CHE 304: Advanced Chemical Reaction Engineering
B. Tech. Final Year and M.tech (2nd sem)
Lecture 1:- Catalysts
Course Instructor
Dr. Gupta Ravikant Radhysham
Assistant Professor
Chemical Engineering Department
Banasthali Vidyapith
Lecture 1:
Catalyst
Dr. Gupta Ravikant
Assistant Professor
Chemical
Engineering
Department
Banasthali Vidyapith
Definition Catalysts and its applications
Lecture 1:
Catalyst Catalysts are the workhorses of chemical transformations in the industry.
Approximately 85–90 % of the products of chemical industry are made in
catalytic processes. Catalysts are indispensable in
Production of transportation fuels in one of the approximately 440
oil refineries all over the world.
Production of bulk and fine chemicals in all branches of chemical
industry.
Prevention of pollution by avoiding formation of waste (unwanted
byproducts).
Dr. Gupta Ravikant
Abatement of pollution in end-of-pipe solutions (automotive and
Assistant Professor industrial exhaust).
Chemical
Engineering
Department
Banasthali Vidyapith
Definition Catalysts and its applications
Lecture 1:
Catalyst
Dr. Gupta Ravikant
Assistant Professor
Chemical Catalytic Cracking Polymerization of CO Removal: CO Removal Hydrogenation:
(Pt, Pd). Selective Catalytic Reduction of functional
Engineering (FCC), Breaks heavy Ethylene, Esterification
Reduction (SCR): Vanadium
hydrocarbons into and Polycondensation groups (e.g., nitro to
Department Pentoxide (V₂O₅), Titanium
amines, carbonyl to
lighter fractions like of Terephthalic Acid
Banasthali Vidyapith Dioxide (TiO₂).
gasoline and Ethylene Glycol alcohols). Fermentation
History
Lecture 1:
Catalyst
Catalyst technology has been used for many centuries.
It ranged from inorganic catalyst to make soaps to enzyme catalysts
for producing wines, cheese and other food and beverages.
The industrial catalyst technology started with the large-scale
production of sulfuric acid on platinum catalyst in 1875.
In subsequent years, various major catalytic processes were
invented. In 1903, ammonia oxidation on Pt gauge was developed by
Dr. Gupta Ravikant Ostwald for nitric acid production.
Assistant Professor
Chemical
Engineering Another major breakthrough was ammonia synthesis with promoted
Department iron in 1908- 1914 by Mittasch, Bosch and Haber.
Banasthali Vidyapith
Sector Wise History of Catalyst
Lecture 1:
Catalyst Sector Major Development of Catalyst
Energy Conversion of synthesis gas to liquid hydrocarbons by hydrogenation of
CO (1920-1940 )
Petroleum industry Development of catalytic cracking process during 1935- 1940
Catalytic naphtha reforming (1950)
Polymer industry Discovery of Ziegler-Natta catalyst in 1955,
Industrial catalytic 1960 in the form of Walker process for making acetaldehyde from
process ethylene
Environmental Noble metal catalysts were developed for
Dr. Gupta Ravikant pollution control emission control of CO, NOx and hydrocarbons from automobile
Assistant Professor 1970-1980
Chemical
Engineering Polymerization catalysts are expected to grow most rapidly due to significant
Department expansion in polymer industry . Zeolite-Based Catalysts(Enhancing petrochemical and
Banasthali Vidyapith renewable fuel production)
What is Catalysis?
Lecture 1:
Catalyst
A catalyst accelerates a chemical reaction.
It does so by forming bonds with the reacting molecules, and by
allowing these to react to a product, which detaches from the catalyst,
and leaves it unaltered such that it is available for the next reaction.
In fact, we can describe the catalytic reaction as a cyclic event in which
the catalyst participates and is recovered in its original form at the end
of the cycle.
Every catalytic reaction is a sequence of
elementary steps, in which reactant
Dr. Gupta Ravikant
Assistant Professor molecules bind to the catalyst, where
Chemical they react, after which the product
Engineering detaches from the catalyst, liberating the
Department latter for the next cycle
Banasthali Vidyapith
How Catalyst Work?
Lecture 1:
Catalyst
Catalysts work by providing alternative mechanism involving a different
transition state of lower energy.
Thereby, the activation energy of the catalytic reaction is lowered
compared to the uncatalyzed reaction
Comparison of activation
energies of exothermic
catalytic and non-catalytic
reactions
Dr. Gupta Ravikant The heat of reaction (Hr), which
Assistant Professor represents the overall energy change,
Chemical remains unchanged because the
Engineering catalyst does not alter the reactants'
Department or products' energy levels.
Banasthali Vidyapith
How Catalyst Work: comparison between the non-
Lecture 1: catalytic and the catalytic reaction
Catalyst
For the non-catalytic reaction, the figure is simply the familiar way to
visualize the Arrhenius equation.
The reaction proceeds when A and B collide with sufficient energy to
overcome the activation barrier in Fig. 2.
