MX2008001409A - Enhancement of surface-active solid-phase heterogeneous catalysts - Google Patents

Abstract

Surface-active solid-phase catalyst activity may be substantially improved by creating deliberate repetitive surface-to-surface contact between portions of the active surfaces of catalyst objects. While they are immersed in reactant material such contact between portions of the active surfaces of catalyst objects can substantially activate the surfaces of many heterogeneous catalysts. Examples are given of such action employing a multitude of predetermined shapes, supported catalyst structures, etc. agitated or otherwise brought into contact to produce numerous surface collisions. One embodiment employs a gear pump mechanism with catalytically active-surfaced gear teeth to create the repetitive transient contacting action during pumping of a flow of reactant. The invention is applicable to many other forms for creating transient catalytic surface contacting action. Optionally catalytic output of such systems may be significantly further improved by employing radiant energy or vibration.

Description

IMPROVEMENT OF HETEROGENEOUS CATALYSTS OF SOLID PHASE OF ACTIVE SURFACE Field of the Invention The present disclosure describes heterogeneous catalysts and reactor systems with catalyst and related methods, which employ active surface solid phase catalyst materials that act on the reactive material. Background of the Invention Catalyst materials promote chemical reactions but do not enter by themselves into the outgoing product nor are they consumed by the reaction. "Heterogeneous catalysis" refers to a catalytic process in which the physical states of the catalyst and reagent (material involved in the chemical reaction) are different. This is distinguished from "homogeneous catalysis", where the reactant and the catalyst have the same physical state and, as a result, form miscible solutions or mixtures (liquid / liquid, gas / gas). For example, the physical state of the heterogeneous catalyst material can typically be solid phase (for example, a metal or ceramic) while the reactants can be gases and / or liquids. Therefore, the "surfaces" of a solid catalyst material that can be contacted with a reagent play a role REF. : 189743 important in catalysis. However, with advanced knowledge of the nature of "matter states" many conventional theoretical models of solid, liquid or gas may be poorly suited to describe the range of states of matter. A "surface" exhibits much more complex than an oversimplified image of a visual plane used in many conventional models to describe it. The theoretical model of an exact limit as a characteristic of a surface can be deceptive for the understanding of certain catalytic surface activity. On the contrary, a surface of a solid can be seen as a transition zone or region where the closely spaced atomic groups within the solid are dispersed when looking towards the end of the surface area. Inside, the components of the solid bond closely together but on the surface in such a way that the bond is disturbed. For more than a century, countless specific examples of catalysts have been cataloged, developed and applied. The many current known reactions form the foundations of the majority of the global chemical industry. The recognition of catalytic effects began at the beginning of the 19th century. At the beginning of the twentieth century, many reactions on a large industrial scale began to use important industrial processes using heterogeneous catalysts. Notable examples are the synthesis of Haber-Bosch ammonia (fertilizers for world agriculture), the synthesis of Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbons (petroleum, gasoline, and hydrocarbon materials), and the synthesis of plastic materials, resulting in a chemical industry of vast polymers. The catalytic processes in the chemical industries of the world currently have enormous commercial importance. A large fraction of all chemical production is based on catalysts. There are some approaches to fundamental theories of catalyst, such as the functional theory of density, which involves the mathematical approximation of some quantum-mechanical factors that represent the chemical bond. However, the development of products and processes is mostly based on pragmatic experimental approaches. Consequently, the field of heterogeneous catalysts is replete with "recipes" to produce various types of catalysts using a wide variety of materials and constructions. In fact, catalysts are often known by the molecular species of their reactions rather than by their mode of action or even by their construction. Three typical examples of US Patents. which involve catalysts are: 6,821,922 for Tacke et al "Supported Catalyst for the Production of Vinyl Acétate Monomer"; 6,852,669 for Voit et al "Hydrogenation Catalyst"; and 6,867,166 for Yang et al. "Selective Adsorption Of Alkenes Using Supported Metal Compounds". A descriptive product brochure of the Johnson Matthey Company, a leading distributor of catalyst materials, is similarly functionally descriptive to each of a group of palladium-based products that the company offers for carbon-carbon bonds. (See the brochure available on the Internet at www.amcpmc.com/pdfs/producttype/45.pdf). In short, the understanding of the chemical on the basic foundations of catalytic art advances, but it is still incomplete. Heterogeneous catalysts having a spherical particle shape have been employed as catalysts and catalyst substrates. Such interest has typically been found in the monitoring of a large apparent surface area for contact with the reagent, with some added concern about thermal properties such as heat transfer in exothermic reactions. For example, Patent E.U.A. No. 6,747,180 for Ostgard et al, "Metal Catalyst" describes the formation of hollow metal spheres from 0.5 mm to 20 mm in diameter. This approach seems to be the reduction of the amount of expensive metal not available inside the sphere for the catalytic surface of the spherically formed particles desired. The Patent of E.U.A. No. 5,237,019 to Weiland et al, discloses small spherical particles from 0.01 to 3.0 mm in diameter composed of organosiloxane materials containing metals of the platinum group. The particles are specific to have a volume density below that of water while allowing a wide range of surface area to be obtained from varied particle sizes. Obtaining a large surface area seems to be the main objective form. Emphasis is also placed on the character of the dispersed catalyst metal in such compositions. The Patent E.U.A. No. 6,518,220 to Walsdorff et al, describes "Formed Catalysts" of a hollow cylindrical or annular form of a catalytically active material. The improved selectivity of the preferred form as well as the reduced pressure flow are described design objectives. In several US Patents for Wang et al (4,804,796, 4,701,436 and 4,576,926), hollow spheres are described which are formed in various ways to allow the effective density of such spheres to be made to allow such spheres to float in a chosen medium. An object of these patents is to improve the dispersion of such a catalyst in the selected reactive medium. The Patent E.U.A. No. 3,966,644 to Gustafson, entitled "Shaped Catalyst Particles" describes a catalyst particle composed of alumina formed in longitudinally symmetrical trilobes having an exact size range and specific claimed porosity characteristics useful for hydrocarbon conversions of petroleum residues. The form is discussed in terms of its hollow relation and its flow properties, improved activity, claimed longest duration of effective operating time, and resistance to superior grinding. The patent application E.U.A. No. US 2005/0130837 by Hoek et al, entitled "Shaped Catalyst Particles For Hydrocarbon Synthesis" discloses a form of catalyst in extruded trilobular form, which has a vacuum ratio in excess of 50%, either in excess of 43% or so of other designs in trilóbulo. Flows seem to be a principle that concerns these applicants. The Patent E.U.A. No. 4,293,445 to Shimizu et al. "Method for Production of Molded Product Containing Titanium Oxide" describes the addition of a small proportion of barium to improve the strength of the ceramic catalyst product. An approach to conventional improvements in the art of catalysts has been appreciated to maximize the surface area of the catalyst material exposed to the reagent. This has been done through various means: in one way through the creation of powdered and porous materials; in another through geometries of surface area; in another through the use of chemical processes that act on the surface of the catalyst to "activate" or "refresh" it. Certain researchers outside the field of chemistry and catalysis have observed what they consider to be detrimental effects of surface-surface contact in the context of electrical switches and relays. Such phenomena were studied in a series of papers that came from The Bell Laboratories at the beginning of the 1950s (See, The Bell Systems Technical Journal, May 1958 pp 738-776, "Organic Dposits on Precious Metal Contacts" by HW Hermanee & amp; TF Egan). The motivation of The Bell Labs workers for the study comes from examining the intermittent failure of the telephone exchange switch relays caused by the buildup of organic deposits formed in their contacts. Surprisingly this problem was exacerbated when efforts were made to hermetically seal a very large number of switch relays used in a telephone exchange of that time. The sealing effort initially seemed desirable to protect the contacts from airborne dust and contaminants. However, small amounts of organic vapor were not removed within the sealed relays (which result from magnet wire, insulated, and other organic materials from their manufacture) and were deposited in the sealed contacts inside. The resulting problems were severe because the "open" circuit caused by the deposit will soon disappear, making it difficult to locate. Bell researchers spotted mechanisms that operate by contact with the currentless relay to evaluate various types of material and contact environments. The signal circuits that seem