The North American Catalysis Society (NACS)

Interesting Catalysis Articles

Jean-Marie Herrmann
Journal: Catalysis Today, 53 (1999) 115
Title: Heterogeneous photocatalysis: fundamentals and applications to the removal of various types of aqueous pollutants
Comments:
Photocatalysis is based on the double aptitude of the photocatalyst (essentially titania) to simultaneously adsorb both reactants and to absorb efficient photons. The basic fundamental principles are described as well as the influence of the main parameters governing the kinetics (mass of catalyst, wavelength, initial concentration, temperature and radiant flux). Besides the selective mild oxidation of organics performed in gas or liquid organic phase, UV-irradiated titania becomes a total oxidation catalyst once in water because of the photogeneration of OH radicals by neutralization of OH- surface groups by positive photo-holes. A large variety of organics could be totally degraded and mineralized into CO2 and harmless inorganic anions.

John N. Armor
Journal: Applied Catalysis A: General 2001, 222:1-2:407-426
Title: New Catalytic Technology Commercialized in the USA in the 1990s
Comments:
This article extends an earlier summary on the same subject done for the 1980s. It summarizes catalytic chemical, petroleum, biochemical, and environmental technology that was successfully commercialized during the decade of the 1990s within the USA. The tables were assembled from the feedback of technical representatives of companies that commercialized, catalytic technology in the 1990s, and the tables provide over 130 examples of new catalysts or catalyst improvements for operating processes (both in some advanced stage of scale up or commercialized). This review demonstrates that catalytic technology clearly continues to play a major role in enhancing a number of businesses on a worldwide basis.

R. Penning
Journal: February 2001 issue of Hydrocarbon Processing, pp. 45–46
Title: Petroleum refining: a look at the future
Comments:
In the long term, the refinery won’t just produce fuels, but also chemicals and energy. In the near term, most of the refinery investments will be committed to resolving environmental concerns. Beyond refinery emissions, more effort will be focused on developing lower sulfur fuels, replacing MBTE in gasoline, and lowering the levels of benzene in gasoline. Sulfur removal can be approached by post or pre-treatment. Efforts will be made to improve hydroprocessing methods in an attempt to upgrade difficult, refractory, distillate-range products, such as the upgrade of FCC light cycle oil to high quality diesel with lower sulfur and aromatics. H2 availability will continue to be a concern for refiners struggling to meet lower sulfur levels in both gasoline and diesel fuel. Petroleum refining in the future will address changing product slates, cogeneration, and fuel cells. If diesels do become more popular, refineries will need to reconfigure to make more diesel and less gasoline, while producing high demand petrochemicals.

O. Busch, C. Hoffman, T. Johann, H-W. Schmidt, W. Strehlau, and F. Schüth
Journal: J. Am. Chem. Soc., 124 (2002) 13527-13532
Title: Application of New Color Detection Based Method for the Fast Parallel Screening of DeNOx Catalytsts
Comments:
A new fast, parallel detection method for stage 1 HTS screening of solid catalysts was developed based on the color change of organic dyes in the presence of reaction products. It was demonstrated that this method could be extended toward more massive parallelization to speed up preevaluation of catalysts. Several active compositions were identified, some of which were more extensively tested in a stage II screening system. Results of stage I screening were confirmed, and a promising new NOx storage catalyst was discovered.

A. Hagemeyer; R. Borade; P. Desrosiers; S. Guan; D.M. Lowe; D.M. Poojary; H. Turner; H. Weinberg; X. Zhou; R. Armbrust; G. Fengler; U. Notheis
Journal: Applied Catalysis A: General, 227 (2002) 43-61
Title: Application of combinatorial catalysis for the direct amination of benzene to aniline
Comments:
Combinatorial study of the direct amination of benzene to aniline using solid cataloreactants as oxidants; hundreds of samples in the primary screen; arrays of 24 catalysts in the secondary screen; 25,000 samples were screened in about a year. Novel cataloreactant systems consisting primarily of a noble metal and a reducible metal oxide; one optimized forumulation was Rh/Ni-Mn/K-TiO2. Some of best activities: 10% benzene conversion and >95% selectivity to aniline at 300°C and 300 bar for a reaction time of about 2 hr. Catalyst was regenerated repeatedly by reoxidation in air.

A. Frennet, V. Chitry, and N. Kruse
Journal: Applied Catalysis A: 229 (2002) 273-281
Title: In situ measurement of the surface area during catalyst prepartion: development of a new methods
Comments:
A new volumetric method working in the dynamic regime using physisorption of Argon at 77 K in the same microreactor where other characterization experiments are performed.

