Patented Nov.

21, 1939 2,180,353

’ UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE

2,180,353
VANADIUM OXIDE CATALYST
Harold B. Foster, Williamsville, N. Y., assignor to
National Aniline & Chemical Company, Inc.‘,
New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York
No Drawing. Application January 6, 1933,
Serial No. 650,593
22 Claims. (01. 23-234)
This invention relates to the catalytic oxidation mixture. For this reason it has heretofore been
of chemical compounds in the gas or vapor phase, proposed to prepare contact masses in which the
and more particularly to contact masses employed vanadium oxide is in the form of a relatively thin
as catalysts in such reactions and to processes of coating upon'particles of suitable material serving
5 preparing such contact masses. It relates speci? as a carrier or catalyst support. 5
cally to improvements in contact masses contain One usual method of preparing vanadium oxide
ing vanadium oxide as catalytically active mate contact masses is to coat or impregnate particles
rial and in the methods of preparing such contact of the carrier with a solution of ammonium meta
masses. vanadate, evaporate the resulting mass to dryness,
10 An object of the present invention is to provide thereby producing a coating of the ammonium l0
a contact mass comprising vanadium oxide in a meta-vanadate on the carrier, and then heat or
catalytically active form associated with a suitable “ignite” the coated carrier in a stream of oxidiz
carrier, in which contact mass the carrier retains ing gas to' convert the ammonium meta-vanadate
the catalytic vanadium oxide with su?icient ad to the desired catalytically active vanadium
1. herence to resist the dusting and erosion incident oxides. _ 15
to handling and charging of the catalyst to the As the catalytic process generally involves the
apparatus, and operation of the process. absorption or evolution of considerable quantities
Another object of the invention is to provide a of heat, it is usually the practice to carry out the
contact mass comprising vanadium oxide in a process in a form of apparatus in which the con
20 catalytlcally active form as a coating on a suitable tact mass is in intimate heat transferring relation, 20
carrier, in which contact mass the carrier retains but out of contact, with a temperature controlling
the catalytic vanadium oxide with sufficient ad medium. In the forms of apparatus frequently
herence to enable the contact mass to be dis employed, the contact mass is contained in the
charged from and recharged to catalytic appara form of shallow layers over or through which the
25 tus without excessive loss of the active coating. ~_ gaseous reaction mixture is passed, or in the form 25
A further object of the invention is to provide a of small rods contained in vertical or horizontal
product comprising a reduced vanadium com tubes through which the gaseous reaction mixture
pound associated with a catalyst carrier which is passed, or in other similar forms. The contact
product does not contain compounds that decom masses therefore cannot be prepared in the appa
30 pose upon ignition to form a friable vanadium ratus in which they are to be used, and are usually 30
oxide, and which reduced vanadium compound is charged to the apparatus in a preformed state.
