DeOxo
DeOxo catalysts and reactors
Deoxygenation, or DeOxo, is the process of removing trace amounts of oxygen from hydrogen or inert gas streams through the reaction of oxygen and hydrogen forming water. The process relies on highly active catalysts that promote fast and complete oxygen removal, typically down to ppm or sub-ppm levels. DeOxo is widely used in hydrogen purification, fuel cell systems, protective atmospheres for semiconductor and metal processing, and other applications where even small amounts of oxygen pose safety or quality risks.
Oxygen contamination in these systems can lead to corrosion, catalyst degradation, unwanted oxidation of products, and changes in reaction pathways. It can also create safety hazards, since hydrogen-oxygen mixtures can fall within flammable limits and oxygen ingress can cause localized ignition points or hot spots in equipment. Removing oxygen ensures safe operation, protects sensitive materials, and maintains consistent product quality across industries such as chemical synthesis, electronics manufacturing, gas purification, and metallurgical processing.
Conventional DeOxo catalysts are typically based on noble metals such as platinum, supported on pellets or honeycomb monoliths. Pellet beds offer high catalyst loading and mechanical robustness but create relatively high pressure drop and can suffer from uneven flow, leading to temperature hot spots. Honeycomb substrates reduce pressure drop and provide uniform flow, but their lower catalyst loading and limited capacity to absorb heat from the exothermic reaction can constrain performance, particularly under variable oxygen loads or compact system designs.
Catalytic DeOxo systems built on mesh-type substrates close this gap. By combining an open, three-dimensional metallic structure with high catalyst loading, mesh substrates achieve low pressure drop and excellent heat and mass transfer at the same time. Gas flow across and through the mesh creates controlled micro-turbulence, ensuring rapid mixing of hydrogen and oxygen while minimizing channeling and reducing the risk of hot spots. The result is fast, complete oxygen conversion across a wide range of operating conditions, in a compact reactor footprint.
CataLite® DeOxo from Catator
CataLite® DeOxo provides complete oxygen removal from hydrogen and inert gas streams, down to ppm and sub-ppm levels. The system is based on Catator’s proprietary CataLite® Coating technology, a highly porous and strongly adhesive catalyst coating applied directly to metallic mesh substrates. Coating thickness can be tailored from approximately 20 to over 100 µm, allowing a high density of active catalytic material to be incorporated onto the substrate.
The combination of high catalyst loading, superior heat and mass transfer, and tolerance to thermal shocks makes CataLite® DeOxo well suited for systems where exothermic reactions and transient oxygen spikes can otherwise create steep temperature gradients. Because the mesh can be formed into axial beds, radial beds, compact cartridges, or fully integrated modules, CataLite® DeOxo enables space-efficient, low-pressure-drop reactor designs across a wide range of applications.
In testing, CataLite® DeOxo achieved greater than 99.96% oxygen conversion at gas hourly space velocities of 100,000 to 150,000 h⁻¹, even at oxygen concentrations as high as 5000 ppm. These values significantly exceed typical literature-reported performance for DeOxo systems, which often operate at space velocities of 1,000 to 20,000 h⁻¹ for ppm-level oxygen removal. Testing also confirmed strong coating stability under demanding thermal cycling conditions, with catalyst weight loss below 1 wt%.