Uwharrie,

Many, many thanks for the link to that article. Lots of good stuff.

As you say, zeolites have been used in petroleum processes for many decades. My first exposure was in 1955 when I reported to work at the Exxon Research & Development Labs in Baton Rouge. I was assigned to the catalyst development section. They had a big effort underway to discover natural zeolites that would negate competitor patents as catalysts. They didn't. Zeolites were just coming into prominence in catalytic cracking which became, and remains, the core process in petroleum refining after distillation. Fluid catalytic cracking was developed at ERDL just prior to WWII. The original 100 B/D pilot plant still stood during my day. I was actually responsible for a 1B/D pilot plant where we tested catalyst developments in my early years. They started construction on the first commercial unit (FCCU 1)before the pilot plant work was finished. Few people realize the importance of the 100 octane aviation gasoline sent from BR to Britain during early WWII.

No one was thinking of zeolites for carbon capture at that time.

Berkshire Hathaway FAQ

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