DAVID DEVILLIERS SKILLS AND RELATED PROJECT EXPERIENCE
Catalyst Technology Specialist
Background:
- 18 years experience in Oil & Gas and Alternative Fuels Industries
- Independent Catalyst Consultant o Consulting and Employment Based Projects Completed in the USA, Canada, UK, Germany, The Netherlands,
Belgium, Czech Republic, China, Australia, South-Africa, Chile, Trinidad, Fiji and Saudi-Arabia
Skills and Selection of Projects:
- Catalyst Selection (developing own catalyst for a particular process step, versus implementing off-the-shelf
catalysts) (USA, Canada)
- R&D and commercial experience in deployment of catalysts for XTL, hydrocarbon liquids isomerization, hydrogenation, desulfurization, , fluid catalytic cracking, coker additives, selective hydrogenation of acetylene, light paraffin dehydrogenation, dry reforming, mixed alcohols synthesis,
(a) Commercial Catalyst Manufacturing Process. Catalyst Recipe Scale-Up: Lab to Commercial Production.
QA/QC (sample) protocols for commercial manufacturing runs.
(b) Experienced in Bulk precipitation, Peptization, Extruding and Tableting, Incipient Wetness impregnation processes, Belt Drying, Spray-Drying, Rotary and Belt calcination, NOx/halogens scrubbers)
(c) Evaluation of discrepancies between existing pilot plant hardware/operating regimes and equivalent commercial plant (both for synthesis reactors and catalyst manufacturing environments)
(d) Transfer of manufacturing technology from one commercial site to another. (China, The Netherlands)
(e) Catalyst Raw Materials Selection: Zeolites, alumina, silica, silicon carbides, magnesia, metal nitrates o R&D micro and pilot lab build out. High Through-Put Lab (HTE) Reactor Design to fast track catalyst development to reach pilot plant technology stage. (Saudi Arabia) o Combination of HTE with statistical DoE methods to minimize redundant runs, optimize response factors.(USA) o Least significance difference (LSD) analysis of pilot plant test data for rival catalyst formulations, in relation to observed micro-reactor performance. (South Africa) o Catalyst on purpose design (COPD) to maximize desired product / minimize byproduct. Chi-factor approach towards COPD (USA, Canada) o Kinetic and product selectivity modeling by multiple linear and non-linear regression analysis. Nelder-Mead (Simplex) Multi-Response Optimization. o Syngas Cleanup (selection of commercial sorbent technologies for sulfur, nitrogen, halogens and mercury removal)(Australia, USA) o Precious and base metal recovery from spent catalysts. Experienced in pyro-metallurgical (smelter) and hydro-metallurgical (solvent leaching) processes. o Experienced in Pollution Abatement projects. Project examples, include:
(a) Commercial NOx scrubber implementation in contract manufacturing environment to maintain NOx gas release into atmosphere below environmental permit levels. (Project: Recovery of precious metals from e-waste)(USA)
(b) NOx removal optimization during catalyst manufacturing in order to preserve precious metal
content.(Trinidad/USA)
(c) Photo-Catalytic treatment of raw drinking water sources in remote locations with limited water supply
(projects in South Africa and Fiji)
(d) Pilot-Plant Field Trials w/ UV-H2O2 systems (at 1MGD Tubular and spiral reverse osmosis plants)
(e) Statistical Process Control Monitoring of Bio-Treatment Plant Effluent in a CTL complex.
HANDS-ON INSTRUMENTATION/ ANALYTICAL EXPERIENCE
- Dynamic Contact Angle and Surface Tension Analysis
- UV-VIS Spectroscopy, Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy
- Total Organic Carbon Analysis for water
- B.E.T. Surface Area Analysis (N2 PV methods),
- Zeta Potential Analyzer, Nanometer Particle Sizing (Dynamic Light Scattering),
- Gas Chromatography–Quadropole Mass Spectrometry, FID & TCD based capillary GC.
- Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy,
- Solid-Phase Micro-Extraction (SPME) – GC/MS,
- Characterization Techniques for Heterogeneous Catalysts: Working knowledge of HR-TEM, STEM, SEM with line-scan EDAX, powder XRD, HS-XRD, XPS, Chemisorption, TGA, DSC, TPR/TPO, Surface/Bulk XRF, Crush Strength Analysis by Jet Impingement, DI index and FBAT.
- Software experience with Statistica (DoE, SPC, Regression analysis),
- Design Expert (DoE and Multi-Response Numerical Analysis), Origin for SPC, Minitab (DoE, Regression Analysis),
- Lab Manager and SQL-LIMS (QC programs)