Grace completed the acquisition of the business and assets of Rive Technology, including its Molecular HighwayTM zeolite technology. As part of the transaction, certain research and development, technical services, and commercial employees will join Grace.
Rive Technology was founded in 2006 to commercialize the Molecular HighwayTM zeolite technology for catalytic processes, such as those used in fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) units in oil refineries. Invented at MIT by Javier Garcia-Martinez, Rive’s technology improves traditional zeolite catalysts through the introduction of novel channels of medium pore size (molecular highways). These enhance the diffusivity of the materials leading to higher value product yields, improved process efficiency, and increased refinery profitability.
Rive Technology’s mesostructured zeolites are a new class of zeolites with intracrystalline mesoporosity. The pore size of mesostructured zeolites can be precisely controlled by the use of surfactants of different sizes. At the same time, all the desired properties of conventional zeolites such as strong acidity and excellent hydrothermal stability remain.
In 2010, Rive and Grace entered a joint development and commercialization program to combine Rive’s technology with Grace’s capabilities in FCC catalyst formulation and manufacturing. Over the past decade, Grace has incorporated the Rive zeolite technology in certain FCC catalyst applications. The company hopes that the addition of Rive’s patented technology allows them to offer their customers greater flexibility in converting crude oil to petrochemical feedstocks.
- W. R. Grace & Co., Columbia, MD, USA
global supplier of catalysts and engineered materials - Rive Technology, Princeton, NJ, USA
Also of Interest
- Interview: Javier García-Martínez on the Commercialization of Research,
Vera Koester, Javier García-Martínez,
ChemViews Mag. 2012.
https://doi.org/10.1002/chemv.201200143
How do you form a spin-off company from your research? J. García-Martínez talks about his experiences and how he finds time for his many roles - Kathryn C. Hach Award for Entrepreneurial Success 2018,
ChemViews Mag. 2018.
Javier García-Martínez, Rive Technology Inc., Boston, MA, USA, recognized as outstanding entrepreneur - Hierarchical Zeolites Make It to Refinery,
ChemistryViews.org 2012.
First successful commercial-scale manufacture of mesostructured zeolite Y promising as fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) catalyst