highly adhesive so that it is ?rmly retained by the The handling of the contact mass, incident to its
carrier and thereby enables the partially formed transportation to the apparatus and its charging
contact mass to be handled without special care. into the apparatus, tends to dislodge or dust-off
35 Still another object of the invention is to" pro a part of the catalyst coating. Furthermore, in 35
vide a new form of vanadium oxide catalyst of many types of processes the speed of the gas mix
high catalytic activity. ture passing in contact. with the catalyst is high,
An additional object is to provide processes for and, unless the catalyst coating is securely held by
preparing said catalysts and contact masses. the carrier, some of it is removed by the gas mix
40 Other objects of the invention will in part be ture and carried out of the catalyst chamber. In 40
obvious and will in part appear hereinafter. many cases the apparatus is subject to consider
The catalytic oxidation of chemical compounds able vibration, either from othermoving appara
by a process in which a gaseous reaction mixture tus installed in the same building, or the equip
of the chemical compound and an oxidizing gas ment employed in connection with the process
45 is passed in contact with a contact mass is well itself, which also tends to dislodge the catalyst 45
known, and many metallic oxides are known to be from the carrier. Since the activity of the con
useful as catalysts in such} processes. Chief tact mass depends on the catalytic oxide coating,
among these are the catalysts containing oxides these losses of catalytic oxide decrease the activity
of vanadium either alone or in combination with of the contact mass and considerably shorten its
50 other oxides or compounds. Since the extent of period of usefulness. In addition, when it is nec- 50
the catalytic reaction which takes place is a func essary to remove the contact mass from the cata
tion of the catalytic surface contacted by the lytic apparatus, as for the purpose of inspecting
gaseous reaction mixture, it is desirable that the or repairing it, the lack of adherence of the cata
vanadium oxide be in a form which exposes a lytic oxide to the carrier and the resulting ex
55 maximum of active surface to the gaseous reaction cessive loss of activity of the contact mass make 55'
 2 2,180,858
reuse of the contact mass uneconomical, so that it
must be discarded and replaced by a new contact
mass. ,
In addition to the above disadvantages of
vanadium oxide contact masses prepared by the
evaporation of an aqueous solution 01' ammonium
meta-vanadate, these contact masses have the
further objections that the number of suitable
carriers which may be employed is limited be
10 cause of the poor adherence of the vanadium
oxide coating to the carrier; the ammonium meta
vanadate employed as starting material is only
moderately soluble in water, which necessitates
the use of excessively large volumes of water, the
15 evaporation of which is time-consuming and
which causes the salt to crystallize out on the car
rier from solution soon after the start of the
evaporation; the catalyst thus prepared requires
a high reaction temperature for the catalytic
20 process in order to give it the desired productivity; ,
and the‘ productive life oi’ the catalyst is rela
tively short.
Various attempts have been made heretofore to
secure a relatively thin coating of catalytic vana
25 dium oxide on a suitable carrier which will be
retained with su?icient tenacity to resist the dis~
lodging action of handling and vibration, and the
erosive action of the rapidly moving gas stream;
but they have not overcome the di?lculties en
30 countered in the handling and use of the ?nished
contact masses. ‘ ness. The dried product is then heated, ?nally
I have found, in accordance with the pres
ent invention, when vanadium pentoxide or
other suitable vanadium compound is heated in
35 solution or suspension with hydrogen chloride
and the resulting mass is concentrated by evap
oration, that a gelatinous and/or adhesive mass
can be obtainedwhich is considered to be re
duced vanadium compound.- I have further
40 more found, in accordance with the present in
vention, by associating a suitable catalyst car
rier material with the mass containing the
reduced vanadium compound and evaporating
to dryness, a product can be obtained which
45 does not result in material loss of the reduced
vanadium compound from the carrier when han
dled without special care. In addition, I have.
found, in accordance with the present inven
tion, when the resulting mass, comprising the
50 carrier associated with the reduced vanadium
compound, is subjected to oxidation, as by the
action of an oxidizing gas at an elevated tem
perature, that the reduced vanadium compound
is converted to a catalytic vanadium oxide or
55 mixture of oxides which is retained by the car
rier with a high degree of tenacity, and which
is highly active for the vapor phase catalytic
oxidation of chemical compounds.
jAs a result of this discovery, it is possible to
prepare a vanadium oxide catalyst which can
be completely formed in advance of its use and
then charged to the catalytic apparatus as re
quired, and which may be discharged from and
recharged to the catalytic apparatus, when
65 necessary, without substantial loss of the catalyti
cally active oxide from the carrier. Further
more, in view of the adherence of the catalytic
ally active oxide coating to the carrier, the life
of the contact mass is considerably greater than
70 that of the vanadium oxide contact masses pro
duced by previously employed processes above
referred to, inasmuch as there is a much smaller
loss of catalytic oxide due to removal of
particles thereof in the form of dust by the
15 erosive action of the gaseous mixture passing in
contact with the contact mass and the vibration
of the apparatus. Since the reduced vanadium
compound is in a very ?nely divided form, in
which form it is associated with the carrier and
then oxidized to the final active oxide, the re
sulting contact mass contains the catalytically
active oxide also in an extremely ?nely divided
form, so that the speci?c catalytic activity of
vthe resultingcontact mass is relatively high.