most vulnerable essentially do not carry current through the relay contacts and operate only with very small signal voltages. Such "dry circuit" operation could provide actions without arc that can clean contacts. Researchers at The Bell Labs discovered that contact metals of group 10 (platinum group) resistant to corrosion, carefully chosen were very likely to form disturbing organic deposits called "contact polymers". Although many efforts have been directed to increase the effective surface area of the catalyst as determined by the gas adsorption tests, the resulting increase in the complexity and porosity of the surface also leads to a trapping and retarding movement of the damaging reagent of materials. of reaction. Accordingly, improved heterogeneous catalysts, catalyst systems, and catalytic reaction methods are still needed. Brief Description of the Invention The present invention involves, in certain embodiments, the use of catalyst to repeated catalyst surface contact to excite the catalytic activity of the contact surfaces. Previous investigations have shown that such contact can produce surface defects and rearrangement of constituent atoms on contact surfaces. The applicability and usefulness of this phenomenon seem to be previously unrecognizable and not applicable in the field of catalysis. As discussed below, such surface-to-surface contact can be used to increase the catalytic activity. The present invention provides catalyst reactor systems comprising at least two catalytic objects, each object having at least one complementary surface in shape and / or contour to at least one surface in another of the catalytic objects such that a contact area provided between two of the catalytic objects is capable of being greater than 1% of a total catalytically active external contact surface area of the two contact catalytic objects, and a device that induces contact configured and organized to repeatedly carry complementary surfaces of at least two objects catalytic materials in contact with each other in such a way that the contact area provided between two of the catalytic objects in contact is on average, greater than 1% of the catalytically active total external contact surface area of the two contact catalytic objects. In one embodiment, the catalytic reactor system comprises at least two catalytic objects each object has at least one complementary surface in shape and / or contour to at least one surface on each of the other catalytic objects, such that a contact area provided between any of the two catalytic objects is capable of being greater than 1% of a catalytically active total external contact surface area of the two contact catalytic objects. In another embodiment, each of the two catalytic objects comprises at least one essentially planar surface such that an essentially planar surface of a first catalytic object is capable of contacting an essentially planar surface of a second catalytic object. The catalytic objects of the present invention may comprise a catalytically active material comprising a metal or metal alloy. The catalytic objects of the present invention may further comprise a coating of support material with a catalytically active material. In one embodiment, the support material is a ceramic. In another embodiment, at least two catalytic objects comprise discrete particles or granules. In another embodiment, the catalytic objects are essentially non-porous. In one embodiment, the catalytic reactor system comprises an industrial-scale thick-mix bubble column reactor and the contact-induced device comprises a device configured to generate fluid flow capable of suspending and / or agitating the discrete particles or granules. In one embodiment, the catalytic reactor system comprises an industrial scale continuously stirred with a tank reactor wherein the contact-induced device comprises a stirring device. In some embodiments, the contact-induced device comprises a mechanical device that comprises or to which at least one of the catalytic objects is linked. In one embodiment, the catalytic objects are discrete particles or granules having a shape that is essentially a truncated icosahedron. In another embodiment, at least one of the catalytic objects has a shape that is essentially a cylinder. In another embodiment, a cross section of the cylinder perpendicular to its longitudinal axis has a perimeter that is polygonal. In another embodiment, at least one of the catalytic objects is configured as a gear having a plurality of engaging teeth. In certain embodiments, the catalytic reactor system further comprises a reactor comprising an inlet configured to allow a flow reagent in the reactor and an outlet configured to allow a product in the output stream of the reactor, where the catalytic objects are inside. of the reactor such that the catalytic objects are exposed to the reagent. Another aspect of the present invention provides a method for preparing a reaction catalyzed by a heterogeneous catalyst, comprising the acts of: exposing at least two objects, each object having at least one complementary surface in shape and / or contour to at least one surface in another of the objects, at least one of whose objects is a catalytic object having a surface that is catalytically active, to an environment comprising a selected reagent; creating repeated contact between the objects such that a planned contact area between complementary surfaces of two contact objects is on average greater than 1% of a catalytically active total external contact surface area of the two contact objects; and allowing the predetermined reagent to undergo a chemical reaction on at least one catalytically active surface to produce a desired product. In one embodiment, each of the objects is a catalytic object that has a surface that is catalytically active. In another embodiment, each of the catalytic objects comprises at least one essentially planar surface having an area comprising at least about 1% of the catalytically active external surface area of the object. In some embodiments, the catalytic objects are immersed in the environment. In one embodiment, the environment is a solution comprising the predetermined reagent. In another embodiment, the environment is a gas comprising the predetermined reagent. In some modalities, the contact is recurrent and transitory. In some embodiments, the contact causes at least a portion of an external catalytically active surface area of the catalytic object to be regenerated. The present invention also relates to catalytic objects comprising an external surface comprising a plurality of mosaic patches / facets wherein at least one mosaic patch / facet encounters an adjacent facet at an edge to form a predetermined three-dimensional shape, wherein at least one patch / facet of mosaic comprises a catalytically active material. In one embodiment, a mosaic patch / facet has a surface area greater than 1% of the total external surface area of the catalytic object. In another embodiment, each patch / facet of mosaic comprises a catalytically active material. In some embodiments, at least one mosaic patch / facet is essentially flat. In some embodiments, each mosaic patch / facet is essentially flat. In one embodiment, the catalytically active material comprises a metal or metal alloy. In one embodiment, the predetermined three-dimensional shape is essentially a truncated icosahedron. In another embodiment, the predetermined three-dimensional shape is essentially a cylinder. In another embodiment, the predetermined three-dimensional shape is essentially in the form of gear teeth in a gear. In some modalities, the edge where two adjacent mosaic patches / facets are found is rounded. Some embodiments of the catalyst object further comprise a support material coated with the catalytically active material. In one embodiment, the support material is a ceramic. The present invention also relates to catalytic reactor systems comprising a mechanical apparatus constructed and positioned to intermittently create contact between a catalytically active surface of a catalyst object and a contact surface of a second object, such that a contact area provided in average between the two objects is greater than 1% of the total external contact surface area of the two contact objects. In one embodiment, the contact surface of the second object is a catalytically active surface. In some embodiments, the mechanical apparatus comprises a motor. In some embodiments, the mechanical apparatus comprises a gear pump device. In some embodiments, the mechanical mechanism comprises a series of gear pump device. The present invention also provides methods for producing catalytic action on at least one reactive material, comprising: providing at least two catalytic objects, wherein the catalytic objects each comprise a catalytically active material on at least a portion of an external surface; expose the catalytic objects to an environment that comprises the reactive material; produce sufficient motion of the catalytic objects to cause contact events that impact the surface surface to frequently repeat transients between outer surface areas of the catalytic objects using a device that induces contact, contact events that each have an average of one anticipated contact area greater than 1% of the total projected average of the contact surface area of the catalytic objects that come in contact during the contact event; and transforming at least some reactive material into a desired product chemically different from the reactive material. In one embodiment, the contact events that impact from surface to surface frequently transiently repeated, are presented such that essentially all the catalytically active external surface of the catalytic objects come into contact during the method. In another embodiment, the average distribution of the movement of the contact events on essentially all the catalytically active outer surfaces of all the objects. In one embodiment, the average distribution of the movement of the contact events on a majority of the catalytically active outer surfaces of the objects. In another embodiment, the average distribution of the movement