Reaction engineering for catalyst design》.pdf

Chemical Engineering Science, Vol . 45, No. 8, pp . 2027-2044, 1990 . 0009-2509/90 $3 .00 + 0.00 Printed in Great Britain . .!_ 1990 Pergamon Press plc REACTION ENGINEERING FOR CATALYST DESIGN L. LOUIS HEGEDUS and CARMO J . PEREIRA W . R . Grace Co .-Conn ., Research Division 7379 Route 32, Columbia, Maryland 21044 ABSTRACT The . development of new or improved catalysts is an interdisciplinary effort . Reaction engineering, via mathematical models, can identify key catalyst design variables and quantify their optimum values . By providing this type of qualitative and quantitative guidance, reaction engineering has vastly accelerated the development of new catalysts in many instances . This paper identifies frontier areas of investigation and suggests opportunities for the future . KEYWORDS Catalyst design; reaction engineering ; emission control ; petroleum processing ; chemicals . INTRODUCTION While difficult to estimate precisely, worldwide catalyst sales amount to somewhere between $3 and 4 billion, of which about $1 .7 billion are in the U .S . In the U .S ., 36% of the $ sales are for petrol