PARTICULATE SOLIDS FOR CATALYST SUPPORTS AND HEAT TRANSFER MATERIALS

A PARTICULATE, PRECALCINED LOW SILICA CONTENT ZIRCONIA, ESPECIALLY ONE STABILIZED WITH YTTRIA, IS USEFUL AS A CATALYST SUPPORT OR AS A HEAT TRANSFER SOLIDS COMPONENT FOR CONDUCTING CHEMICAL REACTIONS AT HIGH TEMPERATURE, IN OXIDIZING, REDUCING OR HYDROTHERMAL CONDITIONS, ESPECIALLY IN SYN GAS OPERATIONS. AN ADMIXTURE OF PRECALCINED PARTICULATE LOW SILICA CONTENT ZIRCONIA, PARTICULARLY A LOW SILICA CONTENT YTTRIA-STABILIZED ZIRCONIA, IS EMPLOED IN A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT AS A HEAT TRANSFER SOLID, IN CONCENTRATIONS RANGING GENERALLY FROM ABOUT 10 WTTO ABOUT 99.9 WT, WITH A PARTICULATE CATALYST, NOTABLY A NICKEL-ON-ALUMINA CATALYST, IN CONCENTRATION RANGING GENERALLY FROM ABOUT 0.1 WTTO ABOUT 90 WTUCH AN ADMIXTURE PROVIDES A PARTICULARLY USEFUL CATALYST CONTACT MASS IN HIGH TEMPERATURE OXIDIZING, REDUCING AND HYDROTHERMAL ENVIRONMENTS, NOTABLY IN CONDUCTING SYNTHESIS GAS OPERATIONS. THIS TYPE OF BED PROMOTES CONTINUOUS, HIGHLY EFFICIENT HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER WITHIN THE REACTING GAS PHASE. THE PRESENCE OF THE HEAT TRANSFER SOLID AS A BED COMPONENT MAINTAINS EXCELLENT BED FLUIDIZATION CHARACTERISTICS, SUPPRESSING THE NORMAL TENDENCY OF THE CATALYST TO SINTER OR AGGLOMERATE; TENDENCIES WHICH PROMOTE DEFLUIDIZATION OF THE BED. MOREOVER, THE HEAT TRANSFER PARTICLES OF THE BED ARE HIGHLY ATTRITION RESISTANT, AND ARE CHEMICALLY COMPATIBLE WITH THE CATALYST PARTICLES OF THE ADMIXTURE.