Industrial Processes with a High Thermal Effect

3 Industrial Processes with a High Thermal Effect 

Metal monoliths show good thermal characteristics. A typical support with herringbone channels made from Fecralloy performed satisfactory in automotive applications [27]. Modeling showed that overall heat transfer was about 2 times higher than for conventional pellets [28,29]. Hence, there is potential for structured catalysts for gas-phase catalytic processes in multitubular reactors. 

Scientists from Politecnico di Milano and Ineos Vinyls UK developed a tubular fixed-bed reactor comprising a metallic monolith [30]. The walls were coated with catalytically active material and the monolith pieces were loaded lengthwise. Corning, the world leader in ceramic structured supports, developed metallic supports with straight channels, zig-zag channels, and wall-flow channels. They were produced by extrusion of metal powders, for example, copper, fin, zinc, aluminum, iron, silver, nickel, and mixtures and alloys [31]. An alternative method is extrusion of softened bulk metal feed, for example, aluminum, copper, and their alloys. The metal surface can be covered with carbon, carbides, and alumina, using a CVD technique [32]. For metal monoliths, it is to be expected that the main resistance lies at the interface between reactor wall and monolith. Corning 

A general frustration in the field of catalysis is the occurrence of deactivation. 

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