Technology

Rive’s proprietary catalyst technology unleashes the potential of zeolites to transform crude oil molecules into valuable transportation fuels. Zeolites are relatively inexpensive, active catalysts and are used extensively in petroleum refining and petrochemical production. Their high acidity, active alumina sites, and crystalline structure, formed by a network of small pores, effectively “crack” the bonds of crude oil molecules, producing valuable refined products.

However, zeolite pores are very small, less than one nanometer in diameter, which prevents the larger molecules in a feedstock from accessing the interior of a zeolite and undergoing the desired reactions. This is especially critical in diffusion controlled environments, such as the short contact time reactors prevalent in modern fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) units.

Rive’s technology involves a proprietary method of modifying the pore structure of a zeolite, making the zeolite more accessible to larger molecules in a feedstock. By selectively introducing mesopores (pores nearly four nanometers in diameter) into a zeolite, Rive allows larger molecules to access the zeolite and get “cracked” into valuable products. Further, the cracked products, such as gasoline-range molecules, are able to exit the zeolite before they overcrack to lighter, less valuable gases. As a result, petroleum refiners obtain a higher yield of desirable products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, and propylene, and less of undesirable products like heavy cycle oil and coke.

Rive’s catalyst – called RiveCat – is nano-engineered through the surfactant-assisted transformation of a zeolite. The resulting mesoporous structure maintains all of the characteristic properties of the zeolite, namely crystallinity, high acidity and stability. Rive is able to control the size and concentration of mesopores to create a zeolite structure that yields the best catalytic performance.

Rive co-founder Javier Garcia Martinez invented the technology while at MIT, and the company has an exclusive license from MIT to commercialize the technology.