Dr. Yoav Barshad

President

Yoav is a chemical engineer specializing in environmental catalysis, spectroscopy, and product development. He has previously founded 3 technology companies and has over 30 years of experience in industrial process control.

LinkedIn CV Patents ZGB Model

CV

  • University of Michigan
    PhD in Chemical Engineering
    1986

    Yoav developed a catalytic converter to remove NOX from car exhaust.

    He also constructed a Sabatier reactor to convert CO2 into CH4 and published the ZGB model.

  • BarSpec, Ltd.
    Founder & President
    1987
    Rehovot, IL

    Yoav developed a spectrometer that used a “free flying” grating to obtain a full UV-Visible spectrum 10 times per second.

    BarSpec received investment from Israel Chemical Limited and was sold to BIO-RAD.

  • Novachem B.V.
    Co-Founder & President
    1991
    Arnhem, NL

    The company developed real-time hydrogen sulfide analyzers for the oil refining industry, required for safety and process control.

    Novachem received investment and was sold to Novitron International.

  • Applied Analytics, Inc.
    Co-Founder & President
    1994
    Boston, MA

    The company develops innovative measurement solutions for complex environmental applications such as sulfur recovery and biogas upgrading.

    Applied Analytics provides engineering support for SKYVAC. Learn more

Patents

ZGB Model

The Ziff-Gulari-Barshad model describes the behavior of a catalyst distributed into islands to maximize surface contact between the reactants.

Inspired by Hannibal’s tactics to defeat a much larger Roman force, the model showed that a catalyst becomes “poisoned” when large clusters of a single reactant form—and that this can be prevented by periodic operation, i.e. introducing one reactant at a time.

The model is frequently cited in catalysis research and underpins the SKYVAC approach to optimal steady-state chemical conversion of CO2 into more valuable molecules.

The ZGB model demonstrates
the benefit of periodic operation
in catalysis