Catalysis catalytic converter

In tills chapter we consider systems in which a reaction between two gaseous species is carried out in die adsorbed state on die surface of a solid. The products of die reaction will be gaseous, and die solid acts to increase die rate of a reaction which, in die gaseous state only, would be considerably slower, but would normally yield die same products. This effect is known as catalysis and is typified in industty by die role of adsorption in increasing die rate of syndiesis of many organic products, and in die reduction of pollution by die catalytic converter for automobile exliaust. 

Perhaps the most familiar example of heterogeneous catalysis is the series of reactions that occur in the catalytic converter of an automobile (Figure 11.12). Typically this device contains 1 to 3 g of platinum metal mixed with rhodium. The platinum catalyzes the oxidation of carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons such as benzene, C6H6 ... 

One problem with heterogeneous catalysis is that the solid catalyst is easily poisoned. Foreign materials deposited on the catalytic surface during the reaction reduce or even destroy its effectiveness. A major reason for using unleaded gasoline is that lead metal poisons the Pt-Rh mixture in the catalytic converter. 

The strength and interrelation of catalysis, classical promotion and electrochemical promotion is illustrated in Fig. 2.3. The reaction under consideration14 is the reduction of NO by CO in presence of 02. This is a complex reaction system but of great technological importance for the development of efficient catalytic converters able to treat the exhaust gases of lean burn and Diesel engines. 

By far the most important use of the platinum metals is for catalysis. The largest single use is in automobile catalytic converters. Platinum is the principal catalyst, but catalytic converters also contain rhodium and palladium. These elements also catalyze a wide variety of reactions in the chemical and petroleum industry. For example, platinum metal is the catalyst for ammonia oxidation in the production of nitric acid, as described in Pt gauze, 1200 K... 

This review has highlighted the key contributions of modern surface science to the understanding of the kinetics and mechanism of nitrogen oxide reduction catalysis. As discussed above, the conversion of NO has been taken as the standard to represent other NOx, and CO has typically been used as the reducing agent in these studies. The bulk of the work has been carried out on rhodium and palladium surfaces, the most common transition metals used in three-way catalytic converters. 

An enzyme is a protein that speeds up a biochemical reaction without itself experiencing any overall change. In chemical language, such a compound is called a catalyst and is said to catalyze a reaction. Chemists employ a variety of compounds as laboratory catalysts, and many industrial chemical processes would be impracticably slow without catalysis. An automobile s catalytic converter makes use of a metal catalyst to accelerate conversion of toxic carbon monoxide in the exhaust to carbon dioxide. Similarly, our bodies biochemical machinery effects thousands of different reactions that would not proceed without enzymatic catalysis. Some enzymes are exquisitely specific, catalyzing only one particular reaction of a single compound. Many others have much less exacting requirements and consequently exhibit broader effects. Specific or nonspecific, enzymes can make reactions go many millions of times faster than they would without catalysis. 

The oxidation of CO by Oj over group VIII metal catalysts has been the subject of a large body of ultrahigh vacuum surface science and high pressure catalysis work due to its importance in pollution control. Currently, the removal of CO as CO2 from automobile exhaust is accomplished by catalytic converters which employ a supported Pt, Pd, and Rh catalyst. The importance of CO oxidation has led to numerous recent studies of the kinetics of this reaction on supported metal catalysts and transient kinetic studies on polycrystalline foils , which have sought to identify and quantify the parameters of the elementary mechanistic steps in CO oxidation. 

In an automobile s catalytic converter, CO and hydrocarbons present in the exhaust gases are oxidized. Unfortunately the effectiveness of these units decreases with use. The phenomenon was studied by Summers and Hegedus in /. Catalysis, 51, 185 (1978) by means of an accelerated aging test on a palladium impregnated porous pellet packed bed converter. From the reported data on hydrocarbon conversion shown below, develop an expression to represent the deactivation rate of this catalyst. 

In fact, most of us benefit from the use of catalysis. Automotive catalytic converters have represented the most massive application of environmental catalysis and one of the most challenging and successful cases in catalysis, generally. Automobile catalysts deseive a few more comments. The engine exhaust emission is a complex mixture, whose composition and flow rate change continuously depending on a variety of factors such as driving conditions, acceleration, and speed. Despite the variability of the conditions, three-way catalysts have achieved the reduction of exhaust carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and... 

Catalysts have been used in the chemical industry for hundreds of years and many large-scale industrial processes can only be carried out thanks to the presence of catalysts. However, it is only since the 1970s that catalysis has become familiar to the general public, mainly because of developments in environmental protection, such as the well-known and widely used catalytic converter for automobiles [1]. 

Converters for cars are usually ceramic monoliths and occasionally metal based. Without much exaggeration, they can be claimed to be one of the major successes of recent decades in the area of chemical engineering and catalysis. In the beginning, the catalytic converter was placed underbody, where sufficient space was available and where the temperature was expected to be mild. There was no need... 

Ask the average man on the street for an example of catalysis, and you will most likely hear about the thing on the exhaust pipe that reduces engine emissions . As we shall see, the remarkable story of the catalytic converter is not only an excellent example of catalysis, but also highlights the connection between heterogeneous catalysis, green chemistry, and sustainable development. 

Heterogeneous catalysts are present in a different physical state from the reactants. A typical heterogeneous catalytic reaction involves a solid surface onto which molecules in a fluid phase temporarily attach themselves in such a way to favor a rapid reaction. Catalytic converters in cars utilize heterogeneous catalysis to break down harmful chemicals in exhaust. 

K. C. Taylor, Automobile catalytic converters. In Catalysis Science and Technologyy Vol. 5 (J.R. Anderson and M. Boudait, eds.). Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1984. 

K C Taylor. Automobile catalytic converters. Catalysis—Science and Technology (J R Anderson and M Boudart, Eds ), Sponger Verlag, Berlin, 1984, p 119... 

J.P. Leclerc, D. Schweich, and J. Villermaux, A new theoretical approach to catalytic converters, in Catalysis and Automotive Pollution Control II (A. Crucq, ed.), Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1991, p. 465. 

Catalysis is increasingly replacing the use of many hazardous substances in chemical production to achieve cleaner chemical synthesis. Catalysis is also important in reducing downstream pollutants after they are generated as is done in the catalytic converters of automobiles. 

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