Catalysts carburization

Pichler and Merkel (24) investigated the composition of iron catalysts at various stages of pretreatment and synthesis by chemical and thermo-magnetic analysis. Copper-free iron catalysts, carburized at 325°C. before medium-pressure synthesis, were virtually completely transformed to a ferromagnetic higher iron carbide with a Curie point of 265°C., whose formula corresponded to approximately Fe2C. 

DEVELOPMENT OF NOVEL SUPPORTED MO2C CATALYSTS CARBURIZATION KINETICS AND OPTIMAL CONDITIONS... 

Then they proposed Ni-Mo carbide catalyst [35] for the low temperature WGS reaction. Among the various catalysts Nio.25Moo.75 catalyst carburized at 873 K was more active than the other catalysts. Usually, Mo carbide catalysts deactivate with time-on-stream. However, Nio.25Moo.75 catalyst carburized at 923 K exhibits stable activity for 300 min of time-on-stream. The Ni contents of 15% and 25% increased the catalytic activity but further Ni content led to a drop in activity. They proposed that the promotion of the WGS reaction activity was due to the formation of Ni-Mo oxycarbide. 

The term, metal dusting, was first used about this time to describe the phenomenon associated with hydrocarbon processing. Butane dehydrogenation plant personnel noted how iron oxide and coke radiated outward through catalyst particles from a metal contaminant which acted as a nucleating point. The metal had deteriorated and appeared to have turned to dust. The phenomenon has been called catastrophic carburization and metal deterioration in a high temperature carbonaceous environment, but the term most commonly used today is metal dusting. 

Serious research in catalytic reduction of automotive exhaust was begun in 1949 by Eugene Houdry, who developed mufflers for fork lift trucks used in confined spaces such as mines and warehouses (18). One of the supports used was the monolith—porcelain rods covered with films of alumina, on which platinum was deposited. California enacted laws in 1959 and 1960 on air quality and motor vehicle emission standards, which would be operative when at least two devices were developed that could meet the requirements. This gave the impetus for a greater effort in automotive catalysis research (19). Catalyst developments and fleet tests involved the partnership of catalyst manufacturers and muffler manufacturers. Three of these teams were certified by the California Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Board in 1964-65 American Cyanamid and Walker, W. R. Grace and Norris-Thermador, and Universal Oil Products and Arvin. At the same time, Detroit announced that engine modifications by lean carburation and secondary air injection enabled them to meet the California standard without the use of catalysts. This then delayed the use of catalysts in automobiles. 

The application of ly transition metal carbides as effective substitutes for the more expensive noble metals in a variety of reactions has hem demonstrated in several studies [ 1 -2]. Conventional pr aration route via high temperature (>1200K) oxide carburization using methane is, however, poorly understood. This study deals with the synthesis of supported tungsten carbide nanoparticles via the relatively low-tempoatine propane carburization of the precursor metal sulphide, hi order to optimize the carbide catalyst propertira at the molecular level, we have undertaken a detailed examination of hotii solid-state carburization conditions and gas phase kinetics so as to understand the connectivity between plmse kinetic parametera and catalytically-important intrinsic attributes of the nanoparticle catalyst system. 

The quadrupole doublet has an isomer shift corresponding to iron in the ferric or Fe " state. After reduction in H2 at 675 K the catalyst consists mainly of metallic iron, as evidenced by the sextet, along with some unreduced iron, which gives rise to two doublet contributions of Fe " and Fe " in the centre. The overall degree of iron reduction, as reflected by the relative area under the bcc ion sextet, is high. Fischer-Tropsch synthesis at 575 K in CO and FI2 converts the metallic iron into the Flagg carbide, Fe5C2. The unreduced iron is mainly present as Fe ". Exposure of the carburized catalyst to the air at room temperature leaves most of the carbide phase unaltered but oxidizes the ferrous to ferric iron. 

Agrawal et al.33 performed studies of Co/A1203 catalysts using sulfur-free feed synthesis gas and reported a slow continual deactivation of Co/A1203 methanation catalysts at 300°C due to carbon deposition. They postulate that the deactivation could occur by carburization of bulk cobalt and formation of graphite deposits on the Co surface, which they observed by Auger spectroscopy. 

Also, manganese added to cobalt on activated carbon catalysts resulted in a decrease in bulk carbide formation during reduction and a decrease in the subsequent deactivation rate.84 Magnesium and yttrium added to the support in alumina-supported cobalt catalysts showed a lower extent of carburization. This was explained by a decrease in Lewis acidity of the alumina surface in the presence of these ions.87... 

Hofer, L. J. E., Cohn, E. M., and Peebles, W. C. 1949. Isothermal decomposition of the carbide in a carburized cobalt Fischer-Tropsch catalyst. J. Phys. Coll. Chem. 53 661-69. 

Temperature-programmed reduction combined with x-ray absorption fine-structure (XAFS) spectroscopy provided clear evidence that the doping of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalysts with Cu and alkali (e.g., K) promotes the carburization rate relative to the undoped catalyst. Since XAFS provides information about the local atomic environment, it can be a powerful tool to aid in catalyst characterization. While XAFS should probably not be used exclusively to characterize the types of iron carbide present in catalysts, it may be, as this example shows, a useful complement to verify results from Mossbauer spectroscopy and other temperature-programmed methods. The EXAFS results suggest that either the Hagg or s-carbides were formed during the reduction process over the cementite form. There appears to be a correlation between the a-value of the product distribution and the carburization rate. 

Following from this discussion, and considering that carburization was carried out at 270°C in 5% CO/He, one would anticipate that the catalyst should likely... 

