CATALYST FOR PRODUCING ETHYLENE OXIDE BY GAS-PHASE OXIDATION

    公开(公告)号:EP3639924A1

    公开(公告)日:2020-04-22

    申请号:EP18200499.4

    申请日:2018-10-15

    申请人: BASF SE

    摘要: A shaped catalyst body for producing ethylene oxide by gas-phase oxidation of ethylene, comprising silver deposited on a porous refractory support, the shaped catalyst body having a first face side surface, a second face side surface and a circumferential surface, characterized by a content of at least 20 wt.-% of silver, relative to the total weight of the shaped catalyst body; a cylinder structure with a plurality of void spaces running in the cylinder periphery along the cylinder height to form a multilobe structure; a plurality of passageways extending from the first face side surface to the second face side surface, outer passageways being arranged around a central passageway with one outer passageway being assigned to each lobe, wherein neighboring outer passageways are arranged essentially equidistantly to each other and the outer passageways are arranged essentially equidistantly to the central passageway; a shortest distance A between two neighboring passageways in the range of 0.6 to 1.3 mm; a shortest distance B between each outer passageway and the circumferential surface in the range of 1.1 to 1.8 mm; and a BET surface area in the range of 1.6 to 3.0 m 2 /g. The shaped catalyst bodies allow for a favorable balance between mechanical stability, pressure drop and selectivity. The invention also relates to a process for producing ethylene oxide by gas-phase oxidation of ethylene, comprising reacting ethylene and oxygen in the presence of a shaped catalyst body as defined above. The invention further relates to a process for preparing a shaped catalyst body as above, comprising i) impregnating a refractory support having a BET surface area in the range of 1.4 to 2.5 m 2 /g with a silver impregnation solution; and ii) subjecting the impregnated refractory support to a calcination process; wherein steps i) and ii) are optionally repeated.