Yu. Matatov-Maytal and M. Sheintuch
Journal: Applied Catalysis A: 231 (2002) 1-16
Title: Catalytic fibers and cloths
Comments:
A review which summarizes the results on preparation, properties, and applications of fibrous catalysts. Fibrous catalysts are flexible and versatile and find applications due to their excellent mass transfer characteristics, low pressure drop, and ease of handling.

R. Berger, J. Perez-Ramirez, F. Kapteijn, and J. Moulijn
Journal: Chem. Engn. Sci., 57 (2002) 4921-4932
Title: Catalyst Performance Testing: bed dilution revisited
Comments:
An investigation of the systematic (negative) deviation of the conversion of N2O caused by excessive dilution of the catalyst bed with inert particles in gas-solid reaction systems. The combination of both high dilution and high conversion should be avoided in kinetic studies.

Colin Gent
Journal: Chemical Communications (2002) issue #24.
Title: Changes in the Chemical Industry: the perspective of a catalyst supplier
Comments:
Colin, as the former head of catalysis for ICI, discusses changes going through the chemical industry and relates these to industrial catalysis while discussing the underlying business cycles and the interactions between society and industry.

Patrick C. Hallenbeck, John R. Benemann
Journal: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy , 27 (2002)1185
Title: Biological hydrogen production; fundamentals and limiting processes
Comments:
a review; biohydrogen; biophotolysis; Biological hydrogen production has been known for over a century and research directed at applying this process to a practical means of hydrogen fuel production has been carried out for over a quarter century. The various approaches that have been proposed and investigated are reviewed and critical limiting factors identi1ed.

J. Nowotny, C.C. Sorrell, L.R. Sheppard, T. Bak
Journal: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 30(2005)521
Title: Solar-hydrogen:Environmentally safe fuel for the future
Comments:
They argue that hydrogen generated from water using solar energy, solar-hydrogen, is a leading candidate for a renewable and environmentally safe energy carrier. Successful development of novel photo-sensitive materials will be determined by progress in the science and engineering of materials interfaces. There is also a need to increase the present state of understanding of the local properties of interfaces, such as defect disorder, electronic structure, and related semiconducting properties, on the impact of interfaces on photo-electrochemical properties. They briefly outline the main challenges in the development of materials for solar-hydrogen.

John N. Armor
Journal: Applied Catalysis A: General, 282(2005)1
Title: Do you really have a better catalyst?
Comments:
Simply comparing a newly formulated, powdered material against a extruded commercial catalyst by measuring some reaction performance characteristics does not provide grounds for making general claims about discovering a better catalyst. There are many factors that go into the commercialization of catalysts by the vendors, and many times early laboratory data can be deceptive in trying to reach hasty comparisons of performance relative to commercial catalysts. The catalysts for most chemical processes have been optimized with regard to process efficiency, specific feed compositions, reactor configurations, safety, and long-term performance. It is not just the catalyst, but how the catalyst is used in any process that determines whether it is acceptable to produce a desired product.

Robert Jacobsen
Journal: CEP Magazine.org, Feb. 20, 2005
Title: Recovering Precious metals from catalysts- the basics
Comments:
info on how to select and work with a precious metals refiner; proper sampling of % metals by converting scrap into a uniform sample such as by adding a collector metal like Copper. Leasing precious metals vs. buying vs. banking by paying interest to store metal in "bank". Accurate assay by X ray, AA, ICP; fast turn-around with metal to reduce leasing costs.

Miguel A. Ban˜ares
Journal: Catalysis Today, 100(2005)71
Title: Operando methodology: combination of in situ spectroscopy andsimultaneous activity measurements under catalytic reaction conditions
Comments:
Operando spectroscopy is a methodology that combines the spectroscopic characterization of a catalytic material during reaction with the simultaneous measurement of catalytic activity/selectivity. The potential impact of operando spectroscopy on catalysis science lies in its ability to significantly assist in the establishment of fundamental molecular structure–activity/ selectivity relationships for catalytic systems. It is critical that the design of the spectroscopic reaction cell, the catalytic reactor, also allows for the generation of catalytic performance data that is analogous to those achieved with conventional catalytic reactors. A case study of operando Raman-GC study is presented along with consideration of the methodology, spectroscopy and samples.

