Coke formation heterogeneities effect

Catalyst deactivation refers to the loss of catalytic activity and/or product selectivity over time and is a result of a number of unwanted chemical and physical changes to the catalyst leading to a decrease in number of active sites on the catalyst surface. It is usually an inevitable and slow phenomenon, and occurs in almost all the heterogeneous catalytic systems.111 Three major categories of deactivation mechanisms are known and they are catalyst sintering, poisoning, and coke formation or catalyst fouling. They can occur either individually or in combination, but the net effect is always the removal of active sites from the catalyst surface. 

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