-The invention accordingly comprises the
contact masses and catalysts having the proper
ties and characteristics exempli?ed in the prod-'
ucts hereinafter disclosed, and the processes com
prising the steps and the relation of each with
others thereof which are exempli?ed in the
processes hereinafter disclosed. The scope of the
invention will be indicated in the claims.
In the practice of the present invention in
accordance. with a preferred method of pro
cedure, an oxygen-containing compound of 20
vanadium in which the vanadium is in the pen
tavalent state is heated with hydrochloric acid
until a partial reduction of .the vanadium com
pound has been veifected, for example, until a
compound has been produced containing vana
dium in the tetravalent state. The resulting
mass, after dilution with water or other diluent,
if necessary, is associated with a suitable catalyst
carrier (as by mixing, coating and/or impreg
nating), and the mixture is evaporated to dry-.
in the presence of an oxidizing gas (ignited), to
convert the reduced vanadium compound to the
catalytically more active vanadium oxide or
mixture of oxides. The resulting contact mass 35
can then be employed for the oxidation of chem
ical compounds in the vapor phase.
Any suitable oxygen compound ‘of vanadium
containing vanadium in the pentavalent state
may be employed as starting material for the 40
process; as for example, vanadium pentoxide,
and hydrated vanadium pentoxides or vanadic
acids. Salts of vanadic acids also maybe em
ployed, preferably those which decompose with- -
out leaving an undesirable residue in the reduc
tion mass, such as ammonium metavanadate,
and the like. ‘ .
The material employed as. a carrier for the
catalytically active oxide may be any of the
usual materials, and it 'may be in the form of 50
particles of any suitable size, ranging all the
way from an extremely ?nely divided powder to
lumps or granules, depending upon the process
in which it is to be employed. Carriers which
have rough surfaces and/or which are a po 55
rous nature are preferred inasmuch as their re
tentivity of the catalytically active coating is
greater than that of smooth surfaced carriers.
Thus, aluminum having a rough surface (so
called “grained" aluminum), pumice, silica gel, 60
pumicite, aluminum oxide gel, kieselguhr,
“Filtrose”, asbestos, chamotte, and the like may
be employed as carriers. “Alundum” in the
form of highly porous particles and obtained by
bonding minute crystals of fused aluminum 65
oxide with aluminum silicate (as for example, a
that employed as a ?ltering medium and for gas
diffusion apparatus), c ".hing the resulting mass
and screening the crushed product, is particularly
suitable for'use as a carrier in connection with
the present invention in view of its high porosity
and resulting retentivity of the catalytic oxide,
its relative infusibility, and high rigidity. When
the contact mass is to be employed in the catalytic
Partial oxidation of organic compounds in the va
 . 2,180,358., 3
nor phase._the?‘Ainndum"-is,advantageously em,--_ acenaphthene to acenaphthylene and naphthalic
Dloyed inthe for-rm " 2¢tQ2GrnBSh in size. acid, etc-L -. It is to be noted, however, that in
and preferably of. - a‘; sizes-capable, of passing some casestheconditions of the catalytic oxida
through a screen having openingsof. 0.125 inch. tion reaction may .be required to be modi?ed
> but incapable of passing throng‘h;.a;¢;\scree'n-hav-i and/or that; a modi?er or stabilizer may be re
ing openings’of 0.076 in'ch.~ quired to be incorporated in' the contact mass in
The carrier may be associated 'withthereduced' ordento secure optimum fresults, owing to‘the
vanadium
at any suitable
compound
stage of
in the
any.process.
