Chromium supported

The metal catalyzed production of polyolefins such as high density polyethylene (HDPE), linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) and polypropylene (PP) has grown into an enormous industry. Heterogeneous transition metal catalysts are used for the vast majority of PE and all of the PP production. These catalysts fall generally within two broad classes. Most commercial PP is isotactic and is produced with a catalyst based on a combination of titanium chloride and alkylaluminum chlorides. HDPE and LLDPE are produced with either a titanium catalyst or one based on chromium supported on silica. Most commercial titanium-based PE catalysts are supported on MgCl2. 

Chromium oxide and chromium supported on other oxides such as A1203 are important catalysts for a wide variety of reactions. 

FIGURE 182 MW distributions of polymers made with chromium supported on a mixed Zr-Ti phosphate, and on the single oxides. The presence of phosphate again tends to produce low-MW polymer. The catalysts were activated at 550 °C and tested at 105 °C with 5 ppm AlEtj. 

The equilibrium is more favorable to acetone at higher temperatures. At 325°C 97% conversion is theoretically possible. The kinetics of the reaction has been studied (23). A large number of catalysts have been investigated, including copper, silver, platinum, and palladium metals, as well as sulfides of transition metals of groups 4, 5, and 6 of the periodic table. These catalysts are made with inert supports and are used at 400—600°C (24). Lower temperature reactions (315—482°C) have been successhiUy conducted using 2inc oxide-zirconium oxide combinations (25), and combinations of copper-chromium oxide and of copper and silicon dioxide (26). 

Heterogeneous vapor-phase fluorination of a chlorocarbon or chlorohydrocarbon with HP over a supported metal catalyst is an alternative to the hquid phase process. Salts of chromium, nickel, cobalt or iron on an A1P. support are considered viable catalysts in pellet or fluidized powder form. This process can be used to manufacture CPC-11 and CPC-12, but is hampered by the formation of over-fluorinated by-products with Httle to no commercial value. The most effective appHcation for vapor-phase fluorination is where all the halogens are to be replaced by fluorine, as in manufacture of 3,3,3-trifluoropropene [677-21 ] (14) for use in polyfluorosiHcones. 

This reaction is first conducted on a chromium-promoted iron oxide catalyst in the high temperature shift (HTS) reactor at about 370°C at the inlet. This catalyst is usually in the form of 6 x 6-mm or 9.5 x 9.5-mm tablets, SV about 4000 h . Converted gases are cooled outside of the HTS by producing steam or heating boiler feed water and are sent to the low temperature shift (LTS) converter at about 200—215°C to complete the water gas shift reaction. The LTS catalyst is a copper—zinc oxide catalyst supported on alumina. CO content of the effluent gas is usually 0.1—0.25% on a dry gas basis and has a 14°C approach to equihbrium, ie, an equihbrium temperature 14°C higher than actual, and SV about 4000 h . Operating at as low a temperature as possible is advantageous because of the more favorable equihbrium constants. The product gas from this section contains about 77% H2, 18% CO2, 0.30% CO, and 4.7% CH. ... 

Second, in the early 1950s, Hogan and Bank at Phillips Petroleum Company, discovered (3,4) that ethylene could be catalyticaHy polymerized into a sohd plastic under more moderate conditions at a pressure of 3—4 MPa (435—580 psi) and temperature of 70—100°C, with a catalyst containing chromium oxide supported on siUca (Phillips catalysts). PE resins prepared with these catalysts are linear, highly crystalline polymers of a much higher density of 0.960—0.970 g/cnr (as opposed to 0.920—0.930 g/cnf for LDPE). These resins, or HDPE, are currentiy produced on a large scale, (see Olefin polymers, HIGH DENSITY POLYETHYLENE). 

Organochromium Catalysts. Several commercially important catalysts utilize organ ochromium compounds. Some of them are prepared by supporting bis(triphenylsilyl)chromate on siUca or siUca-alumina in a hydrocarbon slurry followed by a treatment with alkyl aluminum compounds (41). Other catalysts are based on bis(cyclopentadienyl)chromium deposited on siUca (42). The reactions between the hydroxyl groups in siUca and the chromium compounds leave various chromium species chemically linked to the siUca surface. The productivity of supported organochromium catalysts is also high, around 8—10 kg PE/g catalyst (800—1000 kg PE/g Cr). 

Most catalysts for solution processes are either completely soluble or pseudo-homogeneous all their catalyst components are introduced into the reactor as Hquids but produce soHd catalysts when combined. The early Du Pont process employed a three-component catalyst consisting of titanium tetrachloride, vanadium oxytrichloride, and triisobutjlalurninum (80,81), whereas Dow used a mixture of titanium tetrachloride and triisobutylalurninum modified with ammonia (86,87). Because processes are intrinsically suitable for the use of soluble catalysts, they were the first to accommodate highly active metallocene catalysts. Other suitable catalyst systems include heterogeneous catalysts (such as chromium-based catalysts) as well as supported and unsupported Ziegler catalysts (88—90). 

