, this invention arose out of concerns associated with providing improved methods and systems for transferring binary data.

There are numerous types of devices making it possible to measure the activity of solid catalysts for the usual reactions encountered in the refining or petrochemical industry. These measurements are made under the following conditions:
pressure between 10.sup.5 and 3.times.107 pascals;
temperature between ambient and 750.degree. C;
liquid (hydrocarbons, other organic compounds) and/or gas (generally containing hydrogen) charge. The flow of charge, expressed in volume of charge per unit of catalyst and per hour (VPH), is generally between 0.01 and 10.sup.2 in the case of a liquid charge, between 10 and 10.sup.5 in the case of a gas charge;
shaped solid catalyst (balls, pellets, extrudates).
Although acceptable when it is desired to measure the activity of catalysts under conditions similar to or identical with those achieved in industrial installations, existing devices and particularly those operating at a pressure above atmospheric pressure exhibit a certain number of drawbacks:
the amounts of catalyst required at a minimum are a few cm.sup.3, which can be a serious obstacle in the case of exploratory studies using catalysts whose preparation is difficult or expensive:
in standard installations, activation and bringing to normal operating conditions of certain catalytic systems is long (from several hours to several days), which is linked to the dimensions of the equipment (thermal inertia and large dead spaces);
for the same reasons, the period of a balance is necessarily important, which generally precludes detailed study of initial bringing to normal operating conditions of the catalytic system under consideration;
standard installations are generally not suited to an online automated analysis with a very short response time (size of dead spaces, inertias of the temperature and pressure regulating systems);
finally, complete automation of a standard installation and its control from a 