suitable Thus,
manner
it may‘ greater activityof ‘the. vanadium oxide catalysts
-_ and contact inasses- of the _, present invention as
be added to the reduction reaction mixture at the , compared with thoseproducedsimply by decom
beginning of the preparation, or it may be mixed position of‘ ammonium metavanadata. . r _
with the reduction reaction mixture at any stage‘, The invention'will- be illustrated-by the follow
during or after the reduction. It is preferably ing speci?c examples, vin-which the ‘parts are by
mixed with the reduction mixture while the lat-' weight. The invention-is not limited to’ the ‘de
15 ter is in liquid form, and a superior product is
tails thereof, however, and variations, may be 15
obtained by heating and evaporating an aqueous made within the scope of the appended patent '
reduction reaction mixture in the absence of the claims.
carrier until a gelatinous but liquid mass is ob- . Example 1
tained, mixing water or other suitable diluent with
20 the reduction mass to render it thinly ?uid, then Metavanadic acid (hydrated vanadium pent
stirring in the carrier and agitating the resulting .'oxide)_—50 parts-—is dissolved in concentrated
mixture to obtain intimate commingling and uni hydrochloric acid—2'50 parts of 36 percent. C. P.
form coating, and ?nally evaporating the mixture acid-contained in an open enamelled kettle
to dryness with agitation. equipped with agitating means and heated by a
Various auxiliary substances having a modii in gas ?ame. The apparatus is preferably. contained 25
fylng, promoting, activating‘ or stabilizing e?ect an enclosed chamber or hood equipped with
upon the catalytic activity of the vanadium oxide means for withdrawing gases and vapors. The
catalyst may be incorporated into the contact solution is heated to boiling, and, gentle boiling is
masses or associated with the 'vanadium oxide continued until a thick dark colored, liquid mass
catalyst of the present invention; as for example, is obtained (about three hours). Chlorine and so
other catalysts and catalytic oxides ‘(such as the hydrochloric acid are given off. Pumice granules
oxides of the other metals‘ of the ?fth and of the 3 to 6 mesh in size—400 parts—are then added
metals of the sixth groups of the Periodic System, and the mixture is evaporated to dryness. The
and particularly molybdenum oxide), an acti- - dried material is gently heated to drive off resid
vator, such as aluminum powder; or a stabilizer,
ual hydrochloric acid (10\to 12 hours). It is then
such as a caustic alkali and/or a salt of an alkali
ignited by heating to a temperaturenot exceed 35
or alkaline earth metal (as for example, potassium ing 600° C. while passing a stream of air (or air
hydroxide, the normal and acid sulfates, phos mixed with vapors of an organic compound, such
phates, carbonates, etc. of sodium and potassium, as benzene). over it in order to convert it to the
catalytically active oxide form. ,t The resulting
40 etc. as disclosed in U. S._P. 1,371,004) , compounds 40
of the rare earth metals, etc. These auxiliary contact mass, which is in the form of a very ?nely
substances also may be incorporated into the divided, hard, dull catalytic coating on the carrier,
mass at any suitable stage of the preparation to which it adheres tenaciously, is then ready for
process. They are preferably mixed in suitable _use. It may be packed, transported, and charged
form with the reduction reaction mixture after to the catalytic apparatus without producing any
completion of the reduction and while the reduc substantial amount of dusting or loss of catalyst 45
coating. .
tion reactionmixture is in a thinly ?uid condi ’ Example 2
tion. ‘

The carrier associated with the reduced vana
dium compound may be heated (ignited) in a cur
rent of oxidizing gas either prior to being charged
into the catalytic apparatus in which it is to be‘
used or while in place in the catalytic apparatus.
It is Preferably not heated to a temperature so
Cr Ll high as to cause fusion of the resulting vanadium
pentoxide, as otherwise the activity of the result-_
ing catalyst will be impaired.
