Abstract

Engineering of Catalytic Flow Processes

Alexei Lapkin, Professor, University Of Cambridge

Catalytic flow processes based on heterogeneous catalyst are characterised by simple catalyst / product separation. However, they frequently suffer from leaching of an active compound and design of heterogeneous catalytic processes is, in general, rather complex due to a large number of physical scale-dependent phenomena that influence reactor performance and catalytic reactivity. A multi-scale structuring of catalyst-reactor system allows to avoid many of the problems. Thus, nano-structuring of active site frequently leads to improved reactivity and/or selectivity. Structuring of catalyst support allows to control access of reactants / products to active site and eliminate the unnecessary internal mass transfer limitations. Macroscopic structuring of catalysts and reactors allows to reduce unwanted pressure drops and flow mis-distribution phenomena. In this talk a systematic multi-scale design of flow catalytic processes will be presented and a number of solved problems discussed, including structuring of support pore structure for increased catalytic activity and stability, structuring of catalyst particles for reduced pressure drop, using flow structuring for avoiding reactor blockage by particles. The reaction examples will include selective oxidation, selective reduction, C-C and C-N cross coupling reactions.