CATALYSIS AND CATALYTIC REACTORS

It isn t that they can t see the solution. It is that they can t see the problem. 

Catalysts have been used by humankind for over 2000 years. The first observed uses of catalysts were in the making of wine, cheese, and bread. It was found that it was always necessary to add small amounts of the previous batch to make the current batch. However, it wasn t until 1835 that Berzelius began lo tie together observations of earlier chemists by suggesting that small amounts of a foreign source could greatly affect the course of chemical reactions. This mysterious force attributed to the substance was called catalytic. In 

Ostwald expanded Berzelius explanation by stating that catalysts were substances that accelerate the rate of chemical reactions without being consumed. In over 150 years since Berzelius work, catalysts have come to play a major economic role in the world market. In the United States alone, sales of process catalysts in 1996 were over 1 billion, the major uses being in petroleum refining and in chemical production. 

Normally when we talk about a catalyst, we mean one that speeds up a reaction, although strictly speaking, a catalyst can either accelerate or slow the formation of a particular product species. A catalyst changes only the rate cf a reaction it does not affect the equilibrium. 

Homogeneous catalysis concerns processes in which a catalyst is in solution with at least one of the reactants. An example of homogeneous catalysis is the industrial Oxo process for manufacturing normal isobutylaldehyde. ft has propylene, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen as the reactants and a liquid-phase cobalt complex as the catalyst. 

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Catalysis and Catalytic Reactors Chap. 10 Stoichiometry (gas phase isothermal and no pressure drop) ... 

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