The change in Gibbs free energy between the reactants, A + B, and the
product P is ΔG
Dr. Gupta Ravikant
Assistant Professor
Chemical
Engineering
Department
Banasthali Vidyapith
How Catalyst Work: comparison between the non-catalytic
Lecture 1: and the catalytic reaction
Catalyst The catalytic reaction starts by bonding of the reactants A and B to the catalyst,
in a spontaneous reaction.
Hence, the formation of this complex is exothermic, and the free energy is
lowered.
There then follows the reaction between A and B while they are bound to the
catalyst.
This step is associated with an activation energy; however, it is significantly
lower than that for the uncatalyzed reaction.
Finally, the product P separates from the catalyst in an endothermic step.
Dr. Gupta Ravikant
Assistant Professor
Chemical
Engineering
Department
Banasthali Vidyapith
How Catalyst Work: Important points:
Lecture 1:
Catalyst
The catalyst offers an alternative path for the reaction, which is
obviously more complex, but energetically much more favorable.
The activation energy of the catalytic reaction is significantly smaller
than that of the uncatalyzed reaction; hence, the rate of the catalytic
reaction is much larger.
Dr. Gupta Ravikant
Assistant Professor
Chemical
Engineering
Department
Banasthali Vidyapith
How Catalyst Work: Important points:
Lecture 1: The overall change in free energy for the catalytic reaction equals that
Catalyst of the uncatalyzed reaction.
Hence, the catalyst does not affect the equilibrium constant for the
overall reaction of A + B to P.
Thus, if a reaction is thermodynamically unfavorable, a catalyst cannot
change this situation.
A catalyst changes the kinetics but not the thermodynamics.
Dr. Gupta Ravikant
Assistant Professor
Chemical
Engineering
Department
Banasthali Vidyapith
How Catalyst Work: Important points:
Lecture 1: The catalyst accelerates both the forward and the reverse reaction to the
Catalyst same extent.
In other words, if a catalyst accelerates the formation of the product P
from A and B, it will do the same for the decomposition of P into A and B.
If the bonding between reactants and catalyst is too weak, there will be
hardly any conversion of A and B into products.
Dr. Gupta Ravikant
Assistant Professor
Chemical
Engineering
Department
Banasthali Vidyapith
How Catalyst Work: Important points:
Lecture 1: Conversely if the bond between the catalyst and one of the reactants, say A, is too
Catalyst strong, the catalyst will be mostly occupied with species A, and B is not available to
form the product.
If A and B both form strong bonds with the catalyst, the intermediate situation with A
or B on the catalyst may be so stable that reaction becomes unlikely.
In terms of Fig.2, the second level lies so deep that the activation energy to form P on
the catalyst becomes too high. The catalyst is said to be poisoned by (one of) the
reactants.
In the same way, the product P may be too strongly bound to the catalyst for
separation to occur. In this case the product poisons the catalyst
Dr. Gupta Ravikant
Assistant Professor
Chemical
Engineering
Department
Banasthali Vidyapith
How Catalyst Work: Important points:
Lecture 1:
The mechanism of catalysis would have to be such that the free
Catalyst
energy of activation is lowered by the presence of the catalytic
material.
A catalyst is effective in increasing the rate of a reaction
because it makes possible an alternative mechanism, each step
of which has a lower free energy of activation than that for the
uncatalyzed process.
Consider the reaction between hydrogen and oxygen in the
presence of spongy platinum.
According to the proposed concept, hydrogen combines with the
spongy platinum to form an intermediate substance, which then
Dr. Gupta Ravikant reacts with oxygen to provide the final product and reproduce
Assistant Professor the catalyst.
Chemical
Engineering
It is postulated that the steps involving the platinum surface
Department occur at a faster rate than the homogeneous reaction between
Banasthali Vidyapith hydrogen and oxygen.
How Catalyst Work: Important points:
Lecture 1: You will recall that the rate constant of a reaction is an exponential function of the
Catalyst activation energy, so even a modest reduction of Ea can yield an impressive increase in
the rate.
Ea
catalyst relative rate
kJ/mol
no catalyst 75 1
iodide ion 56 2140
colloidal platinum 50 24,000
catalase (enzyme) 21 2,900,000,000
A catalyst can lower the activation energy for a reaction by:
Dr. Gupta Ravikant orienting the reacting particles in such a way that successful collisions are more likely
Assistant Professor
Chemical reacting with the reactants to form an intermediate that requires lower energy to form
Engineering the product.
Department Remember that with a catalyst, the average kinetic energy of the molecules remains
Banasthali Vidyapith the same but the required energy decreases
How Catalyst Work: Video
Lecture 1:
Catalyst
Dr. Gupta Ravikant
Assistant Professor
Chemical
Engineering
Department
Banasthali Vidyapith
How Catalyst Work: Video
Lecture 1:
Catalyst
Dr. Gupta Ravikant
Assistant Professor
Chemical
Engineering
Department
Banasthali Vidyapith
Catalyst
Lecture 1:
Catalyst
Thank You
Dr. Gupta Ravikant
Assistant Professor
Chemical
Engineering
Department
Banasthali Vidyapith
