Catalytic membrane reactors, as a promising novel technology, are widely recommended for carrying out heterogeneous reactions. If the reactant feed is forced to flow through the pores of a membrane, which has been impregnated with a convenient catalyst, the intense contact provides high catalytic activity with negligible resistance to diffusive mass transport. The synthesis of a fatty ester (ethylhexanoic ester) by esterification was developed by the Factorial Design and Response Surface Methodology (FDRSM). Selection of factors was based on the operating conditions that have a significant influence on the esterification process, namely temperature, molar ratio of ethanol to fatty acid, and internal surface area of membrane pores. Experimental results on grafted membrane indicated that the optimum conditions (under which the conversion achieved 99,7 %) were as follows: temperature of 30 °C, molar ratio of 5 : 1, and internal membrane area of 252450 cm2. It can be concluded that the factorial design is an important tool to reduce time and to facilitate reaching optimum reaction conditions.

Molybdenum carbides were synthesized by mechanical activation (MA) of a charge consisting of molybdenum oxide, carbon, and a reducing metal (Zn or Al). The influence of the composition of the charge on the process characteristics was studied. The phase composition of mechanically activated samples was investigated by X-ray diffraction analysis. The optimal MA modes and the mixture composition were determined, providing the production of a highly dispersed carbidecontaining catalyst with the composition of Mo2C+Al2O3. It was shown that the process environment (air, argon) has no significant effect on the phase composition of the target product — molybdenum carbide. The carbide-containing catalyst was tested in hydrodesulfurization of dibenzothiophene (DBT). It was found that this catalyst shows a high activity and selectivity: at 320 °C, the conversion of DBT was 92,8 % with the selectivity toward cycloalkanes of 88,3 %. These results can be used to design an industrial waste-free technology for the production of molybdenum carbide.

The paper describes synthesis of a homogeneous catalyst experimentally tested in 2005–2006 in the industrial oxidation of n-butenes to methyl ethyl ketone. The catalyst is a chloride-free aqueous solution of palladium complexes in a modified 0,25 M solution of Mo-V-P heteropoly acid with the gross composition H12P3Mo18V7O85 (HPA-7’). Its benefits are an increased oxidative capacity in the target oxidation of n-C4H8 and high thermal stability, which provide the quick regeneration of the catalyst with atmospheric oxygen at 160–170 °С. The paper describes the preparation of an experimental batch of the catalyst of the total volume of 50 L from V2O5, MoO3, and H3PO4. The key point of synthesis is the dissolving of V2O5 under stirring in a cooled diluted solution of H2O2. This produces peroxide complexes V(V), which decompose at elevated temperatures to form a 0,0175 M solution of H6V10O28. This solution is stabilized by introducing a calculated amount of H3PO4 to give a more stable 0,0125 M solution of H9PV14O42. Because the H9PV14O42 solution occupies a large volume, it is prepared in three parts in a 300-L reactor. In another, a 500-L reactor, MoO3 is dissolved in water under stirring during the addition of the remainder of H3PO4. The mixture is concentrated during gradual addition of all the obtained diluted solution of H9PV14O42. The resulting solution of HPA-7’ is concentrated to ~100 L and then filtered twice to remove traces of sediments. The filtered solution is concentrated at 70–80 °C to 50 L under constant stirring while adding a calculated amount of PdCl2. A total of 27 batches of the catalyst (Pd + 0,25 M HPA-7’) with a total volume of 1350 L was synthesized. This catalyst was used in all the devices of a pilot plant for the synthesis of methyl ethyl ketone.

The paper provides an overview of the literature in the field of catalysts for hydroisomerization of long-chain paraffins. Part I describes the mechanism of wax hydroisomerization and analyzes data pertaining to the catalysts based on zeolites of different types. Part II is devoted to catalysts based on mesoporous structured materials, on partially reduced oxides and oxycarbides of molybdenum, and on mixed oxides of tungsten and zirconium. Industrial catalysts, which have found use in the isodewaxing of diesel fuels and oils, are described.

Dynamic phenomena in the liquid-phase catalytic HF alkylation of benzene with higher olefins to produce linear alkyl benzene (LAB) were studied theoretically and experimentally. A dynamic mode of the HF-catalyst operation is justified, and recommendations are reported for maintaining an optimum regenerating flow of HF in order to maximize the selectivity and stability of a chemical-technological system for the production of LAB using a toxic catalyst.

The work is dedicated to the investigation of the catalysts for selective oxidation of H2S into sulfur on the base of vanadium pentoxide supported on non-porous glass-fiber support with additional surface layer of porous secondary support (SiO2), synthesized by means of impulse surface thermo-synthesis. Such catalysts are characterized with high activity and appropriate selectivity in the practically important temperature region below 200 °C. In particular, at 175 °C and reaction mixture loading of 1 cm3/(gcat·s) the glass-fiber catalyst sample, containing 10,3 % mass of vanadium, provides the complete conversion of H2S with 67 % sulfur yield, which is at least by 35 % higher than that for conventional iron oxide catalyst. Application of the structured micro-fibrous support gives the way to effectively minimize the diffusion limitations and to significantly simplify the scale-up of the processes based on these catalysts. The described catalysts may be applied for the cleanup of tail gases from Claus units and in other processes, based on selective oxidation of H2S.

We have studied the activity of biocatalysts based on peroxidase immobilizedon Al2O3, SiO2, and on magnetic nanoparticles Fe3O4, the use ofwhich is a promising direction in biotechnology. Activity of these biocatalystswas studied in the catalytic oxidation of 2,3,6-trimethylphenol(TMP) to 2,3,5-trimethylhydroquinone (TMHQ), which is an intermediatein the synthesis of vitamin E. The paper shows the advantages of magneticnanoparticles in the immobilization of peroxidase for the catalyticsynthesis of TMHQ. The optimal conditions for the reaction were foundto be pH = 7,2 and temperature of 50 °C. The methods for the synthesisof magnetic nanoparticles Fe3O4 from inexpensive raw materials and forthe catalytic oxidation of TMP can be recommended as an alternative tothe standard industrial method for producing TMHQ.