The vanadium oxide catalysts and contact
masses produced in accordance with the present
invention may be employed in a wide variety of
processes of catalytic oxidation, and particularly
in those processes of vapor phase oxidation of
chemical compounds by means of air or other
oxygen-containing gas where a highly active‘ va
nadium oxide catalyst is required; as for example,
the oxidation of sulphur dioxide to sulphur tri
oxide, of ammonia to nitrogen oxides, of methane
and methanol to formaldehyde, of ethyl alcohol
to acetaldehyde, of chlorhydrin to chloracetic
acid, of benzene, toluene and the like to maleic
acid and quinones, of toluene to benzaldehyde and
benzoic acid; of naphthalene and alkyl naphtha
lenes to phthalic acid, maleic acid and naphtha
quinones, of anthracene to anthraquinone and
75 phthalic acid, of ?uorene to ?uorenenone, of
Metavanadic acid-106 parts-is added to con
centrated hydrochloric acid-525 parts of 36 per
cent. C. P. acid-and the mixture is heated as in 50
the previous example. When the mixture has
boiled down to a gelatinous but still fluid mass,
water—-440 parts—-and a modi?er of the catalytic
activity of vanadium oxide-1.3 parts of potas 55
sium hydroxide—are added, and the mixture is
agitated to form a solution or colloidal suspension
of the reduced vanadium compound. A porous
carrier in the form of small granules or lumps
815 parts of fragments of porous “Alundum” 8 to
12 mesh in size-is added to the mixture, the mass
is evaporated to substantial dryness with agita
tation, and the dried mass is then heated to drive
off residual material, mainly hydrochloric acid.
The resulting coated carrier is charged into ‘the 65
catalytic apparatus in which it is to be employed,
and'it is then heated to'a temperature somewhat
below thefusing point of vanadium pentoxide
while air is passed over or through it, to convert
the coating to the'catalytically more active form. 70
Example 3
Part I.—To a solution of ammonium meta
vanadate (1 part) in about 24 parts of distilled
water at a temperature, of about 65° to 72° C. 75
 4 2,180,353
dilute nitric acid .(9.5 per cent. HNOa) ,is slowly and the especially advantageous properties of
added, with good stirring, until the solution is the resulting product. The reducing agent is
just acid toward Congo red test paper. The preferably employed in an amount at least
faintly acid solution is heated to boiling, and the theoretically sufficient to reduce all of the vana
solution is boiled until the vanadium salt is prac dium compound to the tetravalent state.
tically all precipitated (e. g., until a colorless or United States Patent 1,880,678 discloses a
faintly colored ?ltrate is obtained by ?ltering off method for making a contact mass particularly
a test portion). During the whole boiling period adapted for use in the contact method of making
the solution should be kept faintly acid toward sulfuric acid involving absorbing by a porous
10 Congo red test paper by the addition, if necessary, silicious carrier min-alkaline solutions of soluble 10
of nitric acid from time to time. When the pre compounds of vanadium and an alkali metal. In
cipitation is complete, the precipitate, which is one example, the patent discloses a‘method for
red in color, is ?ltered oif and washed with hot. making a contact mass of this type in which com
distilled water‘ until the washings give no test mercial vanadium pentoxide is suspended in water
15 for acidity toward Congo red paper. It way be containing potassium hydroxide. After boiling 15
dried at ‘70° to 110° C. and, if desired, stored .in a to dissolve the vanadic oxide as potassium meta
dry place. A product is obtained containing an vanadate, the solution is ?ltered from insoluble
amount of vanadium equivalent to about 90 to matter, The theoretical amount of hydrochloric
90.5 per cent. of vanadium pentoxide. This prod acid. to form KCl and precipitate V205 is then
20 uct will be hereinafter referred to as “Vanadium added, and S02 gas is passed into the suspension 20'
red precipitate.” , until the precipitate is all dissolved in the form
Part II.—-Vanadium red precipitate— 156 of a vanadyl salt, apparently vanadyl sulfate.
