Heterogeneous catalysts industrial applications

In contrast to heterogeneous catalysis, industrial applications of homogeneous catalysis are relatively scarce, largely being restricted to the speciality and pharmaceutical sectors. Homogeneous catalysts have been well researched, since their catalytic centres can be relatively easily... 

In heterogeneous catalysis, solids catalyze reactions of molecules in gas or solution. As solids - unless they are porous - are commonly impenetrable, catalytic reactions occur at the surface. To use the often expensive materials (e.g. platinum) in an economical way, catalysts are usually nanometer-sized particles, supported on an inert, porous structure (see Fig. 1.4). Heterogeneous catalysts are the workhorses of the chemical and petrochemical industry and we will discuss many applications of heterogeneous catalysis throughout this book. 

The treatment of equivalent amounts of two different alkenes with a metathesis catalyst generally leads to the formation of complex product mixtures [925,926]. There are, however, several ways in which cross metathesis can be rendered synthetically useful. One example of an industrial application of cross metathesis is the ethenolysis of internal alkenes. In this process cyclic or linear olefins are treated with ethylene at 50 bar/20 80 °C in the presence of a heterogeneous metathesis catalyst. The reverse reaction of ADMET/RCM occurs, and terminal alkenes are obtained. 

For the production of chemicals, food additives and pharmaceutical products, homogeneous catalysis offers some attractive features such as a high selectivity and activity, e.g. in asymmetric synthesis. However, since most homogeneous catalysts are relatively expensive, their current industrial application is limited [3]. On the other hand, heterogeneous catalysts can easily be separated from the products and can be recycled efficiently. Membrane separations with emphasis on nanofil-tration and ultrafiltration will allow for a similar recyclability of homogeneous catalysts, which is important both from an environmental as well as a commercial... 

In order to use a catalyst in the heterogeneous Fenton and Fenton-like processes, for industrial applications, there are several features that the catalyst needs to fulfill. Some of these characteristics are high activity, chemical and mechanical stability imder several... 

The low iron leaching from the C2-Us/Ms catalyst exhibits an interesting feature due to the possibility of using this catalyst for a longer operation time for industrial applications. The performance of this catalyst, that shows slower deactivation, seems to be mainly due to the heterogeneous Fenton-like process. Figure 27 shows that most of the iron leaching is as Fe in both catalysts. 

In heterogeneous catalysis by metal, the activity and product-selectivity depend on the nature of metal particles (e.g., their size and morphology). Besides monometallic catalysts, the nanoscale preparation of bimetallic materials with controlled composition is attractive and crucial in industrial applications, since such materials show advanced performance in catalytic processes. Many reports suggest that the variation in the catalyst preparation method can yield highly dispersed metal/ alloy clusters and particles by the surface-mediated reactions [7-11]. The problem associated with conventional catalyst preparation is of reproducibility in the preparative process and activity of the catalyst materials. Moreover, the catalytic performances also depend on the chemical and spatial nature of the support due to the metal-support interaction and geometrical constraint at the interface of support and metal particles [7-9]. 

The transformation of alcohols to the corresponding carbonyl compounds or carboxylic acids is one of the few examples in which a heterogeneous (solid) catalyst is used in a selective, liquid phase oxidation (7,2). The process, which is usually carried out in an aqueous slurry, with supported platinum or palladium catalysts and with dioxygen as oxidant, has limited industrial application due to deactivation problems. 

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