Temporal analysis of products

Temporal Analysis of Products, (TAP), (TAP-2)

The TAP reactor is used to characterize the kinetics and chemical conversions of a given heterogeneous catalysts. John Gleaves co-invented the TAP reactor in 1988 while at Monsanto. The system consists of a heated microreacted situated on a high vacuum source containing a quadrapole mass spectrometer. A fast-acting "pulse valve" is situated on top of the reactor which enables small pulses of a test gas to enter the evacuated reactor. The general methodology of TAP data analysis consists of comparing an inert gas pulse which is controlled only by diffusion, with a non-inert gas pulse which is controlled by diffusion, and possible surface adsorption onto the test catalyst.