Promotion controlled, catalytic aspects

Purely Catalytic Aspects of In Situ Controlled Promotion... 

After surveying the dual electrocatalytic-catalytic aspects of EP in Section 3 and establishing that NEMCA is due to electrochemically controlled introduction of promoters on catalyst surfaces, we concentrate now on the purely catalytic aspects of in situ controlled promotion. 

Having surveyed the dual electrocatalytic/catalytic aspects of electrochemical promotion and established that NEMC A is due to the controlled... 

Nitric acid is one of the three major acids of the modem chemical industiy and has been known as a corrosive solvent for metals since alchemical times in the thirteenth centuiy. " " It is now invariably made by the catalytic oxidation of ammonia under conditions which promote the formation of NO rather than the thermodynamically more favoured products N2 or N2O (p. 423). The NO is then further oxidized to NO2 and the gases absorbed in water to yield a concentrated aqueous solution of the acid. The vast scale of production requires the optimization of all the reaction conditions and present-day operations are based on the intricate interaction of fundamental thermodynamics, modem catalyst technology, advanced reactor design, and chemical engineering aspects of process control (see Panel). Production in the USA alone now exceeds 7 million tonnes annually, of which the greater part is used to produce nitrates for fertilizers, explosives and other purposes (see Panel). 

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