of the contact events on the limited portions of the external surfaces of the objects comprising the catalytically active surfaces. In one embodiment, the catalytically active outer surface of at least a portion of the at least one catalyst object is segregated into mosaic patches / facets, each patch / facet of mosaic has an outer surface area that is substantially less than the catalytically active external surface area total of at least one catalyst object. In one embodiment, a first mosaic patch / facet of the catalyst object that is segregated into mosaic patches / facets has a surface material composition different from a second mosaic patch / facet in the same catalyst object. In another embodiment, a first mosaic patch / facet of a first catalyst object which is segregated into mosaic patches / facets has a surface material composition different from a second patch / mosaic facet in a second catalyst object which segregates in patches / mosaic facets. In one embodiment, the aspect ratio of at least one catalytic object is less than about 1.05. In another embodiment, the aspect ratios of each of the catalytic objects is between about 1.25 and about 1.05. In another embodiment, the aspect ratio of at least one of the catalytic object is between 1.25 and 2.00. In another embodiment, the aspect ratio of at least one of the catalytic objects is between about 2.00 and about 3.00. In another embodiment, the aspect ratio of at least one of the catalytic object is greater than about 3.00. In one embodiment, all catalytic objects have essentially the same shape and size. In one embodiment, all catalytic objects have essentially the same shape but are different in more than 5% from at least one other catalytic object in size. In certain embodiments, the outer surface of the catalytic objects comprises mosaic patches / facets, and wherein at least one first and second catalytic objects have different polyhedral shapes from one another. In a particular embodiment, the first catalytic object is different by more than about 5% in size from the second catalytic object. In some embodiments, the outer surface of the first catalytic object comprises a first number of mosaic patches / facets while the external surface of the second catalytic object comprises a second number of facets. In a particular embodiment, the first catalytic object is different by more than about 5% in size from the second catalytic object. In a modality, a shape of the catalytic objects is substantially the same as a truncated icosahedron having joined rounded edges adjacent essentially patchy planes / mosaic facets, wherein the width of a rounded edge, defining a minimum distance separating adjacent essentially flat patches / mosaic facets, not exceeding about 2% of the nominal total diameter of the truncated icosahedron. In one embodiment, the sizes of the corresponding dimensions of any of the two catalyst objects are within 5% of one another. Brief Description of the Figures The accompanying figures are schematic and are not intended to be shown in scale. In the figures, each identical, or substantially similar, component illustrated in various figures is typically represented by a simple number or notation. For purposes of clarity, not all components are labeled in each figure, nor are each of the components of each embodiment of the invention shown where the illustration is not necessary to allow those of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention. In the figures: FIG. 1 (previous art) is a graph that represents the change of state that occurs when two components A and B are chemically linked with some possible changes in the energy presented; FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a truncated icosahedron; FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a geometrically ideal Truncated Icosahedron; FIGS. 4A and 4B show a view of all thirty-two sides of a Truncated Icosahedron traced in plane and adjacent (FIG 4B) showing the relation of sides; FIG. 5 shows the shape of smoothed TICO facet edges of a Truncated Icosahedron (e.g., as shown in FIG.2 or FIG.3); FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of an inclined truncated TICO Icosahedron facet plane intersecting with the facet dividing the mold (starting line); FIG. 7 shows an internal and detailed view of the basic gear pump mechanism comprising a gear having gear teeth comprising a catalytically active material in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; FIGS. 8A and 8B show a nine-sided cylindrically symmetric catalyst substrate granule in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; FIG. 9 illustrates a geometric hecatohedron; FIG. 10A and 10B shows a dome design for nine-sided cylindrical catalyst granule ends; FIG. 11 shows a cross-sectional view of a star roller catalytic object in a cylindrical reactor chamber according to one embodiment of the invention; FIGS. 12A-12C show a cross-sectional view (FIG 12A) and covered views (FIGS 12B and 12C) of a reactor test apparatus with anvil / shock catalytic object in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; FIG. 13 shows an anvil / shock catalytic reactor test apparatus in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; FIGS. 14A-14C shows various views of an anvil portion of the anvil / shock catalytic reactor apparatus of FIG 13; FIGS. 14D-14G show close-up views of the anvil apparatus of FIGs. 14A-14C; FIGS. 15A-15C show views of a shock and shock suspension portion of the anvil / shock catalytic reactor test apparatus of FIG 13; FIG. 16 shows a process flow diagram of a catalytic reactor and analytical system including the anvil / shock catalytic reactor test apparatus of FIG. 13 used to perform Examples 6-15; FIGS. 17A-17C shows an assembly carrying air bound to PIN, of the anvil / shock catalytic reactor test apparatus of FIG. 13; FIGS. 18A-18B are a graph showing the mass and abundance numbers of the species in the product gas for (a) a "non-impact" portion of an anvil Pd and (b) a portion "shock" of an anvil Pd, shown several times during a test run of the anvil / shock catalytic reactor test apparatus of FIG. 13, at 70 ° C; FIGS. 19A-19B are a graph showing the mass and abundance numbers of the species in the product gas for (a) a "non-impact" portion of an anvil Pd and (b) a "shock" portion of an anvil Pd, shown several times during a test run of the anvil / shock catalytic reactor test apparatus of FIG. 13, at 150 ° C; FIGS. 20A-20B are a graph showing the mass and abundance numbers of the species in the product gas for (a) a "non-impact" portion of an anvil Pd and (b) a "shock" portion of an anvil Pd, shown several times during a test run of the anvil / shock catalytic reactor test apparatus of FIG. 13, where the temperature is reduced from 71 ° C to 31 ° C; FIGS. 21A-21B are a graph showing the mass and abundance numbers of the species in the product gas for (a) a "non-impact" portion of an anvil Pd and (b) a "shock" portion of an anvil Pd, shown several times during a test run of the anvil / shock catalytic reactor test apparatus of FIG. 13, where the temperature rises from 60 ° C to 80 ° C; FIGS. 22A-22B is a graph showing the mass and abundance numbers of the species in the product gas for (a) a "non-impact" portion of an anvil Pd and (b) a "shock" portion of an anvil Pd, shown several times during a test run of the anvil / shock catalytic reactor test apparatus of FIG. 13, where the temperature rises from 30 ° C to 92 ° C; FIGS. 23A-23B are a graph showing the numbers of mass and abundance of the species in the product gas for (a) a "non-impact" portion of an anvil Pd and (b) a "shock" portion of an anvil Pd, shown several times during a test run of the anvil / shock catalytic reactor test apparatus of FIG. 13, where the temperature rises from 100 ° C to 200 ° C; FIGS. 24A-24B are a graph showing the mass and abundance numbers of the species in the product gas for (a) a "non-impact" portion of an anvil Pd and (b) a "shock" portion of an anvil Pd, shown several times during a test run of the anvil / shock catalytic reactor test apparatus of FIG. 13, where the temperature is reduced from 85 ° C to 40 ° C; FIGS. 25A-25B are a graph showing the mass and abundance numbers of the species in the product gas for (a) a "non-impact" portion of an anvil Pd and (b) a "shock" portion of an anvil Pd, shown several times during a test run of the anvil / shock catalytic reactor test apparatus of FIG. 13, where the temperature rises from 24 ° C to 130 ° C; and FIGS. 26A-26B is a graph showing the mass and abundance numbers of the species in the product gas for (a) a "non-impact" portion of an anvil Pd and (b) a portion "shock" of an anvil Pd, shown several times during a test run of the anvil / shock catalytic reactor test apparatus of FIG. 13, where the temperature is reduced from 100 ° C to 65 ° C. Detailed Description of the Invention Definitions As used herein, "contact" in the context of catalytic objects or other solid phase surfaces refers to a close encounter, in an atomic base, of at least some substance of surface material of each of the two different bodies of encounter, generally of solid phase. Such contact may transfer material between the encounter bodies and / or at least replenishment of some material in one or both bodies. This description brings new specific meaning to the word "contact." Typically, the term "contact" in catalyst techniques is generally used only in the context of carrying some reagent together with some solid (often a catalyst) upon which a reaction follows. The present invention introduces a wide range of inventive modalities of a potent, fundamental active surface catalyst that increases the defined and very specific involvement of the contact classes. The "solid phase" refers to matter in the solid state, that is, in solid association maintaining substantially its inter-atomic configuration; neither liquid nor gaseous. The "catalyst object" or "catalytic object" refers to an object of substantially solid, discrete physical phase, which has an external surface that has some catalytic properties when present in some specific environments designated for its use.

