Catalyst test. The functional (kinetic) analysis starts with a rapid activation procedure (Fig. , in green), whose goal is to quickly bring the catalyst into a steady-state. Rapidly deactivating catalysts are also identified in this way. In this procedure, which takes 48 hours, the fresh catalysts are exposed to rather harsh conditions. The rapid activation requirement is either that the conversion of the alkane or oxygen reaches approximately 80% by increasing the temperature. The maximum temperature is limited to 450°C in order to minimize the influence of gas-phase reactions.