Industrial Catalysts
Catalysts occupy an extremely important position in the modern chemical industry. More than 90% of chemical production processes use catalysts to speed up reaction rates and improve production efficiency.
The budding period of industrial catalysts
The beginning of industrial scale production of catalytic technology
The history of the catalyst industry is closely related to the development and evolution of industrial catalytic processes.
In 1740, the British doctor J. Ward built a factory near London that burned sulfur and saltpeter to produce sulfuric acid. Then, in 1746, the British doctor J. Roebuck built a lead chamber reactor. The nitrogen oxide produced by the saltpeter during the production process actually It is a gaseous catalyst, which is the beginning of industrial-scale production using catalytic technology.
The production of industrial catalysts
Platinum Catalyst
In 1831, P. Phillips obtained a British patent for the oxidation of sulfur dioxide to sulfur trioxide on platinum. In the 1860s, the Deakin process was developed, which uses copper chloride as a catalyst to oxidize hydrogen chloride to produce chlorine. In 1875, German E. Jacobs established a contact method device for the production of fuming sulfuric acid in Kreuznach and manufactured the required platinum catalyst. This was a pioneer of solid industrial catalysts. Platinum is an industrial catalyst and is still the catalytically active component in many important industrial catalysts.
In the 19th century, the catalyst industry had few product varieties and all relied on manual workshop production methods. Due to the important role of catalysts in chemical production, the methods for making industrial catalysts have been considered a secret since their inception.
The foundation period of industrial catalysts
During this period, a series of important metal catalysts were produced, the catalytic active components expanded from metals to oxides, and the scale of use of liquid acid catalysts expanded.
Basic technology of industrial catalysts
Manufacturers began to use more complex formulas to develop and improve catalysts, and used the principle that high dispersion can improve catalytic activity to design relevant manufacturing technologies, such as precipitation, impregnation, hot melting, leaching, etc., becoming modern catalysts Basic technologies in industry.
Diatomite carrier
The role and selection of catalyst carriers have also received attention. The selected carriers include diatomaceous earth, pumice, silica gel, alumina, etc.
In order to adapt to the requirements of large fixed bed reactors, shaping technology has emerged in the production process, and strip and ingot catalysts have been put into use.
During this period, there was a large production scale, but the varieties were relatively single. In addition to self-produced and self-used, some widely used catalysts have entered the market as commodities. At the same time, the development of industrial practice promoted the progress of catalytic theory.
In 1925, H.S. Taylor proposed the active center theory, which played an important role in the development of subsequent manufacturing technology.
Metal Catalyst
At the beginning of the 20th century, factories were established in the United Kingdom and Germany to hydrogenate greases with nickel as a catalyst to produce hardened oil. In 1913, the German Baden Aniline Soda Ash Company used magnetite as raw material, hot melt method and added additives to Produces iron-based ammonia synthesis catalysts.
In 1923, F. Fisher succeeded in hydrogenating carbon monoxide to produce hydrocarbons using cobalt as a catalyst.
In 1925, the American M. Rainey obtained the patent for manufacturing skeleton nickel catalyst and put it into production. This is a skeleton nickel obtained by leaching silicon from Ni-Si alloy with alkali.
In 1926, Farben used iron, tin, molybdenum and other metals as catalysts to produce liquid fuel from coal and tar through high-pressure hydrogenation and liquefaction. This method was called the Burgess process.
Iron Catalyst
At this stage, the basic technologies for manufacturing metal catalysts were laid, including the reduction technology of transition metal oxides and salts and the partial extraction technology of alloys. The materials of catalysts also expanded from platinum to cheaper metals such as iron, cobalt, and nickel.
Oxide Catalyst
In view of the fact that the platinum catalyst developed in the 19th century for sulfur dioxide oxidation is easily poisoned by arsenic in the feed gas, a process in which the two catalysts are used together has emerged.
The middle stage of the Mannheim plant in Germany uses less active iron oxide as the catalyst, and the remaining sulfur dioxide is converted using a platinum catalyst in the second stage.
Vanadium oxide catalyst
At this stage, a supported vanadium oxide catalyst with high poison resistance was developed and used in a new contact method sulfuric acid plant at the Baden Aniline Soda Ash Company in Germany in 1913. Its life span can last from several years to ten years.
After the 1920s, vanadium oxide catalysts quickly replaced the original platinum catalysts and became a bulk commodity catalyst. This change in sulfuric acid production catalysts has opened up broad prospects for oxide catalysts.
Liquid Catalyst
In 1919, the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey in the United States developed an industrial process for hydrating propylene to produce isopropanol using sulfuric acid as a catalyst. The plant was built in 1920. By 1930, the Union Carbide Company of the United States built a plant for hydrating ethylene to produce ethanol. These liquid catalysts are simple chemicals.
A period of great development for industrial catalysts
At this stage, the scale of industrial catalyst production expanded and the varieties increased. Before and after World War II, due to the need for strategic materials, the fuel industryThe ZSM-5 molecular sieve catalyst used for the alkylation of benzene to ethylbenzene has been introduced, replacing the previous aluminum trichloride. In the early 1980s, the ZSM-5 molecular sieve catalyst for synthesizing gasoline from methanol was developed. In the development of resources and carbon-chemistry, molecular sieve catalysts will play an important role.
Industrial applications of environmental protection catalysts
At present, environmentally friendly catalysts, chemical catalysts (including catalysts used in the production processes of synthetic materials, organic synthesis and ammonia synthesis) and petroleum refining catalysts are listed as three major fields in the catalyst industry.
Industrial applications of biocatalysts
There is an increase in the use of biochemical methods in processes in the chemical industry. After the 1970s, a variety of immobilized enzymes for large-scale application were produced. The development of biocatalysts will cause dramatic changes in chemical industry production.
