Problem Types
“Why did our alkaline electrolyzer membrane degradation rate triple after switching from KOH to NaOH electrolyte at 80°C and 30 bar?”
Ionic conductivity vs. chemical stability at elevated temperature
The degradation mechanism is NaOH-specific: sodium ions have a larger hydrated radius (3.58Å vs 3.31Å for potassium), creating greater osmotic stress on the polysulfone membrane matrix.
At 80°C, NaOH accelerates chain scission in the polymer backbone via nucleophilic attack — a mechanism absent with KOH at the same concentration. The rate constant increases 4.2× between 60-80°C.
Characterize membrane via FTIR pre/post exposure
Test Zirfon PERL UTP 220 (ZrO₂-stabilized) — rated for NaOH
Reduce operating temperature to 65°C as interim mitigation
General LLMs aren’t designed for engineering problems.
Hallucinations.
Fabricated citations and invented data. Unacceptable when the output reaches a pilot reactor.
Shallow reasoning.
Single-pass analysis that collapses the moment constraint density increases.
Dropped constraints.
The more variables you add, the more the model quietly ignores.
Sparlo is a team of engineering agents.
7 specialized agents. 60 minutes of analysis.
A team of specialized agents decomposes and solves your problem the way an engineering team would if they huddled for a week.
Decompose & Reframe
Strip to first principles. Identify the binding constraint. Constraint inversion: flip assumed trade-offs to find the real design space.
Dynamic Problem Routing
Classify across 7 problem types. Assemble a custom team of specialized agents — different problems get different analytical strategies.
Deep Research
Papers, patents, abandoned technologies, trade publications. Cross-domain search: solutions from adjacent fields that haven’t been applied to yours.
Solution Generation
Function-Oriented Search and TRIZ systematic innovation. Every solution checked against the original constraint set.
Verification Gates
Web-check every citation. Re-compute every formula. Detect internal contradictions. Surface and test unstated assumptions.
Self-Critique
The system argues against its own conclusions. Identifies weakest links. Course-corrects when research reveals the problem shape has changed.
Adaptive Report
4 report types matched to problem structure. Specific: materials, vendors, operating parameters. Not a chat response.
Every claim verified.
Citations web-searched. Formulas re-computed. Internal contradictions reconciled.
Chen et al. (2019) demonstrated 94% selectivity using a PdCu membrane at 350°C.
No matching publication found. Citation appears fabricated.
Replaced with Yun & Oyama (2011), J. Membrane Science — 93.7% selectivity for Pd–Cu alloy membranes at 350°C.
σ = E·Δα·ΔT = 210 GPa × 4.2×10⁻⁶ × 200K = 126 MPa
Re-computed: 210 × 10³ × 4.2 × 10⁻⁶ × 200 = 176.4 MPa.
Corrected to 176 MPa. Downstream recommendations updated for the higher stress value.
Section 2: operate at pH 4.5. Section 5: catalyst stable only above pH 6.
Incompatible pH ranges across sections.
Reconciled to pH 6.2 — satisfies both catalyst stability and reaction kinetics.
You wouldn’t skip FEA on a load-bearing structure. We run the equivalent on every claim.
Inputs never train models
AES-256 at rest and in transit
No retention, no copies
Bring a hard problem.
The one you’ve been self-censoring from ChatGPT. 60 minutes of multi-agent analysis, grounded in reality.