About Us | ActiveSite

Scaling Innovation Forward

Taking a technology from concept to commercial scale is one of the most complex challenges in the industrial world. It requires an entirely different toolkit than operating a mature business. The skills needed to run a chemical plant, process reliability, cost discipline, and safety management, are not the same skills needed to navigate the path from bench to pilot to commercial. Most organizations don’t have both. And the gap between a promising technology and a working, cost-effective commercial process has derailed more valuable innovations than bad science ever has.

ActiveSite was built to close that gap.

Founded on over 30 years of catalyst development and commercialization experience, ActiveSite, formerly the Process Catalysts, Systems and Services (PCSS) division of Applied Catalysts, exists to give innovators and chemical companies the specialized commercial toolkit they are missing. We combine deep catalyst expertise with the breadth of capabilities needed to move technologies forward: custom catalyst development, process systems engineering, pilot-scale testing, and commercial scale-up, all under one roof and all working toward one goal: getting your technology to market at speed and at cost.

Our depth in catalysts is real. The ActiveSite portfolio spans activated PGM and base-metal packed bed series, metal oxide catalysts (MOC), carbon monolith catalysts (ACMC), ceramic monoliths, granular and extruded forms, and fully custom formulations designed around proprietary customer chemistries. Our process systems platform stretches from lab-scale flow and batch reactors through pilot runs to commercial continuous hydrogenation systems, modular production platforms, and separation systems, engineered to spec, built to perform, and designed with scalability in mind from day one.

What differentiates ActiveSite is not technical range alone. It is the integration. Commercial-stage technology challenges rarely fail for a single reason. They fail because heat transfer assumptions that worked at bench scale do not hold at pilot, because raw material specifications were not locked in early enough, because the team developing the catalyst and the team engineering the system were not talking. ActiveSite keeps those conversations continuous. Our chemists and engineers engage across the full commercialization arc, from initial chemistry screening and catalyst selection through process design, pilot testing, and optimization to turnkey commercial reactor systems, so that nothing falls through the handoff.

This model is not just technically sound. It is economically decisive. Faster commercialization timelines mean higher NPV for the technology. Fewer missteps at scale mean lower development cost. A partner who has done this before means risk that is managed, not absorbed.

The world needs new industrial technologies to work. ActiveSite is how they get there.

ActiveSite. Catalyst Depth. Commercial Breadth. Concept to Commercial.

The Specific Catalyst You Need

We take the time to understand your exact needs and offer exceptional solutions.

The Responsiveness You Deserve

Our chemists, chemical engineers, and business development teams are fast and effective and care about your success. You will experience excellent communication with our team - we pride ourselves on having multiple touches with our customers throughout our organization.

Fast, Fair & Excellent

Bring us your toughest custom-catalyst challenges. We’ll identify solutions that meet your most stringent requirements.

Hydrogenation

Hydrodeoxygenation

Lindlar Replacement

Nitrile Formation

Esterification

CuCr Replacement Catalysts

Fatty Acids & Fatty Alcohols

Dehydrogenation

Hydrodechlorination

Partial Oxidation

CO2 Upgrading

Ulman Condensation

Alkylation

Reductive Amination

VOC Destruction

George Choong
Commercial Director

Bob holds a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Chicago and is an expert in Heterogeneous Catalysis. Dr. Gulotty has 13 US Patents and 17 publications. Dr. Gulotty has managed the Active Site Development Lab in Laurens SC and provided technical leadership for catalyst technology at ActiveSite since 2011. His accomplishments include the commercialization of emission control catalysts, custom catalysts and activated carbon monolith catalysts for continuous hydrogenation processes.

Dr. Ben Egelske
Sr. Chemical Engineer

Ben is the lead chemical engineer at ActiveSite with 15 years’ experience in the process industry. His background includes technical sales, R&D scaleup, industrial automation, and sulfuric acid plant design. Ben currently leads the engineering team in support of the ActiveSite business. He is an expert in the development and application of commercial catalysts and processes for chemistry including hydrogenation, reductive alkylation, and selective oxidation. Ben earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota Duluth and his Ph.D in Chemical Engineering from the University of South Carolina. Ben is actively engaged in the industrial community publishing papers and patents and regularly speaking at events including the Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates (SOCMA), the North American Catalysis Meeting (NAM), Chemicals America, and others.

From Concept to Commercial. Faster, Leaner, and Built to Last.

Scaling Innovation Forward

Our Purpose