It has been suggested [21,22] that the presence of Cu and K increases the rates and extent of Fe304 carburization during reaction and the FTS rates, by providing multiple nucleation sites that lead to the ultimate formation of smaller carbide crystallites with higher active surface area. In the present investigation, Cu- and K-promoted iron catalysts performed better than the unpromoted catalysts in terms of (1) a lower CH4 selectivity, (2) higher C5+ and alkene product selectivi-ties, and (3) an enhanced isomerization rate of 1-alkene. 

The TPR-XAFS technique confirmed that doping Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalysts with Cu and alkali (e.g., K) remarkably promotes the carburization rate relative to the undoped catalyst. The EXAFS results suggest that either the Hagg or e-carbides were formed during the reduction process over the cementite form. A correlation is observed between the a-value of the product distribution and the carburization rate. 

Li, S., Li, A., Krishnamoorthy, S., and Iglesia, E. 2001. Effects of Zn, Cu, and K promoters on the structure and on the reduction, carburization, and catalytic behavior of iron-based Fischer-Tropsch synthesis catalysts. Catal. Lett. 77 197-205. 

Some of these same experiments have been done using 10% Fe/Al203 rather than the fused iron catalyst (53). Figure 22 shows the result of a switch from H2 to 10% CO in H2 over a freshly reduced catalyst. Here a large initial rate of methane formation is observed and water does not appear until most of the initial peak has passed. The probable explanation for the presence of the CHi peak is that water produced by methanation is adsorbed on the initially dry y-Al203 support (100 m2/g). Thus the iron remains briefly in a relatively reduced state. For the CCI catalyst the AI2O3 promoter is not sufficient to prevent the water from rising quickly as shown in Fig. 19. The H/0 ratio on the surface is reduced, and carburization occurs more rapidly than methanation, as for the unsupported catalyst. 

The conversion of iron catalysts into iron carbide under Fischer-Tropsch conditions is well known and has been the subject of several studies [20-23], A fundamentally intriguing question is why the active iron Fischer-Tropsch catalyst consists of iron carbide, while cobalt, nickel and ruthenium are active as a metal. Figure 5.9 (left) shows how metallic iron particles convert to carbides in a mixture of CO and H2 at 515 K. After 0.5 and 1.1 h of reaction, the sharp six-line pattern of metallic iron is still clearly visible in addition to the complicated carbide spectra, but after 2.5 h the metallic iron has disappeared. At short reaction times, a rather broad spectral component appears - better visible in carburization experiments at lower temperatures - indicated as FexC. The eventually remaining pattern can be understood as the combination of two different carbides -Fe2.2C and %-Fe5C2. 

These two examples illustrate how Mossbauer spectroscopy reveals the identity of iron phases in a catalyst after different treatments. The examples are typical for many applications of the technique in catalysis. A catalyst is reduced, carburized, sulfided, or passivated, and, after cooling down, its Mossbauer spectrum is taken at room temperature. However, a complete characterization of phases in a catalyst... 

The examples illustrate the strong points of XRD for catalyst studies XRD identifies crystallographic phases, if desired under in situ conditions, and can be used to monitor the kinetics of solid state reactions such as reduction, oxidation, sulfidation, carburization or nitridation that are used in the activation of catalysts. In addition, careful analysis of diffraction line shapes or - more common but less accurate-simple determination of the line broadening gives information on particle size. 

Table 134 Impact of carburization on the water-gas shift rates over Mo2C catalysts using 0.5 g catalyst and a feed containing 62.5%H2, 31.8%H20, and 5.7%CO. Rates in micromoles CO consumed per g per sec. T = 300 °C and SV = 10 000 h 1 546...

The optimum Co content regarding activity was 50%, with an optimal carburization temperature of 600 °C. Though slightly more active than Cu-Zn-Al initially, the catalyst exhibited a faster deactivation rate after 300 min. Based on incomplete carburization, the authors ascribed the active component to an amorphous Co-Mo oxycarbide phase. 

The applications of IR spectroscopy in catalysis are many. For example, IR can be used to directly characterize the catalysts themselves. This is often done in the study of zeolites, metal oxides, and heteropolyacids, among other catalysts [77,78], To exemplify this type of application, Figure 1.11 displays transmission IR spectra for a number of Co Mo O (0 < x < 1) mixed metal oxides with various compositions [79]. In this study, a clear distinction could be made between pure Mo03, with its characteristic IR peaks at 993, 863, 820, and 563 cm-1, and the Mo04 tetrahedral units in the CoMo04 solid solutions formed upon Co304 incorporation, with its new bands at 946 and 662 cm-1. These properties could be correlated with the activity of the catalysts toward carburization and hy-drodenitrogenation reactions. 

In connection with the aromatization of methane induced by Mo-H-ZSM-5 catalysts (see Section 3.5.2), Mo2C on H-ZSM-5 prepared by carburation of M0O3 was studied in the aromatization of ethane,427 ethylene,428 and propane 429 The high dehydrogenation activity of Mo2C and the ability of H-ZSM-5 to induce aromatization of alkenes makes this an active and selective catalyst for aromatics production. 

Iron catalysts used in Fischer-Tropsch synthesis are very sensitive to conditions of their preparation and pretreatment. Metallic iron exhibits very low activity. Under Fischer-Tropsch reaction conditions, however, it is slowly transformed into an active catalyst. For example, iron used in medium-pressure synthesis required an activation process of several weeks at atmospheric pressure to obtain optimum activity and stability.188 During this activation period, called carburization, phase... 

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