Catalysis is a subject which draws upon many of the traditional scientific and technological disciplines, and its present structure has only been reached after many decades of detailed work. Nevertheless, in catalysis as in all other areas of science, experiments are carried out, new data are acquired, theories are proposed; and these things are done not in an intellectual vacuum, but in relation to previously established concepts and ideas. The history of how these guiding concepts have devel oped is nothing less than a skeletal history of the subject itself. In one respect at least,...

A cursory examination of the current scientific and technological literature is sufficient to show the enormous interest in the possibility of producing liquid fuels from coal. There are, of course, a number of ways in which coal liquefaction may be effected. Many of the important steps are catalytic. The direct liquefaction route, that is, coal hydrogenation, has a long history with origins in the early years of this century. It also has the distinction of being a process which was once operated on a very large scale and which, having died, now shows every prospect of resurrection. The...

A very wide range of catalytic conversions find industrial use in organic process chemistry. The scale of the ope rations varies enormously from very high volume pro cesses to specialty chemical preparations. Many of these processes are functional group conversions or class reac tions, and the more important of these will receive detailed treatment in specific chapters throughout this series. Nevertheless, the scope is very broad, and it is all too easy for the non-specialist to become lost in a large volume of detail. To try to avoid this, the first chapter in this volume, by Dr. Paul N....

Catalytic steam reforming has grown during the last two or three decades into one of the world's great catalytic processes. It is of major economic significance since the products from it form the feed for a number of other major processes. Nevertheless, catalytic steam reforming is a relatively difficult technology. It operates at high temperatures where problems of the maintenance of materials integrity and of catalyst stability and activity are severe, the establishment of high thermal efficiency of the plant is economically vital, and reactor operation is strongly influenced by mass and...

For catalytic practitioners who are concerned with laboratory studies of reaction mechanisins, as often as not catalyst deactivation is. treated as a nuisance to be ignored or factored out of the experimental results. How ever, the engineer concerned with the design and opera tion of real catalysts and processes cannot afford this luxury: for him deactivation and the need for regenera tion are inevitable facts of life which need to be treated as quantified design parameters. The first chapter in this volume by Prof. J. B. Butt deals with catalyst deactivation and regeneration as processes in...

Catalytic oxidation processes are bf central importance to a substantial part of large-scale chemical industry. Indeed, this area of industrial catalysis has an extremely long history which stretches back well into the last century. The development and growth of catalytic oxi dation processes for the manufacture of commodities such as sulfuric acid and nitric acid can be viewed as indicators for the growth of the early and middle years of the entire inorganic chemical industry, and in an analogous fashion the manufacture of products such as phthalic anhydride, maleic anhydride and ethylene...

The development of a commercially successful process for the catalytic synthesis of ammonia was a scientific as well as a technical triumph. Its implications were con siderable. It demonstrated the power of a combination of innovative technology and engineering together with basic chemical science, and it introduced ideas and techniques into catalytic science and process engineering which are still with us today. In a real sense, this process changed the face of industrial chemistry and process technology. Of course, the key step in the direct synthesis of ammonia was the development of an...

Hydrotreating processes in petroleum refining were introduced more than 50 years ago for the removal of sulfur and nitrogen. The sulfided cobalt-molybdenum catalyst, together with its near relatives, is still widely used. Two oil crises made it clear that pretroleum reserves are not inexhaustible and we shall be compelled to exploid less satisfactory sources with high sulfur and nitrogen making hydrotreating even more important. This review is particularly timely for the reason that only recently has a detailed understanding of process chemistry and catalyst structure been obtained. The...

NMR methods have for a considerable time been standard processes for the analysis of molecular structure: so much so that they are now universally regarded as indispensable for this purpose. Nevertheless, with the passage of time, NMR methodology has been elaborated to levels of ever increasing complexity and analytical sophistication so that the non specialist may now be readily excused for the belief that for anything beyond relatively elementary methods one would be well advised to work in collaboration with the specialist experts. The application of NMR methods to the field of catalysis...

Catalysis has made major contributions to many areas of chemical industry. Before embarking upon detailed considerations of catalytic science and technology, it is very helpful to look first at the nature of industrial catalysis, and how it has evolved and grown to meet demands imposed by changing industrial needs. Dr. H. Reinemann is uniquely qualified to place industrial catalysis in a historical perspective: in his distinguished industrial career he has been closely involved with many of the major innovations in industrial catalysis. Before a catalytic process is commercialized, the...