parts— prepared as described in Part I, is treated This solution after addition of more potassium
with concentrated hydrochloric acid-900 parts - chloride is used to saturate Celite chips which are
25 of acid having a speci?c gravity of 1.20.: The then dried. The only apparent purpose of the
mixture is boiled until substantial solution of patentees in employing the preliminary treat
the Vanadium red precipitate is effected and evo ment is to secure V105 in a purified form for use
lution of free chlorine practically ceases, addi in making their contact mass. My process of
tional amounts of concentrated hydrochloric acid producing a contact mass is distinct from the
30 being added, if necessary, from time to time to above-described method of the patient, since the
complete the reduction and maintain solution of hydrochloric acid used in that method is em
the resulting reduced vanadium compound. The ployed merely for the purpose of converting
resulting solution is usually more or less turbid, the potassium metavanadate to potassium chlo
and remains so even on prolonged treatment with ride and to precipitate V205.
35 hydrochloric acid. When most, if not all, of the Since changes may be made in the process and
free chlorine has been evolved, fragments of a the products above disclosed without departing
highly porous alundum carrier-1150 parts of from the scope of the appended patent claims, all
fragments of a size of about an 8 mesh screen matter contained in the above description is to
formed of wire .025 inch in diameter—is"added, be interpreted as illustrating and not limiting the
49 and the mixture is evaporated to dryness with invention, except as limited by the claims. 40
constant agitation and then heated to about 150° .I claim:
to 200° C. to drive oif hydrochloric acid. The re 1. The process of producing a catalyst which
sulting coated carrier is then heated in a current comprises associating a catalyst carrier with a
of air to about 500° to about 550° C. in order to compound prepared by reducing an oxygen-con
obtain the catalyst in ?nal active form, taining pentavalent vanadium compound with a 45
The contact masses of the above examples are hydrohalide selected from the group consisting
useful for the catalytic oxidation of chemical of hydrogen chloride, hydrogen bromide, and hy
compounds in the gas or vapor phase mixed with drogen' iodide, and subsequently igniting the
air or other oxidizing gas._ Thus, for example, resulting mixture.
by passing naphthalene vapors mixed with air, 2. A process of producing a catalyst which com to
in a weight ratio of about 1 to 30, in contact with prises heating a vanadium pentoxide compound
said contact masses at temperatures of about 550° with an excess of a hydrohalic acid selected from
to about 600° C., excellent yields of phthalic the group consisting of hydrochloric acid, hydro
anhydride of very good quality can be obtained. bromic acid and hydriodic acid until reduction of
The amount and strength of hydrochloric acid the vanadium pentoxide compound is effected,
employed in the above examples may be varied. evaporating the resulting mass, and heating the
An amount is preferably employed which con evaporated mass in an oxidizing atmosphere.
tains, in addition to a su?'icient amount of acid to 3. In the preparation of a catalyst, the steps
reduce all of the vanadium compound employed which comprise coating carrier particles with a
60 as the starting material to a state corresponding product prepared by reducing an oxygen-‘con 60
with vanadium tetroxide, a su?icient excess of taining pentavalent vanadium compound with a
acid to provide for losses due to evaporation and " hydrohalic acid selected from the group consist
to enable the reaction to be completed in a mini ing of hydrochloric acid, hydrobromic acid. and
mum amount of time. The reaction is more rapid hydriodic acid, and subsequently igniting the
the greater the excess of hydrochloric acid, within coated particles. 65
limits. The excess hydrochloric acid remaining 4. In the preparation of a catalyst, the steps
after completion of the reduction’ may be removed which comprise applying a hydrochloric acid re
during the ignition operation, if desired; but ow duction product of an oxygen-containing penta
ing to the objectionable naturev of the acid fumes valent vanadium compound to a carrier and sub
it is preferably driven off separately. sequently igniting the resulting mixture. 70
Other hydrohalides, except hydrogen ?uoride, 5. A process of , producing a catalyst which
may be used as reducing agents in carrying out comprises mixing particles of a catalyst carrier.
