LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to provide students with the fundamentals of preparation, characterization and application of heterogeneous catalysts. At the end of the course the student will have to know the main methods of preparation and characterization of catalysts and be able to evaluate the influence of mass transfer phenomena on the reaction rate of heterogeneous catalytic reactions. Moreover, during the laboratory activity the student will have to learn to work in a team and to collaborate in drawing up reports on the activities carried out in the laboratory.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course the student will have to know the main methods of preparation and characterization of catalysts and be able to evaluate the influence of mass transfer phenomena on the reaction rate of heterogeneous catalytic reactions. Moreover during the laboratory activity the student will have to learn to work in a team and  to collaborate in drawing up reports on the activities carried out in the laboratory.

TEACHING METHODS

- Lectures 

- Exercises

- Laboratory experiences (mandatory attendance

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Introduction: Fundamentals e background of catalysis: Catalysts, thermodynamic equilibrium, reaction rate, activation energy and Arrhenius equation, industrial reactors. Industrial catalysts: Homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts. Heterogeneous catalysts: redox catalysts, catalysts for gas and liquid phase oxidations, hydrogenation and dehydrogenation catalysts, acid-base catalysts, multifuctional catalysts. Examples of catalysis applied to the development of ecosustainable processes or in the pollutant control. Methods of catalysts preparation: Support and properties. Synthesis of supports and of bulk catalysts. Precipitation, sol-gel, hydrothermal synthesis, stabilization, shaping. Zeolite synthesis. Synthesis of Raney Catalysts. Scale-up of catalysts preparation. Preparation of supported catalysts, methods of deposition and support selection. Impregnation with and without interaction (incipient wetness, homogeneous precipitation, ion exchange, adsorption) Catalyst characterization: techniques of characterization: morphology and physical characteristics, bulk and surface characterizations, technological properties. Low temperature vapour adsorption and physi-adsorption, Hg intrusion porometry, microscopy, spectroscopic techniques, programmed temperature techniques (TPD, TPR, TPO, TG, DSC, DTA). Assessment of dispersed active sites by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) or chemi-sorption. Experimental procedures to assess the catalytic activity. Reaction regimes and mass transport regimes in heterogeneous catalysis. Laboratory activities and examples: Synthesis of mesoporous alumina and evaluation of its zero charge point. Preparation of a supported catalyst: impregnation kinetics and dispersion. Characterization by electron microscopy (SEM, TEM) and physi-adsorption. Analysis of gas-solid catalytic systems: reactors, experimental methods for limiting conditions. Experimental planning for kinetic measurements, material balances e data acquisition. TON assessment. Inter-phase and intra-particle gradients. Gas-liquid-solid catalytic systems. TOF and activation energy assessment.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

D. Murzin, Engineering Catalysis. De Gruyter,  Berlin, Boston, 2013

D. Sanfilippo (ed.), The Catalytic Process from Laboratory to the Industrial Plant, Maraschi, Milano, 1994.

G. Bellussi (ed.), Material design for catalytic application, Maraschi, Milano, 1996

J.M.Thomas, W.J. Thomas, Principles and Practice of Heterogeneous Catalysis, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH, 1996

R.J. Wijngaarden, A. Kronberg, K.R. Westerterp, Industrial catalysis: optimizing catalysts and processes, Wiley-VCH, 1998