Remote, robotic removal of catalysts from reactors

In the 1970s, the first commercial remote-operated vehicles (ROVs) for the offshore oil and gas industry were developed. Prior to these, underwater inspections and maintenance operations were performed by personnel wearing heavy underwater suits equipped with breathing apparatus. A catalyst handling technician faces a similar scenario when entering vessels filled with nitrogen (N2) to vacuum the spent catalyst material. The number of fixed-bed catalytic vessels in the global refining and petrochemical industry is estimated to exceed 50,000 (average of 50–60 vessels per facility),1 and yet the process for catalyst removal has remained essentially unchanged for the past 75 yr. In 2018, the in