ABSTRACT
The catalytic effect was discovered by the famous British physicist Michael Faraday, who observed that the presence of a metal powder enhanced oxidation reactions. The catalytic effect was first described by the Swedish chemist Jons Jacob Berzelius, in 1836. The key issue is the development of catalytic materials, which, in most cases, consist of an active metal or a metal oxide deposited on a carrier material. To attain adequate contact surface for the molecules, the carrier material has a high surface area, typically between 50 and 1000 m2/g. Heterogeneous catalysis in catalytic reactors implies an interplay of chemical kinetics, thermodynamics, mass and heat transfer, and fluid dynamics. Laboratory experiments can often be carried out under conditions in which mass and heat transfer effects are suppressed. What is characteristic for heterogeneous catalytic reactors is the presence of a solid catalyst that accelerates the velocity of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process.
