Chemical process catalysts: Production route
Nickel, copper or silver: matching the metal to the reaction
What this tab covers How it is made: the main production routes or, for product families, the main product types and technologies, compared on share of supply, inputs per tonne, plant scale, yield, co-products and unit cost.Process catalysts are a family of formulated products rather than one route. Heterogeneous base-metal catalysts (nickel, copper-zinc, iron, chromium, vanadium) are made in large batches by precipitation or impregnation and shaped into rings, tablets or extrudates. Precious-metal catalysts (platinum, palladium, rhodium, silver) are made in smaller lots, and the metal is usually owned by the customer and toll-refined. Polymerisation catalysts are made under strict air-free conditions. Homogeneous catalysts are dissolved complexes. The value lies in formulation and in licensing the process around it.
Routes compared
| Route | Share of supply | Inputs per tonne | Typical scale | Yield | Co-products | Unit cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Syngas catalysts (reforming, shift, ammonia and methanol synthesis) | a large share of Topsoe, Clariant and JM catalyst sales (indicative) | reforming catalyst about 10-20% nickel; methanol catalyst about 50-60% copper oxide (indicative) | a world-scale ammonia plant holds a few hundred tonnes of catalysts (indicative) | not applicable | spent nickel and copper catalysts recycled | not published |
| Polyolefin catalysts (Ziegler-Natta, chromium, metallocene) | not published | productivity of tens of tonnes of polymer per kg catalyst (indicative) | kilotonne-scale plants (indicative) | not applicable | none | not published |
| Precious-metal and silver catalysts | not published | EO catalyst about 15-35% silver (indicative) | EO reactor charge of hundreds of tonnes (indicative) | EO selectivity about 85-90% for high-selectivity grades (indicative) | CO2 from over-oxidation in EO | fabrication fee plus metal |
| Sulphuric acid and oxidation catalysts | not published | about 5-9% V2O5 (indicative) | acid plant converters hold 100-300 t (indicative) | SO2 conversion over 99.7% in double-absorption plants (indicative) | spent vanadium catalyst | not published |
How each route works
Syngas catalysts (reforming, shift, ammonia and methanol synthesis)Nickel on calcium aluminate for steam reforming; iron-chromium and copper-zinc for water-gas shift; magnetite promoted with potassium and alumina for ammonia; copper-zinc-alumina for methanol. Sold as reload packages for each reactor.
Large installed base; electrolytic hydrogen could shrink reforming catalyst demand over decades.
indicative; Topsoe and Clariant 2025 results Polyolefin catalysts (Ziegler-Natta, chromium, metallocene)Titanium chloride on magnesium chloride with internal donors (Ziegler-Natta), chromium on silica (Phillips) or zirconocene with MAO activator. Consumed in the polymer at grams per tonne.
Grows with plastics; tied to licensors.
indicative Precious-metal and silver catalystsSilver on alpha-alumina for ethylene oxide; Pt-Rh gauzes for nitric acid; Pd and Pt on carbon for hydrogenation; Rh complexes for oxo. Metal leased or owned by the user and returned for refining.
High selectivity saves feedstock and CO2; metal price risk.
ethylene_oxide tile; rhodium tile; indicative Sulphuric acid and oxidation catalystsVanadium pentoxide on silica with potassium or caesium sulphate promoters converts SO2 to SO3. Mixed metal oxides (Mo-Bi, V-P) make acrylic acid and maleic anhydride.
Caesium grades cut SO2 emissions (USGS); vanadium price exposure.
USGS MCS 2026 (caesium); indicative Unit economics are indicative ranges from the sources named; costs move with feedstock and energy prices, plant size and region.