the process, namely hydrobromic acid and with a liquid mass comprising a reduced vana
hydriodic acid. Hydrochloric acid is preferably dium compound prepared by reducing an oxygen
75 employed in view of its speci?c reducing action containing compound of pentavalent vanadium 76
 ieiillwi vanadium an
resultins'dried product.‘ < '" ~ ,I
6. A process of producing , a" catalyst
comprises heating a vanadium pentoxide com
pound with a hydrohalic acid selected from the
group consisting of hydrochloric acid, hydro
10 bromic acid and hydriodic acid, in an amount at
least suiiicient to reduce all of the vanadium to
the tetravalent state, until reduction of the vana
dium pentoxide compound is 'e?ected and a
gelatinous mass is produced, evaporating the re
15 sulting mass in admixture with a carrier, and
heating the resulting evaporated mass in an
oxidizing atmosphere. l ‘
7. A process of producing a catalyst which
comprises heating a solution of an oxygen-con
20 taining compound of pentavalent vanadium in
hydrochloric acid until reduction of ' the said
vanadium compound is e?ected, evaporating the
resulting mass to substantial dryness in'admix
25 ture with a carrier, heating the dried mass to
drive all volatile material comprising hydro-'
chloric acid, and igniting the dried mass in the
presence of air at a temperature not exceeding
about 600° C.
8. A process of producing a catalyst which
3 O comprises heating a vanadic acid with an amount
of hydrochloric acid at least su?lcient to reduce
all of the vanadium to the tetravalent form until
reduction of the vanadic acid isle?ected, evapo
r rating the resulting mass in admixture with a
carrier, heating the evaporated mass to drive on?‘ mixture with a carrier, heatin '
volatile material comprising hydrochloric acid, mass ‘to drive off volatile material comprising
and oxidizing the resulting product. , hydrochloric acid, and then heating the resulting
9. A process of producing a catalystv which
comprises heating metavanadic acid with an
40 amount of hydrochloric acid at least su?icient to
reduce all of the vanadium to the tetravalent
state until reduction of the metavanadic acid is
effected, evaporating the resulting mass until a
gelatinous but still ?uid mass is obtained, mixing
4;, water with the evaporated mass, then adding a
carrier, evaporating the resulting mixture to sub
stantial dryness, heating the dried mass to drive
off volatile material comprising hydrochloric
acid, whereby a product is obtained comprising
50 the carrier associated with a dry reduced vana
dium compound, and heating said product at an
elevated temperature below the fusion point of
vanadium pentoxide while passing air in contact
therewith, whereby an active oxidation catalyst
55 is produced.
10. A process of~producing a catalyst which
comprises mixing dilute nitric acid with an
aqueous solution of ammonium metavanadate,
boiling the resulting mixture while maintaining
60 it acid to Congo red test‘ paper,~whereby a red
precipitate is obtained, heating the red precipl—
tate with an amount of hydrochloric acid at least
su?icient to reduce all of the vanadium to the
tetravalent state until reduction of the vanadium
65 is effected, evaporating the resulting mass to sub
stantial dryness in admixture with a carrier,
heating the dried mass to drive o? volatile mate
rial comprising hydrochloric acid, whereby a
product is obtained comprising the carrier asso
70 ciated with a dry reduced vanadium compound,
and heating said product at an elevated tempera
ture below the fusion point of vanadium pent
oxide while passing air in contact therewith,
whereby an active oxidation catalyst is produced.
75 11. A process of producing a catalyst which
‘
chloric acid at least sun'icient to reduce all or
the vanadium to the tetravalent state until re- 10
duction of the vanadium is effected, evaporating
the resulting mass to substantial dryness in ad
mixture with a carrier, heating the dried mass to
drive o? volatile material comprising hydro
chloric acid, whereby a product is obtained com- 15
prising the carrier associated with a dry reduced
vanadium compound, and heating said product at
a temperature of about 500° to about 550° C.