Avelino Corma, Jose´ M. Serra
Journal: Catalysis Today, 107(2005)3
Title: Heterogeneous combinatorial catalysis applied to oil refining, petrochemistry and fine chemistry
Comments:
This work analyses the current situation regarding combinatorial and high-throughput techniques in the context of heterogeneous catalysis. The different experimental (hardware) and software techniques are critically revised, giving illustrative examples of their application in the development of new catalysts, for example, the application of a novel high-throughput characterization technique based on photoluminescence measurements and the application of soft computing algorithms for intelligent experimental design.

Agusti´n F. Pe´rez-Cadenas, Martijn M.P. Zieverink, Freek Kapteijn, Jacob A. Moulijn
Journal: Catalysis Today, 105(2005)623
Title: High performance monolithic catalysts for hydrogenation reactions
Comments:
The performances of two different monolithic catalysts are compared in the selective hydrogenation of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs). The monolith samples were a classical square channel cordierite and one modified with alfa-Al2O3 blocking the macroporosity of the cordierite and rounding the channel cross section.

Jens Sehested
Journal: Catalysis Today 111 (2006) 103–110
Title: Development of photocatalyst materials for water splitting
Comments:
Reforming over supported nickel catalysts has been used commercially for more than 40 years. In this paper four catalytic challenges for nickel steam reforming catalysts are discussed from both a practical and a fundamental point of view. The four challenges are activity, sulphur poisoning, carbon formation and sintering.

Kazuhiko Maeda, Kentaro Teramura, Nobuo Saito, Yasunobu Inoue, Kazunari Domen
Journal: Journal of Catalysis 243 (2006) 303–308
Title: Improvement of photocatalytic activity of (Ga1-xZnx)(N1-xOx) solid solution for overall water splitting by co-loading Cr and another transition metal
Comments:
Water splitting reactions were carried out in a Pyrex inner irradiation-type reaction vessel connected to a glass closed gas circulation and evacuation system. The reaction was performed in distilled water (370.400 mL) containing 0.3 g of the cocatalyst-loaded photocatalyst powder. The reactant solution was first evacuated several times to ensure complete air removal, and then irradiated under a 450 W high-pressure Hg lamp via a Pyrex tube as a light filter (>300 nm).With Rh catalyst get 3.8 mmoles H2/hr/0.3gmcatalyst.

J. K. DUNLEAVY
Journal: Platinum Metals Rev., 2006, 50, (1), 52
Title: Improving Useful Service Life of Catalysts
Comments:
Catalyst abuse, misuse or mal-operation are major problems for a catalyst supplier to contend with. Operating companies have a tendency to downsize, and this can result in chemical processors having less personnel to monitor and supervise units. The consequence has been an increasing number of ‘catalyst incidents’. Catalyst suppliers must therefore provide appropriate technical service and after-sales support, and include, for instance, training for operators, troubleshooting if needed, and impartial advice for technical enquiries. All this is aimed at preventing unplanned shutdowns and premature catalyst change-outs.

Kazuhiko Maeda, Kentaro Teramura, Daling Lu, Tsuyoshi Takata, Nobuo Saito, Yasunobu Inoue, Kazunari Domen
Journal: Nature 440, 295-295 (16 Mar 2006)
Title: Photocatalyst releasing hydrogen from water
Comments:
describe an advance in the catalysis of the overall splitting of water under visible light: the new catalyst is a solid solution of gallium and zinc nitrogen oxide5, 6, (Ga1-xZnx)(N1-xOx), modified with nanoparticles of a mixed oxide of rhodium and chromium. The mixture functions as a promising and efficient photocatalyst in promoting the evolution of hydrogen gas with quantum yield of 2.5% with 35 hrs of repeated runs.

Phairat Usubharatana, Dena McMartin, Amornvadee Veawab, and Paitoon Tontiwachwuthikul
Journal: Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2006, 45, 2558-2568
Title: Photocatalytic Process for CO2 Emission Reduction from Industrial Flue Gas Streams
Comments:
This article addresses the potential application of photocatalysis to the reduction of CO2 emissions from industrial flue gas streams. Not only does this process remove CO2, but it can also convert CO2 into other chemical commodities such as methane, methanol, and ethanol. In addition, the photocatalytic process can consume less energy than conventional methods by harnessing solar energy. Given these advantages, photocatalysis is an attractive alternative for CO2 capture. This article reviews the principle of photocatalysis; existing literature related to photocatalytic CO2 reduction; and the effects of important parameters on process performance, including light wavelength and intensity, type of reductant, metal-modified surface, temperature, and pressure.

