Vernon Christensen, vice president of business development, Christy Catalytics

Christy Catalytics offers a complete range of support balls (inert bed supports) in ceramic and high-purity alumina compositions. BIC Magazine recently spoke with Vernon Christensen, vice president of business development at Christy Catalytics, to discuss the company's expertise and world-class quality control program.

BIC: Why should people consider Christy Catalytics?

CHRISTENSEN: Christy Catalytics has a very long, proven track record of supplying support balls to the global hydrocarbon processing sector. We have been a supplier of these since the early 1950s and our customer base now includes the vast majority of all hydrocarbon processing companies worldwide. To date, we have supplied support balls to facilities in over 73 countries. With warehouses in both Houston and central Ohio, our footprint allows us to quickly respond to our North American customer base. We are responsive and can react to customers' requirements 24/7. We are also flexible and can offer our products in a wide variety of packaging options to meet storage and installation requirements.

BIC: As things start to normalize, what should readers be aware of with the supply chain?

CHRISTENSEN: The global economy is struggling to return to normalcy as the detrimental effects of the global pandemic begin to subside. Prices of many raw materials are extremely high, as suppliers struggle to meet increased demand for virtually all products. The global shipping infrastructure is in total disarray with record-high prices for ocean-going containers, a lack of container ship availability and severe port congestion. This leads to longer lead times and increased costs for products coming into North America. With manufacturing facilities for both ceramic as well as high alumina, low silica support balls in the U.S., Christy can support North American clients' current requirements more reliably.

We hope that the current global supply situation normalizes over time, but it could take a while. With so many facilities planning upcoming maintenance events over the next year or so, it is incumbent on planners to consider possible product availability issues and longer lead times. As the economy corrects current imbalances, we expect this situation will be less negative, but for now, there is no guarantee.

BIC: What kind of experience does Christy Catalytics have?

CHRISTENSEN: We supply hundreds of facilities in North America, and our orders range from very small requirements to those well in the millions of dollars. Typical clients include petroleum refineries, natural gas production facilities, LNG facilities, sulfuric acid plants and all types of petrochemicals facilities. Any facilities that use a fixed-bed catalytic reactor or adsorbents bed are potential users of our products. We are very proud of the fact that many of our customers have successfully used our products for multiple decades.

BIC: Tell us about Christy Catalytics' quality control program.

CHRISTENSEN: Our quality control program is comprehensive in nature and begins with ensuring that the raw materials we use are of the highest quality. Each step in the manufacturing process includes process control checks, and operators have the ability to stop production to immediately correct out-of-process situations. Our quality control program has been reviewed and approved by many key end users, technology providers and catalyst/adsorbent suppliers. Some of the typical quality control checks include material composition, sphericity, thermal shock resistance, pressure shock resistance and impact resistance.

BIC: What makes Christy Catalytics' culture unique?

CHRISTENSEN: Christy Catalytics' culture focuses on customer satisfaction. We achieve this by a comprehensive culture we call "The Christy Way." The Christy Way focuses on a broad range of continual initiatives including staff development and training, safety focus, and process improvement and optimization. Christy Catalytics treats its employees with respect, offering them a great place to work that includes a full range of benefits, personal goal planning and the ability to give back to those in need. To learn more about our culture, visit www.christyco.com/our-culture.

For more information, visit their website or call (314) 773-7500.

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