The "outer surface" or "outer surface" of an object refers to all the edge points between the material substance of a solid phase object, and all the surrounding points in the space that touch the object but do not match no material that stays attached to the object. The "surface area" of a generally solid-phase object refers to a relative region for its outer surface, which influences the catalytic activity of the object, which extends from at least several microns inside the surface unless several outside microns to it, understanding that such limits are somewhat diffuse. The "active surface catalyst" refers to the majority of the catalytic action of such a physical catalyst object that occurs within or on a surface area of such a catalyst object. The "contact event" or "event event" refers to the presence of an individual contact for at least some period of time that can only be of very short duration. The "separation event" refers to the departure of an existing contact of at least a minimum separation distance of two microns and, for a finite period of time greater than one microsecond.

"Open time" refers to the time elapsed from one separation event to the next that presents contact from either a separate contact surface. The "contact condition" refers to contact that occurs in one or many cases during a defined period of time. The "contact load cycle average" refers to the ratio of average closed time to average time between contact recurrences for any particular contact condition defined, or for a defined set of contact events. The "impact contact event" refers to the presence of a contact event that produces an effect in more than one atom of at least one of the contact objects either transfer atoms between encounter surfaces, or at least two atoms converting the replacement into at least one surface of catalytic objects. The "projection contact area" refers to the maximum possible area of contact during a contact event, defined as the area included within the matching contact limits between the two contact surfaces as if they were completely fused together. Such a planned contact area is therefore typically greater than the current area of all material physical contact to minute material that occurs within that area.

The "Total external contact surface" refers to the sum of all possible different projection contact areas of a defined pair of contact objects, such as surface active catalyst objects, or of a defined set of such objects. "TICO" is an aphorism for a catalyst substrate form that has a slightly modified form of a classic truncated icosahedron. The present invention relates in certain aspects to catalyst reactor systems configured to create contact between surfaces, for example catalytically active surfaces, of catalyst objects (for example, solid phase heterogeneous catalysts) and methods for the manufacture and use of such catalysts. and reactor systems with catalyst. The present invention may comprise recurrent transient catalyst surface interactions. The present invention also relates, in certain embodiments, to new geometries for catalysts, for example, particle and / or granule catalysts (for example as illustrated in FIGS 2-6 and 8-10), and to the novel movement and deployment of catalytically active surfaces to optimize the amount and frequency of surface-to-surface contact action. In some cases, a substantial improvement of the active surface area of the catalytic objects can be employed. The catalysts and catalytic methods of the present invention can increase the catalytic productivity and can also increase the transport of the heterogeneous reaction materials, for example gases, liquids, thick mixtures, and / or supercritical fluids, through the catalyst surface areas, relative to other known catalysts and catalytic methods. In one embodiment, the present invention relates to catalytic reactor systems comprising at least two catalytic objects having complementary surfaces such that a projection contact area between the two catalytic objects is on average greater than 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5%, 6%, 7%, 8%, 9%, 10% or more of the catalytically active total surface contact area of the catalytic objects, and a device that induces the contact configured and arranged to carry at least two catalytic objects in contact with each other. As used herein, "complementary surfaces" may refer to the surfaces of any of the two objects (e.g., catalytic objects), or portions thereof, which have a shape, surface topography, and other features that allow an anticipated defined contact area of close contact between the two surfaces to be substantially coextensive with all of the outer areas of the surfaces or portions. Examples of complementary surfaces include two essentially flat surfaces; an essentially conical projection and an essentially conical script (for cones of the same size); an essentially hemispherical pump and an essentially hemispherical dash (for hemispheres of the same size); etc. In one embodiment, a catalyst reactor system of the present invention comprises catalytic objects, each comprising at least one essentially planar surface such that the essentially planar surface of a first catalytic object is capable of contacting a substantially flat surface of a a second catalytic object. The catalytic object may comprise a catalytically active material on at least a portion or on substantially all of its outer surface. In certain embodiments, the catalytic object may comprise a support material at least partially coated by a catalytically active material. As used herein, a "contact inducing device" refers to any apparatus capable of bringing the catalytic objects into repeated contact with each other. In some embodiments, the contact-induced device may be a reactor agitation system in which the catalyst objects are placed, such as an apparatus that generates thick mixture flow from an industrial-scale thick-mix bubble column reactor. or an impeller of a stirred tank reactor continuously on an industrial scale, for example. In certain embodiments, the contact-induced device is an apparatus driven by a mechanical motor that is physically configured at the surfaces of at least two catalyst objects in contact with each other. In certain embodiments, a catalytic reactor system may comprise a mechanical mechanism for placing at least two catalyst objects in contact, such that a contact area provided between the two catalytic objects is greater on average than about 1% of the contact surface area. catalytically active external total of the catalytic objects. In certain such cases, the mechanical mechanism may be a gear pump, a series of gear pumps, or the like, and the catalytic objects may be in the form of rotating gears, or teeth thereof, or rolls that are arranged for to be in contact with each other and / or other surfaces. FIG. 7 shows an explosion and internal view of basic gear pump mechanism, while FIG. 11 illustrates a catalytic roller assembly. The catalytic objects or catalytic objects of the present invention may comprise a plurality of facets, or equivalent "patch patches", wherein at least one facet encounters an adjacent facet at an edge to form a three-dimensional shape, wherein at least a facet comprises a catalytically active material. In some cases, an individual facet has a surface area greater than 1% of the total external surface area of the catalytic object. In some embodiments, a facet, or portions thereof, may comprise a catalytically active material. The edges where the encounter facets can be essentially straight edges or edges that can be altered (for example, rounding). The facets may have surfaces that are essentially flat or non-planar. It is advantageous if the contour of the surface of facets of catalytic objects brought into contact are complementary, as defined above. The facet catalytic objects may comprise, in certain embodiments, particulate or granular forms having, in certain embodiments, particle sizes typical of those known in the art for particulate catalysts. For example, particle sizes can be in the range of 0.1 mm - 25 mm, more typically from 1 mm - 10 mm. These catalytic objects may be particularly well suited for use in industrial-scale reactors, such as thick-mix bubble column reactors, fluidized-bed reactors, continuously stirred tank reactor. The shape of the catalytic objects may vary over a particular application, as further described in detail below. Examples of potentially suitable shapes include, but are not limited to, polyhedra, such as a truncated icosahedron, cylinders, gears (eg, gear having gear teeth), etc. The present invention also describes methods for performing reactions catalyzed by a heterogeneous catalyst. Such methods may comprise acts of exposing at least two catalytic objects, at least one of which has surfaces that are catalytically active, to a defined environment comprising a selected reagent; creating contact between the catalytic objects such that a predicted contact area between the two catalytic objects is greater on average than 1% of the catalytically active total external contact surface area of the catalytic objects; and allowing the selected reagent to undergo a chemical reaction on a catalytically active surface to produce a desired product. In certain embodiments, the catalytic objects are immersed in and surrounded by the environment, which may be a solution or pure material in liquid form or gas comprising the predetermined reagent, for example. In certain embodiments, the methods of the present invention comprise contacting the catalytic objects in a recurrent and transient manner. In some cases, this may result in improved catalyst performance (eg, high yields).

In certain cases, the recurrent and transient contact between the catalytic objects can advantageously alter at least a portion of the surface area of the catalytic objects, which can affect or increase the catalytic behavior. In one embodiment, a first catalytic object which is initially active, can catalytically be contacted with a second catalytic target which is not initially catalytically active, such that the contact causes the second catalytic object to become catalytically active. In another embodiment, the contact can increase the catalytic behavior of a catalyst object. In one embodiment, the contact may allow the surface of the catalyst objects to be able to regenerate or "cool down", improving the catalytic behavior. With the advancing knowledge of the nature of the "states of matter," the conventional ideas of solid, liquid or gas may no longer be large enough to describe the range of states of matter. It may be advantageous to consider the behavior of the heterogeneous catalyst in the context of the knowledge that such state differences may be somewhat "diffuse". A "surface" typically displays much more complexity than the oversimplified image of a visual plane that is often used to describe this. Many surfaces can become very catalytically active under appropriate conditions. The conventional model of a clear boundary on a surface can be misleading for the understanding of catalytic activity. Fundamentally, a surface of a solid can be seen as a transition zone or region where closely spaced atomic groups within the solid are scattered as they are observed in the direction of the edge of the surface area. In the interior, the solid components are tightly limited to the surface such a link can be disturbed. The term "surface" in many of the conventional catalysts in the art is applied in a manner that does not reflect a full appreciation of the nature of a surface in its small atomic scale, active dimensions. In contrast, certain of the observations of the present invention may be consistent with a concept of the "surface" catalyst wherein the atoms within a catalyzed material are well below the nominal "surface" region, the neighbors closer sometimes under the "surface" can also significantly influence the properties of the "surface". Atoms distributed over large distances that cover many spaces of atoms produce processes in large ranges that can also play an important role. Thus, as described herein, a "surface" is much more an area than a position. The known quantum mechanical results support the contention that simply by having surfaces or materials very close to each other (a few microns or less), forces can rise and virtual particles can be made. For example, the effects of Casimir (Casimir, HGB "On the attraction between two perfectly conducting plates", Proc. Kon. Ned. Akad. Van Weten. 1948, Vol. 51, No. 7, pp. 793-796) can occur naturally on the very small scale of the area of the catalyst surface. The effects of Casimir, although operated in the area of domain of the tiny surface of the catalyst, have not typically been given attention in the catalyst field. In the context of the present invention, without being bound to any particular physical phenomenon, theory or explanation, it is plausible that the inventive catalytic improvement due to contact of the catalytic surface of the solid phase may be due, at least in part, to the phenomenon Since two surfaces are focused, some quantum uncertainty can influence not only the materials but also the "space" separating the two regions of the surface. This may especially be true where the two nearby surface regions have similar atoms, in such a case, the uncertainty may dictate that one of a "surface" can be found in the other "surface". This diffuse virtual "tunnel" can only be a part of the extraordinarily active zone when two surfaces are put in proximity. The measurement of Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) is a test of the common surface property used in describing various materials for the catalyst. It is a test of where the adsorption of a gas is measured on the surface of a material. This approach is based on a Langmuir theory with respect to the processes of gas adsorption on a surface. A controlled amount of an inert gas under pressure is applied under pressure to the test material. The gas is measured when it is removed by a heating desorption process. The measured BET can be expressed as square meters (or equivalent surface) per gram of the material under test. Although the theory of a BET measurement involves many hypotheses, the method becomes a common specification for the catalyst. The conventional thoughts behind such measurements were - the higher the surface area the better. Conventional beliefs that all catalytic action is controlled by the surface suggest that more is always better. Recently, however, more analyzes have shown that this is not necessarily the case (for example, see U.S. Patent 6,831,037).

