Catalyst formulation for hydrogenation

Abstract

A method of screening catalysts for liquid-phase selective hydrogenation by preparing a test catalyst by adding a promoter to a reference catalyst; preparing a liquid reactant stream comprising CHdissolved in n-methyl-2-pyrrolidone; testing the test and reference catalysts by contacting the reactant stream and gas mixture comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide in continuous flow with the test catalyst and reference catalyst, respectively, at selective hydrogenation reaction conditions to produce a product stream, condensing substantially all of the n-methyl-2-pyrrolidone from the product stream; measuring the concentrations of products comprising CH, CH, and CHin the product stream at steady state; determining performance parameters for the test catalyst and the reference catalyst comprising the respective CHconversion Sand CHselectivity relative to CHS; and comparing the test catalyst performance parameters to those for the reference catalyst.