Seeking Solutions to reduce Nickel Catalyst consumption in Hydrogenation processes

OVERVIEW

Wazoku, the Seeker for this Innocentive Scouting Challenge, on behalf of Robinson Brothers, is seeking innovative solutions to reduce nickel catalyst consumption in hydrogenation processes, through the implementation of an effective recycling or reuse system.

This is a Scouting Challenge seeking a partner or supplier to provide solutions and expertise to solve the Robinson Brothers’ business challenge; the Solver is invited to submit a written proposal to be evaluated first by Wazoku and then finalists by Robinson Brothers with the goal of establishing a collaborative partnership and potential site deployment.

Solvers with a viable solution and cost case will be supported by Wazoku:

• With the potential to pitch directly to Robinson Brothers
• Selected solutions will be trialed in collaboration by Robinson Brothers with potential for further adoption if trials are successful
• Robinson Brothers can also provide in-situ process testing of a new catalyst during operation
• The solution has potential to be deployed across multiple reactors and products at the Robinson Brothers site

In return, Wazoku will retain a share of 25% of any financial benefits you are paid for the collaboration and any deployment, as a result of the challenge.

Submissions to this Challenge must be received by 11:59 PM (US Eastern Time) on February 25th, 2026.

Please review the later Participation Guidance section before submitting a proposal.
 

- Login or register your interest to solve!

ABOUT THE SEEKER & ELIGIBILITY

Wazoku is an innovation ecosystem platform encompassing AI, market intelligence, venture building, patent analysis and open talent networks. It centralises data, talent, and tools to make innovation measurable, impactful and able to solve pressing challenges.

Wazoku also operate Innocentive open innovation Challenges like this one, supporting the preeminent problem solver community who have delivered breakthrough results for organisations like NASA, the International Rescue Committee, and ExxonMobil.
 

Robinson Brothers, established in 1869, is one of the UK’s leading chemical manufacturers and has remained a family-owned company while growing and reacting to the ever-evolving chemical industry.

The company manufactures speciality/fine chemicals, high impact aroma chemicals and rubber accelerators from its manufacturing site based in the West Midlands and offers more than 100 chemical intermediates as a dependable supplier to customers across several industry sectors including agrochemical, pharmaceutical, veterinary and automotive markets. 

This challenge is open to individual entrepreneurs, academic institutions, start-ups or SMEs.

THE CHALLENGE

Background

Robinson Brothers has over 150 years of experience in specialty chemical manufacturing, including catalytic hydrogenation at scale. Nickel catalysts are routinely used in their hydrogenation reactions and represent a substantial material cost. The current process is a high temperature(150-300°C), high pressure (20-100 bar) hydrogenation of an unsaturated heterocycle to the corresponding saturated heterocycle, widely used in agrochemical and pharmaceutical applications.

At the end of the reaction, the catalyst is removed from the crude product by filtration prior to final purification. Owing to the pyrophoric nature of the catalyst, it is not re-used and instead sent directly for disposal/ refining. 

Previous attempts to implement a recycling system at production scale proved challenging due to the pyrophoric nature of the recovered catalyst. Finding a solution was resource-intensive and constrained by limited engineering capacity. The re-use of the catalyst will significantly reduce the required inventory and manufacturing costs.

The Challenge

The challenge is to reduce nickel catalyst consumption in hydrogenation processes.

The company aims to reduce catalyst consumption by up to 80% through the introduction of a robust recycling process to improve resource efficiency, reduce resource (people) time, increase asset utilization and improve safety (due to the pyrophoric nature). Laboratory trials have demonstrated that these catalysts can be reused without any decline in performance, but this currently cannot be achieved at larger scale. 

The current process involves hydrogenation using nickel catalysts in an autoclave, and laboratory trials show minimal catalyst deactivation with up to eight successful reuse cycles. Despite this, the company has not yet established a scalable reuse or recycling system for production environments. The reaction product is discharged as a slurry of liquid containing the pyrophoric catalyst solid and handled outside of the reactor.

Developing a reuse or recycling system requires consideration of purity standards, contamination risks, and compliance with safety regulations. The solution must be practical and cost-effective.

Current Catalyst details:

• Nickel powder/ supplied encapsulated in hardened (palm oil) wax
• 5-10 tonnes of catalyst used per annum
• After a completed reaction the catalyst remains in an activated state, but as it is no longer protected by the wax, its pyrophoric nature makes it a safety hazard
• Robinson Brothers may use a similar nickel catalyst for other products in their reactors, but each catalyst stream is kept independent, with no mixing or crossover between products
• For any new catalyst, including biocatalysts, Robinson Brothers indicated they would collaboratively develop a new specification to ensure consistent product quality.

Reactor discharging process:

• The reactor and filtration systems is nitrogen purged and blanketed
• Product is discharged out the bottom of the reactor as a slurry of liquid containing the pyrophoric catalyst solid
• The slurry is processed through a Calmic plate filter followed by polishing filter
• Once the catalyst has been separated from the main product; flammables are washed off with water, and the catalyst and papers are transferred into a waste drum for disposal/ refining. The contaminated water produced is sent for wastewater treatment

The challenge aligns with Robinson Brothers sustainability objectives and aims to deliver significant cost savings while maintaining product quality and compliance with industry standards.
 