The surfaces of the material, even when considered relatively soft, can be relatively rough on the atomic scale. The examples are visualized with newly developed surface scanning techniques showing many surface peaks and valleys, terraces and voids, all presented in a typically quite uneven manner. Another significant aspect of the atomic characteristics of the surface area is the considerable scope of various forces and influences. In the surface area, things can not be defined exactly as observed by the revised images to be represented. The characteristics that are often shown atom by atom on a scale of one atom every few millimeters can not transmit the long range of interactions by jumping many atoms away. Not only such small space is believed to be important, also small time can play an important role. Things can happen not only during a tiny range in a space of such dimensions of the atom but in a time of only a few hundred femtoseconds (10 ~ 15 seconds). Therefore, consideration of the extremely small time intervals in which the short-range catalytic molecular actions currently occur may be advantageous in the development of better catalytic processes. The consideration should give the greatest disparity between the femtosecond actions of the chemical bond and the longer time taken by the reaction materials to move inputs and outputs from the surface area. Thermal molecular speeds are in the order of hundreds to thousands of meters per second. Thus even a molecule of moderate size can only be in the vicinity of the atomic bond distance of one hundred or so picometers (10 ~ 12 meters) for a few hundred femtoseconds. However due to the inter-shock of the reactive molecules, the path to and from the surface can be quite indirect and tortuous. Thus, the transport of the reaction material can often be the limiting factor greater than the time taken to form a chemical bond. Thus, in the design of catalysed materials and systems it may be important to take into account how the components of a reaction can be obtained in the reaction range and how it can go far. An important concern then arises regarding how long it takes for the catalyzed molecule to leave the environment once it is catalyzed in the surface area. The catalytic activity may possibly have more with the entrampe of the materials than with putting simple ideas that focus only on the amount of the reactive surface area. Reactive and catalyzed materials captured in tortuous interstices that restrict and delay the entry and exit of materials may have more with the results of the range of production than the BET of average surface area alone. Even where a gaseous reagent is involved, BET measurements for many of the same reasons may not necessarily have a dominant impact on the effective reaction range. As a result, a large surface area constructed of a dense porosity forest may also become an inhibitor of material movement. The cohesion (stuck together) of similar materials can also deteriorate the movement. The landscape of a surface can therefore be one of the contributors frequently to the surface area often very large measured by gas adsorption test methods. Although previous evaluations of some catalyst activity appear to correlate performance with the effective adsorption area, the correlation was often poor. The large BET values can be obtained through the increase of the pores and the superficial roughness makes the landscape more coarse. If carried out too far, the forest of surface roughness can have an inverse influence on the production range of the catalyst due to the stagnation of the transport material. Therefore, in certain embodiments of the present invention, the catalytic materials are non-porous or have a relatively low surface porosity.

The heterogeneous solid phase surface catalysts can in certain instances reconfigure or assemble some molecular species of the reactants in the desired products. Such catalyst actions can take place within very short distances close to some surfaces. Some catalyst acts, at least in part, to break apart the particular molecular bonds. Others may produce new bond ligatures, for example, by forming polymers of the "block produced" molecules of the monomer. The very short time in which such molecular reactions take place can be an important aspect of such catalyst behavior. In the region of atomic scale of surface activity, such events can occur during extremely short periods of time. Such short time behavior does not seem to be appreciated in the conventional catalyst sought and designated. If the new links are created or those that exist are modified by a catalyst, each of these stages can be a discrete transition that occurs in extremely short time, for example, in the femtosecond domain. The quantization change of energy in such action can increase or decrease the total energy of the components. The nature of the quantization of such a transition can substantially limit the applicability of conventional concepts of exchange or storage of mechanical resonant energy. (Q is a symbol generally used to represent the storage range of resonant energy per cycle for energy loss per cycle). The ideas of a "Q" associated with such state transitions may fail because the changes are not continuous. A discrete transition can best be represented in the form of a state diagram, as shown in FIG. 1, in which the vertical direction represents the flow of time. Two molecules, one A and one B, (coming under the wavy line), can interact (the wavy line) through an exchange of a quantum of energy, producing the bound molecule A + B and a quantum of energy (or Fonon) at the entrance or exit of the state as shown on the right side of the wavy line. This scheme is present, not as a complete theory, but simply as a graph that clarifies the events that can occur in the very short time of such a reaction. The reaction can be either exothermic (released energy) or endothermic (absorbed energy). The time required for the transition (the wavy line) can be extremely short. In fact it can not be possible to say that the transition of the states of entry into the exit states requires any amount of time. This is an example of the question of quantum diffusion. The virtue of such a simple diagram is to represent purely the different states and the characteristic changes that accompany the event. Much of the conventional theoretical treatment of surfaces and catalytic activity by statistically modeling the large numbers of the elements, which motivate many of the conventional approaches to the design and search of the catalyst, may fall short by not adequately considering individual interactions and their brevity. . Many theoretical knowledge and empirical approaches to the chemical catalyst are treated in a form of thermodynamic statistics only with the general averages. Other complexities of the surface can also play an important role in the catalyzed activity. Even in regular "continuous" metal films that exhibit an ordered near-atom-by-atom proximity are rarely uniform at an atomic level. Nearly perfect, very pure semiconducting-crystalline materials can focus at least on the atomically perfect surface. It is instructive to consider that even a near-perfect surface layer may have "defective" properties on its "surface" simply because of the absence of nearer neighbors in the top space in the upper layer of the atoms. The surfaces may be different from their interior or volume due to discontinuities that may be inherently a property of a "surface" (boundary). If such semiconductor crystal material was "altered" to be of type N inside (rich in electrons), its surface can still show some P-type properties (rich in holes) due to the electron field missing in the "empty" side of the border. The alteration of a semiconductor material can often be done with just a fraction of a minute of the atoms (for an N-type silicon, about one in 10,000 phosphorus atoms). Notably this illustrates something of the degree to which large range properties (many distances of space in the atom) can contribute to the behavior of a surface. Even atoms within a "solid" can have a substantial influence on their "surface", derived from the constituent material and organization within the inner surface and the neighboring surface regions. A certain amount of displacement of the atoms within such a set can constantly take place even though the average of the set (form) may not change apparently. In the shortest distance and short time scale these movements can influence opportunities for different reactions to happen. The temperature of the materials can also have influence and can work to increase or decrease a particular result when different reactions compete at a different speed, some increase or failure as a result of the equilibrium at a particular temperature. It has been observed that the newly "divided" surfaces obtained by breaking a brittle solid in an ultra-high vacuum have high catalytic activity compared to similar surfaces that do not divide recently. Such undiscovered surfaces of rupture can not yet be covered by the adsorbed material and may exhibit short-range characteristics known to "hunger-search" their peers. Such is the exceptionally active nature of a nascent surface. It is believed, in the context of the present invention, that contact from surface to surface can create surface defects creating a similar increase in catalytic activity as for newly divided surfaces. In the context of the present invention, the landscape of contacting the catalyzed surfaces may change for each fresh separation after each contact. Again, without adhering to any particular theory or explanation, it is believed that such changes can produce a new body of surface defects with each separation representing, at least in part, greater catalytic activity and achievable performance with certain modes of the present invention. Many investigations and conventional developments in the area of heterogeneous catalysis intensively pursued large values of the gas adsorption area of the measured surface. This can encourage the development of the counterproductive surface complexity that opposes the output of the catalytic product. Typical conventional approaches for catalyst formulation that emphasize "recipes" derived empirically from particular materials, provide little direction for the variation or improvement of the catalytic chemical target of the catalyst. Consequently, much of the previous development was the result of carefully documented experimental work and historical experience of operation using established catalyst systems or modest variations thereof. The further improvement in catalyst productivity requires attention to directly improve the activity of the catalyst and to increase the transport of the material through the zones of the surface. The present invention, in certain embodiments, provides materials and methods for compliance with such improvements. This present invention is not limited to any recipe of the particular catalyst or use for any reagent entry / exit of the product nor is it specifically limited in its use for any particular reaction scheme. Examples of the catalytic methods that may be suitable for use in the invention include, but not limited to, cracking (e.g., steam cracking, fluid catalytic cracking, hydrocracking, thermal cracking and the like), catalytic reforming, acetoxylation, alkylation, ammonolysis, carbonylation, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, alkane production, production of pyridines, dehydration (for example, dehydration of alcohols), dehydrochlorination, dehydrogenation, epoxidation, hydration, hydrochlorination, hydrogenation, hydrogenolysis, isomerization, oxidation, reduction, oxychlorination, petroleum refining and production of synthesis gas and / or gas products of synthesis. Examples of catalysts and / or catalyst materials that can be used in the invention include, but are not limited to, nickel such as Ni Raney or Ni Urushibara, vanadium oxide (V), platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, alumina , silica, palladium catalysts, rhodium in platinum, Ziegler-Natta catalyst, Grubbs catalyst, Lindlar catalyst, Wilkinson catalyst, Crabtree catalyst, carbon-supported catalyst, alumina, or other materials, derivatives thereof, combinations thereof and similar. Other catalysts and catalytic processes that may be employed in accordance with the present invention are described in Rase, H. F., "Handbook of Commercial Catalysts," lst Ed., CRC Press, 2000, which is incorporated herein by reference.

