Shape Characterisation of Alumina Catalysts Beds

Porous Alumina powder in catalyst manufacturing is used as a carrier material on which the metalcatalyst is fixed to generate active sites. The particle size of Alumina is around 100 microns. The shape of the Alumina powder is critical to the manufacturing process. If the Alumina particles are not spherical, they generate agglomerated lumps during manufacturing. These agglomerated lumps are useless as a catalyst. The amount of agglomerates depends on the sphericity of the Alumina powder and may be up to 25% of the total production. An automated method for the determination of the sphericity of the Alumina powder is required. Several Alumina samples were analysed with the Ankersmid DSA-10 to obtain Aspect Ratio distribution.