Phil Landon Retires from Drochaid
Phil Landon has been with Drochaid Research Services since its inception, bringing 30 years of expertise in heterogeneous catalysis. His proficiency spans a range of techniques, including XRD, Raman, IR, TEM, XPS, temperature-programmed experiments, as well as catalyst preparation and testing. His invaluable depth of knowledge has been shared with others through his dedicated efforts.? His constant calm demeanour has been a pillar of strength for the team, and his dry sense of humour, which often caught me off guard, always brightened my day.
At the dinner, it was a joy to see another dear friend and colleague, Brian Boardman, attend. Witnessing their camaraderie was truly special. Although Phil will be stepping back from his professional role, he will remain in touch with us socially. So, it is not goodbye, but rather ‘au revoir’.
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Johanna Jordan, Administrator
Ayse has joined Drochaid Research Services as an Engineering Intern, focusing on reactor installations and commissioning. Concurrently, she is working on her master’s thesis on reactor installations for net zero research activities as part of her MSc in Chemical Engineering at TU Berlin.
Ayse brings five years of experience from Integrated Lab Solutions, where she specialized in commissioning reaction units and conducting engineering studies. She also contributed to plastics recycling research at BasCat – UniCat BASF Joint Lab in the Sustainable Value Chains group.
Ayse’s dedication to sustainability and her expertise in engineering make her a valuable asset to the team.
Jake Backhouse has joined Drochaid Research Services as a Research Scientist. He completed his undergraduate degree in Chemistry and his PhD, focusing on immobilized catalysts for hydroformylation applications, at Durham University under the supervision of Prof. Phil Dyer.
Jake brings extensive expertise in both homogeneous and heterogeneous catalyst development. His skills include air-sensitive chemical synthesis, characterisation, and high-pressure autoclave techniques.
We are all excited to welcome Jake to the Drochaid team!
“Congratulations to Dr Jake Backhouse from the entire team on successfully passing his Viva Voce (PhD examination) in September!”
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Dr Jianke Liu comments:
The 18th ICC was a significant event for the international catalysis community, attracting 2,300 attendees from around the world to Lyon. This conference took place eight years after the 16th ICC in Beijing in 2016, as the 17th ICC in San Diego in 2020 was cancelled due to the pandemic.
It provided an excellent opportunity to reconnect with Drochaid’s past and present customers, discussing how Drochaid continues to offer effective solutions and deliver value for money. Additionally, we met with various catalyst and equipment providers/manufacturers to explore opportunities in catalyst scale-up and commercialisation.
Dr Cathy Dwyer comments:
Drochaid was a proud sponsor of this event held in the beautiful and historic city of Trieste. This biannual catalysis conference is a smaller and more focused event bringing together a mix of academic and industrial participants with a focus on personal engagement, relationship-building and excellent science.
With this in mind, the program included two roundtable discussions and a student-industry mixer which provoked vigorous discussion and helped build firm new friendships. Highlights from the excellent? lecture program included the masters Alois F?rstner (Max Plank Institute, M?lheim), Bob Weymouth (Stanford) and Robert Franke (Evonik), as well as some exciting rising stars such as Kylie Vincent (Oxford).
The next conference in 2026 will be in Shanghai, China, followed by one in 2027 (to get the conference back onto its usual odd-year schedule after Covid disruption) which will be in York, UK. We’re looking forward to supporting Prof Andy Weller with the organizing of an event so close to home.
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领英推荐
Development of a novel catalytic process for valorisation of hydrocarbons: Methanol to fuels and chemicals
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·?Knowledge-based heterogeneous catalyst design, synthesis, screening
·?Hydrothermal syntheses and modifications of zeolitic materials for catalytic application
·?Prolonged catalyst evaluation under industrially relevant reaction conditions
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Background
Methanol has been suggested as a key starting point for a new petrochemical economy. There are a range of possible technologies using methanol as feedstock for chemical and fuel production (Methanol-To-Olefins/Methanol-To-Gasoline, MTO/MTG). In addition to desired ethylene/propylene and gasoline products, significant amounts of C4+ hydrocarbons are also produced in those commercial MTH (Methanol-To-Hydrocarbons) processes which are either cracked to C2=/C3= olefins or burned to provide process heat to improve process economics. Despite being commercially practised technologies, there is still extensive ongoing research looking to further optimise the processes and improve overall techno-economics.
?Results and Benefits
A novel catalytic process was developed which can selectively combine methanol and other hydrocarbons to yield enhanced value products under mild conditions. An effective zeolitic catalyst was identified through a knowledge-based rational catalyst design, synthesis and optimization. A catalyst lifetime up to 100 hours under industrially relevant conditions was demonstrated with desirable activity and selectivity.? The lead candidate catalyst can be readily regenerated and reused without significant loss of catalytic activity and selectivity.
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Jianke Liu I Head of Catalysis Science, Drochaid Research Services Ltd “Deep knowledge and rational design of catalysts together with the ability to test under industrially relevant conditions was crucial in order to develop a highly active, selective and stable catalytic system for the methanol conversion”
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The first International Conference on Sustainable Chemistry for Net Zero (ICSC-NZ) will be held in St Andrews in June 2025. Co-chaired by Dr Amit Kumar and Professor David Cole-Hamilton (School of Chemistry, University of St Andrews) and in collaboration with ScotCHEM, this event will bring together experts to discuss and explore innovative solutions in green synthesis, energy storage, and circular economy. The lineup includes 7 plenary lectures, 18 session plenaries, and numerous oral, flash, and poster presentations. For more details, please visit the website - https://icsc-nz.com/.
We look forward to supporting the event and hope to entice our readers to join us here in beautiful St Andrews for an excellent scientific program and of course, a visit to our laboratories.
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David Brown was pleased to present at the St Andrews University’s department of chemistry “Industry Chemistry Forum” where he described Drochaid and the type of work it conducts to an audience of undergraduates and PhD students with the aim of providing an insight to working for a commercial company in the field of catalysis.
Many of the students are looking at securing year-long industrial placements as part of their degree and we wish them luck.
Also attending was Mark Waugh of Mitsubishi Chemical Group, Anna Lemieri of Pharmaron and Mark Carter of William Blythe
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Drochaid Research Services
Purdie Building
North Haugh
St Andrews
KY16 9ST
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Phone: 01334 460930
Email: [email protected]
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We are always pleased to hear from our customers, business? enquiries, students and new friends.
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