In fact, the systems, materials and methods described herein can potentially be used in the context of essentially any heterogeneous catalyst composition of the solid phase by any suitable catalytic reaction scheme. Such compositions and reactions are extremely well known in the art. The invention described can generally be applied to essentially any catalyst using the active phase solid phase catalyst materials that act on the heterogeneous reagent material. This generally applies to the field of heterogeneous catalysis with the active surface solid phase catalyst as defined within this description and the appended claims. At least two different types of phenomena can influence the output ratios of a catalyst: First, the phenomena act catalytically during the desired chemical bonds in the zones of the surface; second, the phenomena act to affect the transport of the surrounding material to and from the surface areas. The improved debugging of the trapped surface area material can be provided by the action contacting the surface of the present invention, in which it can improve the catalytic activity. In certain embodiments, greater surface purification can be carried out by adding the radiant energy to the active catalyst surface zones to provide even further improvement in the catalyst output results. This radiant energy can assist the delayed movement of materials to and from the surface areas. As discussed above, contact with the surface may be more complex than previously seen in the field of catalysis. Even when it comes in contact with the surface it can slightly produce significant changes and defects of the surface. Some embodiments of the present invention employ a deliberately recurrent transient physical contact between the surfaces of the solid phase catalyst to increase the action of the catalyst on the objective reactive materials. Certain embodiments of the present invention involve new catalyst surface geometries, designed to facilitate and increase the projected contact area of contact events from surface to surface. Reactor systems with catalyst and / or catalytic objects of certain embodiments of the present invention are configured to produce contact of the surface to the surface frequently between the catalyst objects, using in certain embodiments, the inventive catalyst forms and / or movement of the catalyst in, for example, catalytic reactors of the invention. In certain embodiments, the used catalyst objects are designed to provide the large contact area (eg, protected contact area) between one catalytically active surface and another surface, which may also be catalytically active, which may be the same or different in composition and which may have surfaces that are complementary in shape and topography facilitating large areas of intimate contact. Such forms differ greatly from those typically used in conventional catalytic processes, which are typically spheroidal or include surface shapes not complementary to similar curves. The contact between the spheres, especially hard spheres, and other articles of small radius of curvature, provide only the extremely limited contact area. The typical contact between the hard spheres will typically be much less than one five thousandth of the individual target surface area. Under the conditions typically found in the prior art, the objectives of the spherical catalyst that come into contact with another produce an insignificant contact area in contrast to the shapes of the catalytic object provided in accordance with certain embodiments of the present invention described. in more detail below. By contrast, certain catalyst objects of the present invention, for example, catalyzed particles or granules, may comprise a plurality of facets (e.g., especially flat facets) or mosaic patches on the outer surface. In some embodiments, two such catalytic objects are contacted with another shape having complementary surfaces such that, by a contact event, a projected contact area between the two catalytic targets is (on average during a large number of contacts) greater than 1% of the total catalytically active external contact with the surface area of the catalytic objects. Examples of the shapes provided in accordance with the present invention include, but are not limited to, a variety of polyhedra, such as an icosahedron, truncated icosahedron (TICO), cylinder having a polygonal perimeter shape, gear teeth of a gear and similar. Those of ordinary skill in the art should readily anticipate a wide variety of other suitable forms, each of which is included within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. The inventive catalytic reaction systems may further include a contact-induced device which is configured and aligned to conduct catalytic objects in contact with another in the presence of a selected reactive environment to produce a desired reaction product. In certain embodiments, the catalyst objects may be contained in a reactor comprising an inlet for introducing a reactant into the reactor and an outlet through which a stream of the product passes from the reactor. The reactors of the invention may have many shapes that facilitate the creation of repetitive contact between the catalyst objects herein. For example, conventional designs or modifications thereof may be employed, comprise continuously stirred tank reactors (CSTR), fluidized bed reactors, reactors of the thick mix bubble column, etc. In addition, in certain embodiments the invention also provides new reactor designs which employ, in certain cases, mechanical devices for the creation of repeated contact between the catalyst objects (for example, see description of the gear pump and reactor designs). roll below). In some embodiments, the catalyst object is formed of a catalytically active material. In some embodiments, the catalyst object comprises an inert support material (e.g., a ceramic) that overlays at least a portion of its surface with a catalytically active material. In certain embodiments, the shape of the catalyst surface provides broad contact areas, for example, as with complementary shapes. This provides geometries to the catalyst object that are very different from the catalysts of the typical prior art and consequently, to the inventive systems employing such catalysts. With discrete independent catalyst objects, certain inventive catalytic reactor systems can also cause the objects to move around the catalyst objects which frequently collide in a manner that contacts the substantial surface with another in the reactive medium used. . This can be achieved by placing the catalyst objects in certain environments, such as gaseous, liquid or mixed media and providing a contact-induced device (for example, a device for agitation of the environment). Such stirring is employed in three phase reactors such as bubble column reactors of the slurry, in continuous stirring tank reactors and a variety of other configurations. However, conventional catalytic reactors which have agitation do not provide the increase in the contact conditions of the present invention because the designs of the catalyst object do not possess the surface-to-surface contact which increases the properties of certain embodiments of the present invention.

