Temporal analysis of products
Encyclopedia
Temporal Analysis of Products, (TAP), (TAP-2)

The TAP reactor is used to characterize the kinetic
Kinetic energy
The kinetic energy of an object is the energy which it possesses due to its motion.It is defined as the work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity. Having gained this energy during its acceleration, the body maintains this kinetic energy unless its speed changes...

s and chemical conversions of a given heterogeneous catalysts. John Gleaves co-invented the TAP reactor in 1988 while at Monsanto Company. The system consists of a heated microreactor situated on a high vacuum
Vacuum
In everyday usage, vacuum is a volume of space that is essentially empty of matter, such that its gaseous pressure is much less than atmospheric pressure. The word comes from the Latin term for "empty". A perfect vacuum would be one with no particles in it at all, which is impossible to achieve in...

 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
Inert gas
An inert gas is a non-reactive gas used during chemical synthesis, chemical analysis, or preservation of reactive materials. Inert gases are selected for specific settings for which they are functionally inert since the cost of the gas and the cost of purifying the gas are usually a consideration...

 pulse which is controlled only by diffusion, with a non-inert gas pulse which is controlled by diffusion
Diffusion
Molecular diffusion, often called simply diffusion, is the thermal motion of all particles at temperatures above absolute zero. The rate of this movement is a function of temperature, viscosity of the fluid and the size of the particles...

, and possible surface adsorption
Adsorption
Adsorption is the adhesion of atoms, ions, biomolecules or molecules of gas, liquid, or dissolved solids to a surface. This process creates a film of the adsorbate on the surface of the adsorbent. It differs from absorption, in which a fluid permeates or is dissolved by a liquid or solid...

onto the test catalyst.
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