Patent ID: 7070999

Claim:
A method for generating and processing a plurality of effluents comprising: a) contacting, simultaneously, at least one fluid containing a reactant with a multiplicity of catalysts, each catalyst contained in one of a multiplicity of vessels to generate a plurality of effluents wherein the plurality of generated effluents corresponds to the multiplicity of the catalysts in the multiplicity of vessels; b) flowing, simultaneously, the plurality of effluents from the multiplicity of vessels through at least one sampling valve, said sampling valve having X inlets and Y outlets, where X is not less than the number of effluents; c) collecting a portion of at least a first effluent at a time T1 by actuating the sampling valve to close a first loop comprising the sampling valve, a first effluent conduit, the selection valve, and corresponding first bypass conduit; and collecting a portion of at least a second effluent at a time T2 by actuating the sampling valve to close a second loop comprising the sampling valve, a second effluent conduit, the selection valve, and a corresponding second bypass conduit; d) directing, sequentially, at least a portion of the collected effluents to a processing device by activating the selection valve; and e) sequentially processing the effluents using the processing device.