In some embodiments, the catalyst objects of the present invention may be used in combination with a device that induces contact capable of providing agitation or motion to an environment comprising the catalyst objects and a reagent. For example, many of the essentially flat facets of a polyhedron form, such as the TICO shape described below, can easily participate in the action of repetitive contact events when a volume of the reagent is densely filled with such objects being stirred or they stir in a reactor. This inventive form supports the catalysts when used in sufficient quantity to provide a high filling density can occur with moderate agitation of the many desired and often resorting to contact between its many facets (which can be essentially flat or complementary contour). Continuously stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) known in the art can be an appropriate apparatus for such process use. In the addition to CSTRs, the widely used bubble column reactor systems employing bubbling gas for stirring, for example, a Fischer-Tropsch type of hydrocarbon synthesis reaction can also be used in conjunction with the catalysts of the present invention, such as a TICO type catalyst. In certain embodiments, especially those that employ a large number of stirred catalyst objects in the form of particle-like objects, these may be desirable to avoid a three-dimensional catalyst object that is symmetric in a manner that allows aggregation (eg, "secured") when many catalyst objects are closely packed. For example, this may occur with cube-shaped objects during agitation. In certain embodiments, the catalysed target forms are provided to allow the desired surface-to-surface contact event desired but minimizing the tendency to aggregate in a secured manner. The inventive asymmetries are exemplified in several examples given below; However, there are many other geometric possibilities that cover this need that are presented to those of skill in art. In certain embodiments, a mechanical actuator, mechanism or apparatus to which at least one catalytic object is mechanically interconnected or interconnected can be used to place at least two catalytic objects (or a catalytic object and a non-catalytic object) in contact, so that the protected contact area between the two objects is greater on average than about 1% of the catalytically active total external contact surface area of the catalytic objects. For example, systems in which gear teeth engage, which includes a surface comprising a catalytically active material, are contacted with a reagent (for example, see FIG. 7). There are many currently known forms of gear pumps that can serve such a function by placing the catalytically active gear tooth in an interdigitated manner and rotating the gears, creating contact between the surfaces of the gear tooth. Additionally, an inlet and outlet can be included in the catalyst reactor system in such a way that the reactive material can circulate on the catalyst objects, for example at least in part due to the convection created by the moving gears. Another embodiment of the present invention may additionally employ cylindrical reaction chambers or tubes comprising an inner surface that can be made catalytically active. When contacted with other objects, such as other catalytic objects of a similar composition, in an appropriate reactive environment, the contact events of the other objects of contact with the catalytically active external surface of the reaction chamber may produce the desired contact conditions to promote the increased catalytic behavior. Systems of this type can be rapidly applied to fluids, circulating gases, and thus combine the desired fluid movement functions with the intended catalytic processes.

An exemplary configuration for using formed contact catalytic surfaces employs meshing teeth having catalytically active surfaces on the tooth as shown in FIG. 7. Such gears naturally operate to produce a fast surface effective surface to surface contact on each surface of the engaged tooth. Gear pump devices are known to have contact teeth formed especially suitable for pumping fluid. There are many forms of commercial gear pumps. Such a mechanism combines surface contact functions with fluid pumping functions frequently useful for many catalyst processes. Such catalytic gear pump systems have only effective uses that consider their high natural pressure capacity together with a large flow rate capability under even extreme temperature conditions. By having a desired catalytically active surface material in the meshing gear pump tooth, conditions for the target system can be achieved in a variety of otherwise difficult conditions. Well-established processes can be used to deposit catalytic materials on such tooth surfaces. Another configuration of this type employs multiple individual gear pumps. These can be used within a reactor to produce mixing and stirring of reactive materials therein. Such a device frequently utilizes the action of two or more gears rotating together such that the fluid is collected in the incorporated tooth and exits on the side of the dividing tooth of such configuration. There are many forms of this type of device known in the art. Some employ multiple gears, some planetary systems. Teeth of various shapes can be used in such systems. The coupling of such teeth can be desired to develop a larger contact area and travel on each facet of the tooth that is in contact with the appropriate catalyst material. The pressure between the tooth can also be maintained by a motor that generates an appropriate force or gold mechanism to exert only enough force to ensure significant intermeshing on the most complete extent of the tooth surface possible. Another configuration for such a gear pump system may be a serial fluid configuration that travels from a gear pump to the next series placement to create an extensive surface covered by the circulating fluid reagent. Another property that may be convenient for the catalysis process is the ability of such pumps to operate under very high pressure conditions. This type of pump can either generate such pressures or operate the meshing gears without any housing container simply within the ambience of the controlled reaction chamber. The gear coupling system can be configured and operated to develop a sufficient total active surface contact area and, to run at sufficiently high gear speeds to optimize the contact action so that the desired output of the product is obtained. react. The shape of the tooth can be any of one of the well-known types designed to be angled or helical or other geometries that increase the area of contact available on each engaged tooth. The patent literature shows many examples of pump designs potentially adaptable to the described applications. For example, two such pump structures that are described in US Patents. They are: 5,660,531 and 6,518,684. Another embodiment of the present invention may involve a catalyst reactor system comprising catalyst objects configured in the form of a roller carrying a configuration to create the action of contacting and separating multiple aspects of the present invention.

(See Fig. 11). The bearing bearing surfaces can be covered with a catalytically active material. Structures of this type can be immersed within a reactive medium with a reactor or in a flow stream of such a reactor. This type of mode with appropriately designed materials can also facilitate use with a very wide range of temperature and / or pressure. FIG. 11 illustrates an embodiment of an inventive catalytic reactor system 70 that does not need to employ catalyst granules or particles but instead uses the containment vessel, with an internal surface 72, and a mechanism that also provides agitation and scrambling action of the catalytic objects . The cylindrical reactor 70 includes a series of spring loading rollers 74, which are covered with a catalytically active material, configured in a carrier 76 that is rotated around a rod 78. The reactor 70 may also comprise inputs and outputs, not painted to allow the circulation of the reactive material within the reaction vessel. The rollers 74 and / or the inner surface 72 of the container container of the reactor which is in contact and pressed can be covered with a desired catalytically active surface material. The carrier 76 rotates the rollers 74 to make uninterrupted contact events in particular areas of the catalytic surface of the rollers 74 and / or the surface 72. The rotation also provides a form of stirring and stirring the contents (e.g. reactive material). Such a container can be either a batch or operated in a continuous flow. The particular geometry illustrated is but a case of many possible configurations as appreciated by those of experience in art. This inventive structure can be constructed in essentially any size considered appropriate for the selected objectives. Cylindrical container containers also advantageously provide themselves with operating pressure and temperature extremes. The magnetic coupling can be used to generate rotation of the carrier 76 in a sealed system. In another embodiment, the type gear pump systems discussed above may optionally be combined with a system as illustrated in FIG. 11 for pressure and flow advantages. The flexibility of inventive catalytic reactor systems illustrates the many possibilities for performing several dient types of these reactions in a feed stream by coupling varied reactor configurations. This may occur in series or as a branched network in this manner providing many integrated industrial process configurations within the scope of the invention. Certain embodiments of the invention comprise the use of an anvil / shock catalytic reactor apparatus, which in certain embodiments can be aligned and configured to be particularly well suited for smaller-scale analytical testing, experimentation, process / material optimization, and applications of comparative tests.

