growing profits [5.4].

4.2 Widespread applications and benefits for end users

Catalysts for the conversion of CO are widely adopted in mining, medicine, deep sea diving, and the military. Dr Patricia Wormald, Development Chemist at Molecular Products, stated: “ The Moleculite and Sofnocat catalysts underpin our life-maintaining products in a wide variety of applications, which must be of the highest reliability and robustness due to their application in life-supporting activities” [5.5].

The catalysts are sold by Molecular Products as-is [5.2, 5.6] or combined with oxygen-enriching and CO₂-scrubbing catalysts in a single, all-purpose, atmosphere-treatment product. The enhanced Moleculite formulation has been incorporated within air purification systems such as HiCap CO™ [5.7] which can be bought as a single product and deployed to create a breathable atmosphere in emergency situations, such as a mining cave-in, or used in self-contained breathing apparatus, such as those used by firefighters.

Molecular Products stated that HiCap CO™ “ has been a key product for us due to its established status as a comprehensive air-purification system with our customers” [5.5]. Molecular Products also consult on bespoke solutions for their clients, such as atmosphere chambers for a diving company in South Africa, or life support systems for submarines sold to the Malay, Indian and Chinese navies. As the method of alleviating CO poisoning, the Moleculite and Sofnocat catalysts are utilised in the majority of these designs [5.5].

The catalysts developed at Cardiff, therefore, underpin worldwide activity in hazardous environments, and the solutions offered by Molecular Products are “ used every day, across the world, to ensure a survivable atmosphere for end-users” [5.5]. Example applications include:

a. Military use

41 countries operate military submarines, with many more using civilian exploratory and research vessels. Consequently, thousands of people globally are reliant on air purification catalysts. Molecular Products noted: “ We are unable to confirm which navies are currently supplied by our products for reasons of national security. However, I can confirm that the catalysts created by Cardiff research are currently in submersible vessels in use all over the world.” [5.5]

b. The mining sector

High-profile mining incidents (including the 2010 Chilean gold-copper mine cave-in) highlighted the need for secure life support systems within this hazardous sector. Molecular Products developed emergency backup systems using advanced catalysts (including Sofnocat), which prevent CO poisoning in these environments. The systems can be activated in the event of a cave-in to supply breathable air until the mine can be secured and any trapped miners rescued [5.5].

c. Healthcare, hospital, and laboratory safety

Moleculite is also used in the sterilisation of hospital equipment that would otherwise be damaged by traditional heat- or moisture-based sterilisation procedures (e.g., those comprising plastic or rubber). These devices are sterilised with ethylene oxide gas, which must then be treated with Moleculite to render it inert. This application is routinely used in hospitals and laboratories worldwide to remove the danger of toxic gases being released [5.5].

In summary, Cardiff’s research was integral to enabling commercialisation of Molecular Products’ catalytic life-support products. This underpinned increased success for Molecular Products’ catalytic sector, which grew (as described by the company) “ from an embryo to a sustainable ‘third leg’ of the business” [5.1].

China is the world’s largest producer of the ubiquitous material polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and its production is reliant on the precursor material vinyl chloride monomer (VCM). While other countries typically use oil or natural gas to produce VCM, China relies on their coal reserves to produce VCM, necessitating the use of mercury-based catalysts and asserting the country as the biggest global consumer of mercury, chiefly for VCM production (over 800 tonnes a year) [5.1]. Cardiff research enabled the development of an alternative gold-based catalyst for VCM production, which is replacing the mercury use in Chinese VCM production and has been recognised through multiple international awards.

4.1 Development of a mercury-free catalyst for VCM production

Since 2007, international chemical company Johnson Matthey PLC collaborated with Cardiff to develop a new series of gold-based catalysts for VCM production. Following over 10 years of research and development costing millions of pounds, the company developed the PRICAT™ MFC (Mercury Free Catalyst) [5.2]. Cardiff’s role in developing this commercial gold-based catalyst was highlighted by Sebastiaan van Haandel, the New Technologies Licensing Manager at Johnson Matthey as “ critical in optimisation of the catalyst and enabled further improved second generation catalysts to be developed” [5.2]. Johnson Matthey further noted that the new catalyst “is the first time in over 50 years that a complete overhaul in catalyst formulation has been implemented to produce any commodity chemical” [5.2].

