Enhancement of surface-active solid-phase heterogeneous catalysts

Abstract

Surface-active solid-phase catalyst activity may be substantially improved by creating deliberate repetitive surface-to-surface contact between portions of the active surfaces of catalyst objects. While they are immersed in reactant material such contact between portions of the active surfaces of catalyst objects can substantially activate the surfaces of many heterogeneous catalysts. Examples are given of such action employing a multitude of predetermined shapes, supported catalyst structures, etc. agitated or otherwise brought into contact to produce numerous surface collisions. One embodiment employs a gear pump mechanism with catalytically active-surfaced gear teeth to create the repetitive transient contacting action during pumping of a flow of reactant. The invention is applicable to many other forms for creating transient catalytic surface contacting action. Optionally catalytic output of such systems may be significantly further improved by employing radiant energy or vibration.

1 . A catalytic reactor system, comprising:
 at least two catalytic objects, each object having at least one surface complementary in shape and/or contour to at least one surface on another of the catalytic objects such that a projected contact area between two of the catalytic objects is capable of being greater than 1% of a catalytically active total external contact surface area of the two contacting catalytic objects; and   a contact-inducing device configured and arranged to repeatedly bring complementary surfaces of the at least two catalytic objects into contact with each other such that the a projected contact area between two of the contacting catalytic objects is on average greater than 1% of the catalytically active total external contact surface area of the two contacting catalytic objects.   
   
   
       2 . The catalytic reactor system as in  claim 1 , comprising at least two catalytic objects each object having at least one surface complementary in shape and/or contour to at least one surface on each other of the catalytic objects such that a projected contact area between any two of the catalytic objects is capable of being greater than 1% of a catalytically active total external contact surface area of the two contacting catalytic objects. 
   
   
       3 .- 7 . (canceled) 
   
   
       8 . The catalyst reactor system as in  claim 1 , wherein the catalytic objects are essentially non-porous. 
   
   
       9 .- 15 . (canceled) 
   
   
       16 . The catalyst reactor system as  claim 1 , further comprising a reactor comprising an inlet configured to allow a reactant to flow into the reactor and an outlet configured to allow a product to flow out of the reactor, wherein the catalytic objects are contained within the reactor such that the catalytic objects are exposed to the reactant. 
   
   
       17 . (canceled) 
   
   
       18 . (canceled) 
   
   
       19 . A method for performing a reaction catalyzed by a heterogeneous catalyst, comprising acts of:
 exposing at least two objects each object having at least one surface complementary in shape and/or contour to at least one surface on another of the objects, at least one of which objects is a catalytic object having a surface that is catalytically active, to an environment comprising a selected reactant,   creating repeated contact between the objects such that a projected contact area between complementary surfaces of two contacting objects is on average greater than 1% of a catalytically active total external contact surface area of the two contacting objects,   allowing the predetermined reactant to undergo a chemical reaction at the at least one catalytically active surface to produced a product.   
   
   
       20 .- 26 . (canceled) 
   
   
       27 . A catalytic object, comprising an external surface comprising a plurality of mosaic patches/facets wherein at least one mosaic patch/facet meets an adjacent facet at an edge to form a predetermined three-dimensional shape, wherein at least one mosaic patch/facet comprises a catalytically active material. 
   
   
       28 .- 32 . (canceled) 
   
   
       33 . The catalytic object of  claim 27 , wherein the predetermined three-dimensional shape is essentially a truncated icosahedron. 
   
   
       34 .- 38 . (canceled) 
   
   
       39 . A catalytic reactor system, comprising a mechanical apparatus constructed and arranged to intermittently create contact between a catalytically active surface of a catalyst object and a contact surface of a second object, such that a projected contact area on average between the two objects is greater than 1% of the total external contact surface area of the two contacting objects. 
   
   
       40 .- 44 . (canceled) 
   
   
       45 . A method for producing catalytic action upon at least one reactant material, comprising:
 providing at least two catalytic objects, wherein the catalytic objects each comprise a catalytically active material on at least a portion of an external surface,   exposing the catalytic objects to an environment comprising the reactant material, producing motion of the catalyst objects sufficient to cause repeated frequent transient surface to surface impacting contact events between external surface areas of the catalyst objects using a contact-inducing device, the contact events each having on average a projected contact area larger than 1% of the average total projected contact surface area of the catalyst objects coming into contact during the contact event, and   transforming at least some reactant material into a product chemically different from the reactant material.   
   
   
       46 .- 63 . (canceled) 
   
   
       64 . The method according to  claim 45 , wherein a shape of the catalytic objects is substantially the same as a truncated icosahedron having rounded edges joining adjacent essentially planar mosaic patches/facets, wherein the width of a rounded edge, defining a minimum distance separating adjacent essentially planar mosaic patches/facets, does not exceed about 2% of the nominal overall diameter of the truncated icosahedron. 
   
   
       65 . (canceled)