Dr James Paterson - 2023 Creativity in Industry Prize winner

Dr James Paterson CSci CChem MRSC

Winner: 2023 Creativity in Industry Prize

bp

For contributions in developing a new catalyst and reactor system for bp’s Fischer-Tropsch technology and low carbon fuels platform.

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Applied industrial chemistry for energy will have an exciting role to drive and deliver a Net Zero society.

bp’s Fischer-Tropsch (FT) technology provides a renewable route to sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) from municipal solid waste feedstocks (MSW), biomass or CO₂. It is deployed at scale by Fulcrum BioEnergy in Nevada, USA, and is licensed to other clients for three future plants. MSW, which would otherwise be sent to landfill, provides a readily available supply of carbon that can be converted to CO and H₂ and used in the FT process to make a sustainable fuel for hard to electrify sectors such as aviation. Synthetic fuels burn cleaner due to the absence of sulphur and aromatics, while also producing fewer particulates. As a result, Fischer-Tropsch fuels lead to increased combustion and turbine life, while the enhanced thermal stability reduces deposits on engine components and fuel lines.

James’s innovations in heterogeneous catalysis have had direct benefits for the bp FT technology and these are being actively deployed at Fulcrum BioEnergy, where 175,000 tons of waste will be converted into 11 million gallons of synthetic fuel each year. These innovations have been critical to achieving better product selectivity and catalyst performance.

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Dr James Paterson has led the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) technology development in bp for many years and made a substantial contribution to new technology developments. James developed a new catalyst formulation which gave an increased selectivity and stability. This was supported by advanced characterisation and careful chemical design/testing, which has led to deeper molecular understanding to drive real commercial opportunities. This work optimised cobalt dispersion and supported porosity and chemical interactions to improve diffusion and activity.

Alongside the new catalyst, he supported a new CANS™ catalyst carrier that was able to exploit the catalyst improvements by using small catalyst particles and exceptional heat transfer allowing operation at high selectivity and productivity. His innovations in FT have demonstrated improved catalyst performance from pre-treatments as well as new areas and opportunities in CO₂ conversion, integration with the wider electrofuels type platform and new innovations in selectivity control for other applications. The combination of the new catalyst and reactor system is a real game-changer: tripling the productivity in the reactor and improving selectivity for valuable hydrocarbons from <75% to 90%. This gives the technology significant economic advantages, evidenced by Fulcrum BioEnergy deployment in Nevada and subsequent licenses with other clients.

Beyond bp, James is the industrial investigator for a number of university projects at UCL, Cardiff and Manchester universities which focus on fundamental in operando characterisation understanding for an applied catalyst system. He is one of the top inventors in bp with over 50 patent families and 18 journal publications.

Q&A

How did you first become interested in chemistry?

I have always been fascinated by chemistry and the periodic table. As a youngster I grew up interested in the groupings of elements in the table with properties and how the sequences changed the properties – how some groups exhibited high reactivity while other were less so, and linking this back to the chemistry of the atoms and their electronic configurations.

What motivates you?

To use chemistry to make a real difference. The need for real and applied chemistry is only going to increase, and this also provides a really exciting opportunity for scientists to make a difference and deliver something new to support the acceleration towards Net Zero.

What advice would you give to a young person considering a career in chemistry?

It’s a great time to be starting out in the chemical industry, with the energy transition happening at such a pace there will be huge opportunities across chemistry to innovate and get involved with new processes that can make a real difference to sustainability across the sector.

Can you tell us about a scientific development on the horizon that you are excited about?

There are so many to choose. Applied industrial chemistry for energy will have an exciting role to drive and deliver a NetZero society. There are so many areas across the energy transition which will be vital to meet the sustainability targets – the use of green hydrogen from electrolysis, new low carbon fuels from waste streams, the capture and conversion of CO₂ to join up the carbon cycle ... a very exciting time to be in science!

What has been a highlight for you (either personally or in your career)?

For me, visiting and spending time on the Sierra waste-to-fuels plant was the culmination of many years of research. I have been very fortunate to work on a programme that has developed from a few grams of catalyst and screening, all the way through to pilot and commercial scale. This has been hugely satisfying and has made me immensely proud of my contribution.

What does good research culture look like/mean to you?

A good culture is where anyone at any level can ask, challenge and question the results. There must be a friendly and inclusive way of working so that everyone is comfortable and not worried about what people will think or say.

How are the chemical sciences making the world a better place?

For me, living the bp ambitions is vital for making the world a better place. Moving to low carbon fuels, sustainable fuels and bioenergy is a really exciting opportunity for scientists to make a real impact on the way to live. These will include a range of solutions, from green hydrogen, biomass, CO₂ conversion and waste management, and my work plays a small part across many of these areas which are becoming ever more critical.

What is your favourite element?

Manganese. Throughout my career it’s been an element that keeps popping up in projects or catalysts, from my PhD through to chemistry programmes in bp. It has such a broad range of chemistry, species, and oxidation states that it’s always interesting and continually surprising.