The intellectual property for PRICAT™MFC was initially shared between Johnson Matthey and Jacobs Engineering Group. After recognising the significant value of the catalyst, as evidenced by research findings, in March 2014, Johnson Matthey made the strategic decision to purchase sole ownership of the catalyst patents for £7.5M [5.2].

4.2 Establishing production and use of the catalysts in China

In 2013, as confirmed by Johnson Matthey, the first full reactor test of the PRICAT™ MFC was commissioned by a major Chinese VCM producer, followed by several further full-scale reactor trials at other major Chinese producers [5.2]. These trials demonstrated the acetylene conversion rate and catalyst productivity outperformed the mercury-based catalyst [5.2].

Alongside purchasing the patents for the catalyst in 2014, Johnson Matthey secured the process technology required for building VCM plants, in order to give the company strategic capability to roll out a mercury-free VCM production process across China [5.2]. The full product offering became the DAVY™ VCM Process, which utilises PRICAT™ MFC and is the only mercury-free process currently offered for licence [5.3].

In 2015, Johnson Matthey invested in a new manufacturing plant in Shanghai to produce the PRICAT™ MFC catalyst at industrial scale, positioning the catalyst as *“one of the major growth engines for Johnson Matthey over the next 10 years” [5.2]**. The plant is designed to meet 20-30% of China’s annual VCM demand, and Johnson Matthey anticipates that “ a significant part of the Chinese market will have converted to PRICAT® MFC” within two years [5.2].

In August 2016, China ratified the Minamata Convention on Mercury, a United Nations Environment Programme treaty committed to the removal of mercury in industrial processes. Particularly, Annex B, Article 5 (v) of the Convention commits members to withdraw mercury-based methods for the production of VCM, and that member states will cease mercury mining by 2032 [5.4, p.25 ]. The signing of the Convention by China signalled its intention to adopt new and economically-viable mercury-free processes.

Johnson Matthey noted that the successful testing and implementation of the PRICAT™ MFC catalysts “ is starting to facilitate the widespread transformation of Chinese VCM production”, with the expectation that within a few years a significant amount of VCM production in China will have discontinued use of mercury-based catalysts [5.2].

4.3 Awards and Recognition

The development of the new catalyst, underpinned by Cardiff research, achieved global recognition as a significant step in enabling the reduction of mercury-based PVC manufacturing processes:

• The Innovative Product of the Year Award at the 2015 Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) Global Awards [5.5], awarded to Johnson Matthey and Cardiff University [5.5];

• The GSK Innovation Award at the 2016 Chemical Industry Awards for the successful commercialisation of the PRICAT™ MFC for mercury-free VCM production [5.6];

• The Industry-Academia Collaboration Award at the 2017 Royal Society of Chemistry awards for the development of the mercury-free catalyst for VCM production [5.7];

• In recognition of the beneficial impact of gold catalysts on the environment, in 2017 Hutchings was awarded the Eni Awards’ Advanced Environmental Solutions Prize for his work creating and optimising the catalyst [5.8].

A more efficient method of producing methyl methacrylate monomer (MMA), the precursor material for Perspex® and acrylic resins, required a crucial phosphine ligand. Cardiff’s research determined a cost-effective method to synthesise the required ligand, which enabled the industrial scale production of MMA. Since the inception of the ligand in 2008, Cardiff’s research continues to produce a cheaper, less environmentally damaging and higher quality MMA product, and in 2014 led to a US$1.1 billion investment to create the world’s largest MMA plant. The new method now accounts for 10% of the world’s annual production of MMA, a market share that continues to grow.

