BRAINCAKECatalysts in Industry
Most industrial chemical processes use catalysts, because they bring large economic and environmental benefits.
Benefits of catalysts
• An acceptable rate can be reached at a lower temperature (and sometimes lower pressure), so less energy is needed. Less fossil fuel is burned, which cuts costs and carbon dioxide emissions.
• Product is made faster, so more is produced per day from the same plant.
• Catalysts can make new reaction routes possible, with fewer steps, higher atom economy and less waste.
• Catalysts are not used up, so a small amount can be used many times.
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Key terms in this lesson
- heterogeneous catalyst
- A catalyst that is in a different phase from the reactants it acts on.
- atom economy
- The percentage of the total mass of reactants that ends up as the desired product in a reaction.
More in Reaction Rates
- Steric Hindrance
- Effect of Concentration
- Effect of Pressure
- Effect of Surface Area
- Maxwell-Boltzmann Distribution Curve
- Effect of Temperature
- Collisions in Solution
- Effect of Catalysts
All 12 lessons in Reaction Rates · All Edexcel AS-level Chemistry topics