Chromium Oxide-Based Catalysts. Chromium oxide-based catalysts were originally developed by Phillips Petroleum Company for the manufacture of HDPE resins subsequendy, they have been modified for ethylene—a-olefin copolymerisation reactions (10). These catalysts use a mixed sihca—titania support containing from 2 to 20 wt % of Ti. After the deposition of chromium species onto the support, the catalyst is first oxidised by an oxygen—air mixture and then reduced at increased temperatures with carbon monoxide. The catalyst systems used for ethylene copolymerisation consist of sohd catalysts and co-catalysts, ie, triaLkylboron or trialkyl aluminum compounds. Ethylene—a-olefin copolymers produced with these catalysts have very broad molecular weight distributions, characterised by M.Jin the 12—35 and MER in the 80—200 range. 

Catalysts used for preparing amines from alcohols iaclude cobalt promoted with tirconium, lanthanum, cerium, or uranium (52) the metals and oxides of nickel, cobalt, and/or copper (53,54,56,60,61) metal oxides of antimony, tin, and manganese on alumina support (55) copper, nickel, and a metal belonging to the platinum group 8—10 (57) copper formate (58) nickel promoted with chromium and/or iron on alumina support (53,59) and cobalt, copper, and either iron, 2iac, or zirconium (62). 

In past years, metals in dilute sulfuric acid were used to produce the nascent hydrogen reductant (42). Today, the reducing agent is hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst. Nickel, preferably Raney nickel (34), chromium or molybdenum promoted nickel (43), or supported precious metals such as platinum or palladium (35,44) on activated carbon, or the oxides of these metals (36,45), are used as catalysts. Other catalysts have been suggested such as molybdenum and platinum sulfide (46,47), or a platinum—nithenium mixture (48). 

In catalytic toluene hydrodealkylation, toluene is mixed with a hydrogen stream and passed through a vessel packed with a catalyst, usually supported chromium or molybdenum oxides, platinum or platinum oxides, on siHca or alumina (50). The operating temperatures range from 500—595°C... 

These siUca-supported catalysts demonstrate the close connections between catalysis in solutions and catalysis on surfaces, but they are not industrial catalysts. However, siUca is used as a support for chromium complexes, formed either from chromocene or chromium salts, that are industrial catalysts for polymerization of a-olefins (64,65). Supported chromium complex catalysts are used on an enormous scale in the manufacture of linear polyethylene in the Unipol and Phillips processes (see Olefin polymers). The exact stmctures of the surface species are still not known, but it is evident that there is a close analogy linking soluble and supported metal complex catalysts for olefin polymerization. 

Polyethylene. Low pressure polymerization of ethylene produced in the Phillips process utilizes a catalyst comprised of 0.5—1.0 wt % chromium (VI) on siUca or siUca-alumina with pore diameter in the range 5—20 nanometers. In a typical catalyst preparation, the support in powder form is impregnated with an aqueous solution of a chromium salt and dried, after which it is heated at 500—600°C in fluid-bed-type operation driven with dry air. The activated catalyst is moisture sensitive and usually is stored under dry nitrogen (85). 

Union Carbide Corp. also uses a siUca-supported chromium catalyst in their extremely low cost Unipol gas-phase linear low density ethylene copolymer process, which revolutionized the industry when it was introduced in 1977 (86—88). The productivity of this catalyst is 10 —10 kg polymer/kg transition metal contained in the catalyst. By 1990, the capacity of Unipol linear low density polyethylene reactors was sufficient to supply 25% of the world s total demand for polyethylene. 

Low pressure (0.1 to 20 MPa) and temperatures of 50 to 300°C using heterogeneous catalysts such as molybdenum oxide or chromium oxide supported on inorganic carriers to produce high density polyethylene (HDPE), which is more linear in nature, with densities of 0.94 to 0.97 g/cm. ... 

Above temperatures of 900°F, the austenitic stainless steel and other high alloy materials demonstrate inereas-ingly superior creep and stress-rupture properties over the chromium-molybdenum steels. For furnace hangers, tube supports, and other hardware exposed to firebox temperatures, cast alloys of 25 Cr-20 Ni and 25 Cr-12 Ni are frequently used. These materials are also generally needed because of their resistanee to oxidation and other high temperature corrodents. 

The 17% ferritic steels are easier to fabricate than the martensitic grades. They are used extensively in equipment for nitric acid production. The oxygen- and sulfur-resistant 30% chromium steel can be used at temperatures up to 1150°C but only for lightly loaded and well-supported furnace items because of its poor creep and brittlement properties when equipment is down to ambient temperatures [18]. 

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