SOLUTION REQUIREMENTS

Any solution should maintain catalyst performance and product quality while minimizing the burden on internal resources. The goal is to create a system that is both economically viable and environmentally sustainable.

Robinson Brothers are open to hearing about a variety of different solutions, preferably at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5-6 so it can be used at 30L pilot scale, but are open to potentially viable earlier stage solutions. Solutions at an earlier TRL stage will be required to validate their approach at the pilot plant facility.

Solutions that can be implemented directly in large-volume autoclaves may bypass pilot testing.

A preference would be solutions that would allow the retention of the catalyst within the system or handling in a closed loop. Other ideas could include engineered handling systems, or new catalysts including biocatalysts and new chemistries.

Solutions must be:

• capable of integration into existing hydrogenation workflows requiring minimal disruption to current operations. While temporary shutdowns of individual autoclaves for phased implementation may be feasible, the preference is to minimise any operational interruptions wherever possible
• compliant with chemical manufacturing safety and environmental regulations
• at least scalable for validation in a 30L autoclave operating at 150–300°C and 20–100 bar, which serves as the required pilot scale for hydrogenation. 
• suitable for operation within an ATEX, Zone 1 hazardous environment on a low tier COMAH site (UK regulations)

Consider:

• how the solution can eventually be scaled and implemented on 3 autoclave reactors (each >500L working volume) operating at 150-300°C and 20-100 bar and capable of producing in excess of 900T/yr. Solutions that can be implemented directly in large-volume autoclaves may bypass the 30L pilot testing
• providing an idea of the footprint required for any solution requiring extra space external to the existing reactor/ equipment
• heterocycles are purified by distillation, resulting in a dry fraction suitable for sale and a wet fraction that becomes waste. Flushing with water that enters the product stream is unsuitable as it contaminates the product and creates additional waste. Alternative flushing agents may be considered, but any flushing method must allow for effective separation from the product.
• any potential options for short term storage of catalyst between product campaigns and before disposal

Cost Requirement

• outline the cost case
• and the potential level of CAPEX investment needed for scaled solutions

The lowering of OPEX cost per annum of the catalyst will be seen as more important than the cost per kg of a catalyst. 

For TRL 5-6 solutions, Robinson Brothers are looking for a 2yr Return on Investment (ROI) based on the volumes of catalyst detailed above and the potential savings on any solution provided.

Longer payback periods may be considered for earlier stage viable solutions, and there is the potential for securing the support of grants.

Out of Scope

• Solutions that increase the risk to site safety including the manual handling risk to operators due to the pyrophoric nature
• Solutions that increase operator exposure to toxic nickel catalyst
• Methods that increase hazardous waste or environmental impact associated with catalyst use
• Solutions that contaminate the products with excessive water

Proposals will be assessed on:

• Relevance to the defined challenge
• Benefit of implementation
• Feasibility/economic viability
• Innovative nature
• Ability to launch in line with expected timescales
• Credibility of Solver
• Coherence of the proposed business model
• Development potential
• Maturity of the solution
• Suitability for the intended geographic market

YOUR SUBMISSION

Please login and register your interest, to complete the submission form and add attachments.

The submitted proposals must be written in English and include:

1. Participation type – you will first be asked to inform us how you are participating in this challenge, as a Solver (Individual) or Solver (Organization).
2. Idea Summary - Please identify your technology and its advantages for the potential solution to the challenge (Keep this summary under 300 words. Below, you can also upload up to 3 supporting documents - PDF, Word, PowerPoint and images (jpg and png), Max 10MB per file).
3. Technology Readiness - Please select which TRL (Technology Readiness Level) your technology is currently at.
4. Describe your technology readiness level (Keep the description under 300 words).
5. Intellectual Property - Describe your intellectual property (IP) status. Have you, or do you intend to, protect IP status associated with your technology? Please identify the IP status for any supporting technology. (Keep the description under 300 words).
6. Expertise - Expertise, skills and use cases you or your organization have in relation to this challenge (up to 300 words).
7. Non-AI Subject Matter Expertise - Please describe this in relation to your know-how you have presented in your proposal. A statement detailing your roles in relevant real-world industry projects is required (up to 150 words).

PARTICIPATION GUIDANCE

1. Submission Close Date: Submissions to this Challenge must be received by 11:59 PM (US Eastern Time) on February 25th, 2026.
2. Late submissions: Late submissions will not be considered.
3. Multiple submissions, One Maximum: In case of multiple submissions by the same Solver, only one submission – the final one submitted – will be considered. Any other submissions will be deleted prior to evaluation.
4. Submission form and attachments: Your submission will first be evaluated by Wazoku and finalists by the Robinson Brothers evaluation team, first reviewing the information and content you have submitted at the submission form, with attachments used as additional context to your form submission. Submissions relying solely on attachments will receive less attention.
5. Evaluation notification steps: After the Challenge submission close date, Wazoku will review and select the solutions it will propose and position with Robinson Brothers, according to the timeline in the Challenge header. Everyone who submits a proposal will be notified about the status of their submissions.
6. Use of AI: Please note that any submissions produced solely with generative AI are not of interest.
7. Learn more: Find out more about participation in Innocentive Challenges.