Nearly 20 years ago Heraeus first developed and introduced a new production technique for catalyst gauzes: warp knitting. This patented production technique proved so successful that soon the majority of catalyst gauzes in use throughout the world are using this technique. The traditional woven catalyst gauzes have almost entirely been replaced by knitted products.
The choice of the warp knitting technique was made by Heraeus after extensive comparative testing of several different gauze structures produced with varying production techniques supported by mathematical modelling and simulation of reaction processes. The warp knitted gauze proved best due to its outstanding performance under industrial operation conditions and because of the versatility of the warp knitting production technique itself.
The Heraeus Catalytic Systems warp knitted catalyst gauzes are uniquely well suited for catalyst reactions due to their inherent features:
■ high mechanical strength and form stability
■ “self repairing” behaviour
■ low pressure drop
■ high surface area
■ low platinum losses
■ minimal rate of rhodium oxide formation
■ high conversion rate and selectivity
■ long operating cycles