1. Enabling the efficient production of MMA

Lucite International is a global leader in the design, development, and manufacture of acrylic products, with 22 plants across 14 locations worldwide and annual revenues of US$1.7 billion. Lucite is the owner of the ALPHA process: a process technology for MMA production that offers significant advantages over existing production methods. Until 2004, however, the potential of the ALPHA process was restricted by the limited availability of an essential phosphine ligand. Dr Jonathan Runnacles, Business Research Director at Lucite International, stated that “ methods of producing this phosphine ligand were at the time prohibitively expensive” [5.1].

As noted in Section 2, Cardiff’s research resulted in a cost-effective synthesis of the phosphine ligand, as well as carbonylation and ligand optimisation needed to support the ALPHA process. Lucite stated: “ Without the development research undertaken at Cardiff by the Edwards-Newman group rendering the Alpha process ligand synthesis commercially feasible, the very substantial economic and environmental benefits of the Alpha process would not have been realized as effectively as they have been” [5.1].

1. Improved product quality and reduced waste

The ALPHA process has several significant advantages over the competing acetone-cyanohydrin (ACH/C3) MMA process used in the USA and Europe [5.2], or the isobutylene-based (C4) process used in Asia [5.2]. Lucite estimate that the cost of running the ALPHA process is 40% cheaper to operate than their previous ACH-based plants [5.3]. Crucially, the feedstock for the ALPHA process (ethylene, methanol and carbon monoxide) are cheaper and more widely available than feedstock for other processes, allowing greater operational flexibility for supply chains and plant locations [5.1].

The ALPHA process has additional environmental benefits as the required feedstock are much less toxic and corrosive than those required for the ACH/C3 process, which are reliant upon hydrogen cyanide and concentrated sulphuric acid [5.1]. The atom-efficiency of the ALPHA process also means that there are no toxic wastes or by-products [5.1], in contrast with the stoichiometric ammonium sulphate by-product produced by ACH methods [5.2].

Perspex® with high optical clarity is in demand for applications such as mobile phones, televisions, and computer monitors, and offers maximum light transmission without surface hot spots. Perspex® production has traditionally required an additional step to achieve this clarity, however. Lucite stated that: “ MMA derived through the ALPHA process produces the required quality as an end product, removing the significant manufacturing costs involved for this extra step” [5.1].

1. Investment and launch of the world’s largest MMA plant

The first ALPHA-based MMA Production Plant (named Alpha 1) went online in 2008. Following the success of Alpha 1, a joint venture was formed between Lucite, Mitsubishi Chemical Company, and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation to establish the world’s largest MMA production plant. As a result, in 2014 the joint venture invested US$1.1 billion to begin construction of the Alpha 2 plant in Saudi Arabia [5.1]. The Alpha 2 plant began full production in 2018 and produces 250,000 tonnes of MMA annually [5.1]. Alongside the continuing production from Alpha 1 (120,000 tonnes per annum), Lucite confirmed that since Alpha 2 came online, the combined current output has “ contributed approximately 10% of the world’s MMA demand” [5.1], approximately 370,000 tonnes per annum, significantly helping to relieve global supply constraints [5.3, 5.4].

A key advantage of the ALPHA process is that it removes scale limitations, “ enabling large single stream scale plants” such as Alpha 1 and 2 [5.1]. The ALPHA process removed constraints on plant size experienced by other MMA production processes (e.g. maximum 80,000 tonnes per annum for the C4 Process), allowing significantly improved economies of scale [5.2]. Lucite have since confirmed their intention to construct an even larger plant on the Gulf of Mexico, USA [5.5]; the Alpha 3 plant has a planned capacity of 350,000 tonnes per annum and is due to begin operations in 2025 [5.1].

In summary, Cardiff research changed the landscape of global Perspex® production via enabling the industrial scale application of the ALPHA process. This provided the global Perspex® industry with a cost-effective approach at scale, delivering significant economic and environmental benefits.