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Hydrocracking of Heavy Oils

Y.Sasaki and his colleagues of the &Japanese National Research Institute for Pollution and Reesources have studied the activities for hydro- cracking Cold Lake Bitumen (COSB) of several compounds of vanadium and have reported their results in J.Japan. Petrol.Institute (26(1983)472). Aqueous vanadvl oxalate exhibited catalytic activity when tested in a small auto- clave with Gach Saran vacuum residue (GVR) but it did not hydrocrack Mori-

chall crude or Bosean crude. However, vanadyl acetylacetonate was active for hydrocracking of GVR and Morichall crude. It was found that an adequate concentration of vanadium was between 500-1000 ppm for COSB and from400-700 ppm for GVR. No coking or sedimentation problems were encountered in a small

continugys pilot plant (feed rate,

0.9kg h hydrogen feed rate 1.7 normal liires per hour) and distillable products were obtained in good yields.

Selective Hydrogenation of Acrolein

Y.Nagase, H.Hattori and K.Tanabe (Ibaraki and Hokkaido Universities, Japan) have found that a Raney-type silver-zinc catalyst (1:l weight ratio) has a high activity and selectivity for the hydrogenation of acrolein to ally1 alcohol. Using IOml of acrolein, 90ml of ethanol and lg of catalyst, a 70 mol% conversion with a selectivity of 90 mol% was observed after 90 min at 12O'C using an initial hydrogen

pressure of 50 atm. Addition of a small amount of iron (1.5-2.0 wt%) to the

Ag-Zn catalyst resulted in an increase in the selectivity to 95% with a

correspondingly slight decrease in the activity. By addition of cadmium ions, the selectivity increased but there was a large decrease in the total conver- sion of the acrolein.(See Chem.Soc. Japan,Chem.Letters,l615(1983).)

Langmuir

Following a lengthy investigation by a special task force of the American Chemical Society (ACS) committee on publications, including extensive surveys of the ACS divisions of Surface and Colloid Chemistry and of Physical Chemistry, considerable support was found for the establishment of a new

journal in the fields of Surface and Colloid Chemistry and the result is "Langmuir". The first issue of Langmuir is expected to appear in January 1985. The Editor is Professor Arthur W. Adamson of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and the Assoc- iate Editor is Professor Arthur Hubbard of the University of California, Santa Barbara. The aim of the Editors is to have a broadly-based journal which covers the whole field and, although the material may have some applied aspects, the emphasis will be on fund- amental research. A feature of the new publication is that extensive results can be made available to readers through microfilm and microfische editions of journal. A write-up concerning the new journal appeared in the January 23rd,1984, issue of Chemical and Engineering News.

Acidic and Catalytic Properties of Niobium Pentoxide

T.Iizuka, K.Ogasawara and K.Tanabe, of Hokkaido University,Japan, have examined the surface acidity of Nb 0 .5H20 and its catalytic activities

for 25 he polymerisation of propylene and the dehydration of 2-butanol. The act-

ivities for both reactions were found to be high when the material was evac- uated at moderate temperatures (loo- 15O'C) but they decreased drastically

on evacuation at higher temperatures (400-5OO'C). The surface of the fresh material showed a strong acidic char- acter (H about -5.6) even after

heating &I air 1OO'C but the strong acid behaviour disappeared on heat treatment at higher temperatures. The active sites on the catalysts heat- treated at moderate temperatures were ascribed mainly to Bronsted acid sites as a result of infra-red observation of the behaviour of adsorbed pyridine. (See Bull.Chem.Soc.Japan,56(1983)2927.)

Effect of Particle Size of Nickel on

Propene Hydrogenation

Y.Takai, A.Ueno and Kotera, of Toyohashi University of Technology,

Japan, have examined the effect of particle size of the Ni in Ni-Al 03 catalysts prepared by the alkoxi .i e technique and have found that the particle size is controlled by changing the metal content of the catalyst. (See

apfdled catalysis - Volume 12 No. 1 -September 1984