while passing air in contact therewith, whe -
an ‘active oxidation catalyst is pro '
12. A contact mass comprisi ~
coated with the ignition pr
chloric acid reduction produc
taining pentavalent vanadi
13. A contact mass for t ,
t'lon of chemical compound
carrier associated with ,t
a hydrochloric acid redu
vanadic acid and obtaine
acid with an amount 0
least sumcient to reduc
the tetravalent form, un
dic acid is effected and
produced, evaporating the
35
product in an oxidizing atmosphere. ,
14. An intermediate composition useful in the
preparation of a contact mass comprisingv a cata- 40
lyst carrier intimately associated with a dried
reduced vanadium compound prepared by reduc
ing an- oxygen-containing pentavalent vanadium
compound with a hydrohalide selected from the
group consisting of hydrogen chloride, hydrogen 45,
bromide, and hydrogen iodide.
15. A process of producing a catalyst which
comprises mixing a catalyst carrier with a liquid
mass comprising a vanadium compound prepared
by reducing an oxygen-containing pentavalent ‘50
vanadium compound with hydrogen chloride, and
drying the resulting mixture, whereby a product
is obtained comprising the carrier intimately as
sociated with the vanadium compound.
16. A contact mass comprising a carrier coated 55
with the ignition product of a reduction product
of a pentavalent vanadium compound, said reduc
tion product being prepared by reducing said
pentavalent vanadium compound with hydro
chloric acid, said contact mass being prepared by 60
applying a liquid mass comprising said reduc
tion product to said carrier, drying the resulting
mixture, and igniting the resulting dried product.
17. A process of producing a catalyst which
comprises reducing an oxygen-containing com- 65
pound of vanadium in which the vanadium is in
the pentavalent form with a hydrohalic acid se
lected from the group consisting of hydrochloric
acid, hydrobromic acid and hydriodic acid,
whereby a mass containing a reduced vanadium 70
compound is produced, and evaporating the re
sulting mass to substantial dryness in admixture
with a carrier, whereby a product is obtained
comprising the carrier and a dried reduced vana
dium compound. ' 75
 6 2,180,858
18. A process of producing a catalyst which evaporating the resulting mass to substantial
comprises heating an oxygen-containing com dryness in admixture with a carrier, and heating
pound'of vanadium in which the vanadium is in the dried mass to drive off volatile material com
the pentavalent form with hydrochloric acid until prising hydrochloric acid, whereby a product is
a gelatinous mass containing a reduced vanadium » obtained comprising the carrier having a dry ad
compound isproduced, and evaporating the re herent-coating of a reduced vanadium compound.
sulting mass in admixture with a carrier, where . 21. An intermediate composition useful in the
by a product is obtained comprising the carrier preparation of, a contact mass comprising a'cata
and a dry adherent reduced vanadium compound. lyst carrier intimately associated with a hydro
10 19. A process of producing a catalyst which chloric acid reduction product of an oxygen-con
comprises heating a vanadium pentoxide com taining pentavalent vanadium compound which
pound with a hydrohalic acid selected from the upon heating givesoff hydrogen chloride.
group consisting ofw hydrochloric acid, hydro 22. VA catalyst for the vapor phase oxidation of
bromic acid and hydriodic acid until reduction of chemical compounds comprising a catalytically
15 the vanadium pentoxide compound is effected, active vanadium oxide obtained by a processin 15
evaporating the resulting mass in admixture with cluding heating a vanadic acid with an amount
a carrier, and heating the resulting mass to drive of hydrochloric acid at least su?icient to reduce
of! volatile material comprising the hydrohalic all of the vanadium to the tetravalent form until
acid. - reduction of the vanadic acid is effected, evapo
20 20. A process of producing a catalyst which rating the resulting mass, heating the evaporated 20
comprises heating a vanadic acid with an amount _ mass to drive 01f volatile material comprising hy
oi.‘ hydrochloric acid at least su?icient to reduce drochloric acid, and igniting the resulting product.
all of the vanadium to the tetravalent state un
til reduction of the vanadic acid is e?ectéd, HAROLD B. FOSTER.