A preliminary study of the influence of alkali-metal promoters on the selectivity and activity of vanadium catalysts in the oxidation of naphthalene

Abstract

The oxidation of naphthalene over vanadia catalysts promoted by alkali- metal sulfates was studied in the temperature range 400-440°C. The effects of SO₃ levels and alkali-metal sulfate promoter type on catalyst activity and selectivity were investigated in laboratory fixed-bed reactors employing integral conversions.    

The relative promoting abilities of the alkali metals sodium, potassium, rubidium and caesium were investigated with laboratory catalyst preparations. Alkali metals of higher atomic number favoured selectivity to partial oxidation products with an associated loss in overall activity.