Chunshan Song
Journal: Catalysis Today 115 (2006) 2–32
Title: Global challenges and strategies for control, conversion and utilization of CO2 for sustainable development involving energy, catalysis, adsorption an
Comments:
The barriers for CO2 utilization include: (1) costs of CO2 capture, separation, purification, and transportation to user site; (2) energy requirements of CO2 chemical conversion (plus source and cost of co-reactants); (3) market size limitations, little investment-incentives and lack of industrial commitments for enhancing CO2-based chemicals; and (4) the lack of socio-economical driving forces. The strategic objectives may include: (1) use CO2 for environmentally-benign physical and chemical processing that adds value to the process; (2) use CO2 to produce industrially useful chemicals and materials that adds value to the products; (3) use CO2 as a beneficial fluid for processing or as a medium for energy recovery and emission reduction; and (4) use CO2 recycling involving renewable sources of energy to conserve carbon resources for sustainable development.

Ricardo R. Soares, Dante A. Simonetti, and James A. Dumesic
Journal: Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2006, 45, No. 24, 3982-3985
Title: Glycerol as a Source for Fuels and Chemicals by Low-Temperature Catalytic Processing
Comments:
developed a process in which platinum-based catalysts are used to break down glycerol to hydrogen and carbon monoxide under relatively mild conditions - temperatures between 225 and 300 °C. This process has several advantages. Among them, glycerol is currently a low-value by-product in the production of biodiesel, and fermentation of glucose produces a 25% solution of glycerol, while the degradation of sugar to ethanol results in a mixture that contains only 5% of the desired substance. The ethanol must then be separated from this mixture by an energetically demanding distillation.

Kazuhiko Maeda, Kentaro Teramura, and Kazunari Domen
Journal: Catalysis Surveys from Asia, 11(2007)145-157
Title: Development of Cocatalysts for Photocatalytic Overall Water Splitting on (Ga1- x Zn x )(N1- x O x ) Solid Solution
Comments:
The (Ga1-x Zn x )(N1-x O x ) is a stable visible-light-driven photocatalyst for stoichiometric water splitting upon loading with a suitable nanoparticulate cocatalyst.

Jean-Paul Lange
Journal: Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, Volume 1, Issue 1 (p 39-48)
Title: Lignocellulose conversion: an introduction to chemistry, process and economics
Comments:
This review addresses the variety of chemistries and technologies that are being explored to valorize lignocellulosic biomass. It shows the need to ‘deoxygenate’ the biomass and reviews the main chemical routes for it.

Report from DOE Workshop
Journal: PNNL-17214; DOE-BES website; http://www.sc.doe.gov/bes/reports/list.html
Title: Basic Research Needs: Catalysis for Energy
Comments:
This report is an account of the deliberations and conclusions of the Workshop on Basic Research Needs in Catalysis for Energy Applications, held August 6-8, 2007. It summarizes the research needs and opportunities for catalysis to meet the nation’s energy needs, provides anassessment of where the science and technology now stand, and recommends the directions forfundamental research that should be pursued to meet the goals described.

Andrew McWilliams
Journal: BCC Research: Report ID: CHM020C, Published: June 2007
Title: Catalysts for Environmental and Energy Applications
Comments:
The global market for energy and environmental catalysts was worth an estimated $12.2 billion in 2006. The market is projected to grow to $13.0 billion in 2007 and $18.5 billion in 2012 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.4% from 2007 to 2012.

Rahul Banerjee, Anh Phan, Bo Wang, Carolyn Knobler, Hiroyasu Furukawa, Michael O'Keeffe, Omar M. Yaghi
Journal: SCIENCE, VOL 319, 15 FEBRUARY 2008; pp. 939 - 943
Title: High-Throughput Synthesis of Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks and Application to CO2 Capture
Comments:
A high-throughput protocol was developed for the synthesis of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks. They exhibit unusual selectivity for CO2 capture from CO2/CO mixtures and extraordinary capacity for storing CO2.

S. Eijsbouts, A.A. Battiston, G.C. van Leerdam
Journal: Catalysis Today 130 (2008) 361–373
Title: Life cycle of hydroprocessing catalysts and total catalyst management
Comments:
The life cycle of commercial hydroprocessing catalysts is very complex and includes the catalyst production, sulfidation, use, oxidative regeneration followed by re-sulfidation and reuse or, if reuse is not possible, recycling or disposal.

Burtron H. Davis
Journal: Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 46 (26), 8938 -8945, 2007.
Title: Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis: Comparison of Performances of Iron and Cobalt Catalysts
Comments:
This paper examines the Fischer-Tropsch technology for the biomass-to-clean fuels scenario. A comparison of the activities, selectivities, and lifetimes of iron and cobalt catalysts for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis is made.

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