There are three major problems affecting efficiency in the catalytic oxidation of ammonia for obtaining nitric acid in an industrial plant: the limited life of gauzes, the low efficiency of the catalyst after a few months of operation, and finally, the necessity of recovering as much quantity of precious metals as possible. The first point to study in order to control the process and extend the useful life of the catalyst should be the correct characterization of the deactivated system.
Therefore, this research is a systematic study about the performance of the catalytic recovering systems in nitric acid plants for all industrial pressures. In addition, it intends to cover the need of updating the knowledge in this field.
The results obtained in this study with the support of SEM, EDX, XPS and AAS techniques, allow us to reach the following conclusions:
The extremely critical conditions in which the activation pretreatment takes place cause important structural variations in the material surface. Beyond that, significant PtO2 losses and subsequent enrichment in RhO2 occur in a campaign in a high pressure plant, and mean while a continuous surface reconstruction is taking place. In contrast, an enrichment in Rh0 occurs in a lower pressure plant. In all situations, the deactivation is associated to a decrease in the Platinum content, more active than Rhodium.
The getter mechanism in the recovering gauzes is directional and consists in the absorption of PtO2 (or Pt0) on the surface of the Palladium-based wires. Next, the PtO2 reduces itself to Pt0 and forms the Pt-Pd alloy. The part of volatile Platinum and Palladium oxides which gest through the recovering pack, as well as the particles of Rh2O3 carried away mechanically, settle in the heat exchangers line and in the Platinum filter of the high pressure plant. The most part of impurities are associated to Fe, Ni, Cr, Cu and Mn,probably forming oxides.
Finally, from the comparative analysis made between the diversity of plants studied, we can conclude that their different operating conditions have an extremely important influence in the performance of the catalytic and recovering systems used.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TDX_UM/oai:www.tdx.cat:10803/38253 |
| Date | 18 September 1990 |
| Creators | Tomás Alonso, Francisca |
| Contributors | Moreno Clavel, Manuel, Palacios Latasa, José María, Universidad de Murcia. Departamento de Ingeniería Química |
| Publisher | Universidad de Murcia |
| Source Sets | Universidad de Murcia |
| Language | Spanish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
| Format | 447 p., application/pdf |
| Source | TDR (Tesis Doctorales en Red) |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess, ADVERTENCIA. El acceso a los contenidos de esta tesis doctoral y su utilización debe respetar los derechos de la persona autora. Puede ser utilizada para consulta o estudio personal, así como en actividades o materiales de investigación y docencia en los términos establecidos en el art. 32 del Texto Refundido de la Ley de Propiedad Intelectual (RDL 1/1996). Para otros usos se requiere la autorización previa y expresa de la persona autora. En cualquier caso, en la utilización de sus contenidos se deberá indicar de forma clara el nombre y apellidos de la persona autora y el título de la tesis doctoral. No se autoriza su reproducción u otras formas de explotación efectuadas con fines lucrativos ni su comunicación pública desde un sitio ajeno al servicio TDR. Tampoco se autoriza la presentación de su contenido en una ventana o marco ajeno a TDR (framing). Esta reserva de derechos afecta tanto al contenido de la tesis como a sus resúmenes e índices. |
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