Catalyst Recycling for Sustainable Hydrogenation Processes
Robinsons Brothers, a leading UK manufacturer of specialty chemicals serving the pharmaceutical, agrochemical, and specialty chemical sectors, is seeking innovative solutions to reduce nickel catalyst consumption in hydrogenation processes through the implementation of an effective recycling or reuse system. This initiative aligns with Robinsons Brothers’ sustainability objectives and aims to deliver significant cost savings while maintaining product quality and compliance with industry standards. Given the pyrophoric nature of nickel catalysts, the challenge also addresses safety considerations, environmental impact, and asset utilisation, alongside improving material and resource efficiency. The process involves high-pressure and high-temperature conditions, requiring robust and reliable solutions.
Opportunity
Challenge opens
12/01/2026
Challenge closes
27/02/2026
Benefit
Robinsons Brothers is looking to use open innovation to reduce nickel catalyst consumption in hydrogenation processes. Successful applicants will gain the opportunity to: - Collaborate on co-development for scaling and integration - Pilot their solution in real-world industry conditions with Robinsons Brothers, increasing the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of their solution by implementing it in an operational setting - Validate performance through in-process, in-situ testing, including catalyst durability after multiple uses - Explore wider applicability across Robinsons Brothers systems and catalytic processes - Access potential investment or purchase agreements for medium-to-long-term adoption based on ROI
Background
Robinsons Brothers has over 150 years of experience in specialty chemical manufacturing, including catalytic hydrogenation at scale. Nickel catalysts are routinely used in their hydrogenation reactions and represent a substantial material cost. The current process is a high temperature (150-300°C), high pressure (20-100 bar) hydrogenation of an unsaturated heterocycle to the corresponding saturated heterocycle, widely used in agrochemical and pharmaceutical applications.
At the end of the reaction, the catalyst is removed from the crude product by filtration prior to final purification. Owing to the pyrophoric nature of the catalyst, it is not re-used and instead sent directly for disposal/ refining. Laboratory trials have demonstrated that these catalysts can be reused up to eight times without any decline in performance. Robinsons Brothers have not tested beyond the eight cycles, however it is assumed that the activity will extend further.
As an ISO14001-certified company committed to sustainability, Robinson Brothers views catalyst recycling as a strategic priority to reduce reliance on critical raw materials and improve environmental performance. Previous attempts to implement a recycling system at production scale proved challenging due to the pyrophoric nature of the recovered catalyst. Finding a solution was resource-intensive and constrained by limited engineering capacity. The re-use of the catalyst will significantly reduce the required inventory and manufacturing costs.