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Reactivation of spent Pd/AC catalyst by supercritical CO 2 fluid extraction
Author(s) -
Zhang Xiaoxin,
Zong Baoning,
Qiao Minghua
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.11840
Subject(s) - catalysis , supercritical fluid , supercritical fluid extraction , chemistry , benzoic acid , particle size , extraction (chemistry) , physisorption , granule (geology) , chemical engineering , nuclear chemistry , chromatography , organic chemistry , materials science , composite material , engineering
In this article, we reported a nondestructive and environmentally friendly method for the reactivation of a spent Pd/AC catalyst for the hydrogenation of benzoic acid by using supercritical CO 2 (scCO 2 ) fluid extraction. The effects of reactivation conditions, such as extraction temperature, pressure, CO 2 flow rate, and time, on the activity of the reactivated Pd/AC catalyst, were presented. The catalyst was characterized by N 2 physisorption, laser particle size analysis, and transmission electron spectroscopy, and the liquid extract was analyzed by GC‐MS. It is found that scCO 2 fluid extraction was very efficient in eliminating organic substances blocking the pores of the catalyst, while did not affect noticeably the granule size of the catalyst and the particle size of Pd. The reactivated Pd/AC catalyst regained more than 70% of the activity of the fresh 5.0 wt % Pd/AC catalyst, and has been successfully used in an industrial unit for the hydrogenation of benzoic acid. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2009