Two such modalities are shown in FIGS. 12A and 13, respectively, which, as explained in more detail below and as shown in Examples 6-15, may be especially useful as pilot scale tests and analysis devices. FIG. 12A provides a cross-sectional view of an exemplary embodiment of an anvil / shock catalytic reactor apparatus 80. FIG. 12B shows a top view illustration of the shock apparatus, while FIG. 12C shows a top view illustration of the anvil apparatus. As shown in FIG. 12B, a shock contact 84 is placed on the bottom side of the shock sheet 98, and a turbulent stream candle 92 is placed on the top of a shock sheet 98. The impact sheet 98 is held in a elevated position by the shock base 94. As shown in FIG. 12C, the anvil apparatus 80 includes an anvil base 90 and an anvil carrier plate 88 positioned on a portion of the anvil base 90 such that the anvil carrier plate 88 has an upper surface essentially matched to the surface of the anvil. the anvil base 90. The anvil carrier plate can be aligned with bolts 89. An anvil contact 86 is placed in a portion of the anvil carrier plate 88. In the anvil / shock apparatus 80, the shock apparatus 98 is placed on the upper part of the anvil apparatus in such a manner that the anvil base 94 is brought into contact with a portion of an anvil base 90. Also, the impact sheet 98 is placed on top of the Anvil apparatus such that the contact shock 84 is placed directly above the anvil contact 86. The anvil contact 86 and the impact contact 84 can be welded to the anvil carrier plate 89 and the impact blade 98, respectively . The welder may preferably be of a high temperature gold / silicon type such as those used in semiconductor structures. A thin aluminum foil (<.002"(.00508 cm)) of such a welder may be fused to each of these metal parts in a reduced atmosphere furnace. One or both of the anvil contact 86 and shock contact 84 may comprise a catalytic material. This type of assembly retains the flat property and parallel shape of the parts. The design allows repeated tests with different catalysts to maintain an identical operating behavior. In this configuration, the shock contact 84 is able to contact the anvil contact 86 by the movement of the impact sheet 98. A screw 96 can be used to control the force with which the shock contact 84 is placed in contact with the anvil contact 86. In an illustrative embodiment, the anvil contact 86 has a larger surface area than the impact contact 84. For example, the anvil contact may have a surface dimension of 5 mm x 5 mm , while the impact contact can have a surface dimension of 2 mm x 2 mm. The anvil contact 86 and / or the shock contact 84 can be covered with a catalytically active material, as described above. The shock contact 84 can be brought into contact with the anvil contact 86 such that the catalyzed product is formed in the contact area (e.g., the surface area of the shock contact and the "hit" portion of the contact anvil). The excess or "no-hit" area of the anvil contact (eg, a 1.5mm wide structure that has 21mm2 of anvil surface) is exposed to the same environment, however it will show substantially less catalyzed product on its surface than on the "hit" area 2x2 (4mm2). Various catalytic materials, reactive materials, temperatures and operating pressures can be tested with the current system. With reference to FIG.13, a second exemplary embodiment of an anvil / shock catalytic reactor apparatus is illustrated within a reservoir 140. One embodiment of this apparatus is described in much greater detail below in Example 6 and is described herein only briefly. The shock assembly 120 is positioned relative to the anvil assembly 110 such that the strike plate can be brought into controllable and repeated contact with the anvil. The shock assembly 120 can be connected to an electromagnetic conduction system, for example, an inductive circuit conductor linear actuator 130, which can measure and control the location and movement of the shock plate day and the force applied during contact events. In the illustrative embodiment, the carrier gas 132 used provides a very low friction passage through the reservoir 140 of the pressure roller 131, which conducts the shock plate 300 (FIG.15). A set of inlets 142 can introduce reactive material, such as reactive gas, into the apparatus 100, and a set of outlets 144 can be used to evacuate the reactive gas from the apparatus 100. In certain embodiments, each of the three illustrated reagent entries 142 and product outlets 144 may be in fluid communication with different portions of the catalytically active surface area of the anvil 200.

(FIG.14) of the anvil assembly 110 (for example, the striking and non-impacting portions of the anvil in the illustrative example). The techniques of the present invention are not considered to be limiting in their utility for particular catalyst materials or catalyzed reactions and can be applied to a wide range of active surface catalysts and reactions capable of being catalyzed by these catalysts. Essentially, the complete known catalog of active surface catalysts can be potentially beneficial by the application of surface-to-surface contact systems and configurations of certain embodiments of the present invention. Catalyst materials other than metals, such as oxides or ceramics, can benefit from effective contact events within the context of the present invention. Those of ordinary skill in the heterogeneous catalyst arts, using no more than the knowledge and resources available to those skilled in the art, given the teaching and guidance provided in the context of the present invention, will be capable, without undue experimentation and undue burden, of selecting suitable catalytic materials for a particular desired reaction and for making such catalyst materials from the catalyst objects and catalyst reactor system of the present invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art will be able to perform selection tests and routine tests and optimization, for example, such tests can be performed in a similar manner as the procedures described below in Examples 6-15, to select appropriate and optimal conditions to implement the inventive techniques that involve creating and / or increasing the contact surface of catalytic objects and to confirm that the inventive techniques provide an increased catalytic activity in their chosen system. In some embodiments, the catalyst reactor systems of the present invention may comprise a catalytically active material that forms a catalytic object or that is present in at least a portion of the surface of the catalyst object. The catalytically active materials are known in the art, and can be chosen to make a particular application. In certain embodiments, combinations of metals such as alloys or other metal mixtures may provide advantages for specific catalytic activity. For example, the combinations, in which different components have different valency or oxidation properties can produce more active sites for catalyst during contact with similar surfaces. When selecting metal atoms for such combinations, column elements of the adjacent periodic table may be chosen. For example, a transition metal of a certain column in the periodic table can be allowed with a transition metal of an adjacent column, such as the preceding column or a column that follows. Examples of such combinations may include elements of at least two of columns 9, 10, and 11 of the periodic table. For example, a transition metal of group 10 (eg, nickel, palladium, platinum) can be allowed with a small amount (eg, 0.05% by weight, 0.10% by weight, 0.25% by weight, 0.50% by weight, 0.75% by weight, 1.0% by weight, 5.0% by weight, 10% by weight) of a transition metal of the adjacent column 9 (e.g., cobalt, rhodium, iridium, etc.). In a specific embodiment, the palladium metal can be allowed with 0.25% by weight iridium. Inventive systems employing the increased catalyst contacting techniques and configurations described above may be useful in alleviating the frequent problems, "regeneration" and replenishment operations common with industrial catalytic operations. The surface-to-surface contact can act, at least in part, as a form of continuous regeneration or reactivation. In addition to the significant improvement in the catalytic action, the present invention can, in certain embodiments, allow increased selectivity for resulting products by allowing a greater range of operating parameters to be used. The present invention can make possible the use of non-effective conditions or practices previously in conventional systems.

Many configurations are possible within the context of the present invention. Examples are presented below that should be considered as non-limiting cases of a very large scope of possible applications and configurations within the scope of the present invention. Others will be presented to those experts in the arts; therefore, only the appended claims should define the limits of the inventive subject matter. In another embodiment, the catalyst reactor system can operate at supercritical conditions (temperature and pressure) to obtain a desired molecular species for the catalytic reaction. This may occur in a more or less continuous manner or due to the severity of such thermodynamically active conditions may occur transiently in a repetitive manner to lessen the burden of such extreme conditions on materials and equipment. Other embodiments of the present invention can provide transport and release of the catalyzed material and react for, from, and / or in the surface area. Although the action of contacting the system itself also facilitates important benefits in the transport of the material, this effect can be further increased in certain modalities by the application of radiant energy. The exciting action of the radiant energy incident in the catalyst (eg, sonic, ultrasound, photon, particle and / or electromagnetic energy) can improve the movement of material to, from, and / or over the surface area. As indicated above, the entry of materials into the surface area of microcavities or cohesion can be a delaying process with a time factor many times that required by the current catalytic transformation. The catalyst objects of the present invention can, in certain embodiments, be configured as particles or granules having geometries that include multiple projected contact areas and / or faceted / mosaic patches, each having a surface area typically of 1%, 2% , 3%, 4%, 5%, 6%, 7%, 8%, 9%, 10% or more of the total active external surface area of an individual catalytic object. The principle of the target system can be realized in a wide variety of sizes, shapes and configurations, which can be chosen for a particular application, which provides a significant protected contact area greater than 1% of the total external active surface area of an individual catalyst object. An illustrative form is the cylindrically symmetric catalyst object with nine longitudinal planar facets along its long axis surface when considering the possibilities for application of the principles of the subject invention. The different conditions desired for use and economic factors also affect such choices. The catalyst objects may be a solid catalyst material, a layered construction, a recessed structure, or the like. For example, the nickel metal often used in catalysts can be used in a solid form, its shape conforming in principle to the multifaceted construction of certain embodiments of the present invention. Many configurations of such an action are conceivable within the scope of the present invention. For certain applications of the present invention, especially small shaped catalyst objects may be desirable. The supported catalytic objects can be used for reasons of freedom when forming objects and for economy of manufacture. For example, ceramic materials can be used for supported catalyst substrates. Stability, high temperature resistance and chemically inert qualities can make appropriate ceramics for a wide range of process conditions. As discussed previously, the present invention provides inventive catalyst geometries. In order to form such geometries, effective methods for molding more complex and precise shapes than those already achievable with common extrusion methods for making ceramic materials can be advantageously employed. The use of such molding processes can be advantageous to achieve the degree of asymmetries of form discussed above as being useful to avoid the insuring behavior of the catalyst objects whose shapes are very easily intertwined when the reaction space is densely filled. In certain modalities, materials that can be produced in powder form can be blended with thermally moldable plastics and formed into the desired shape using known powder injection molding (PIM) techniques. These methods have been developed to enable very productive and economical plastic molding technologies to be made for the fabrication of metal parts and ceramics. When ceramic powders are used, such methods are sometimes called ceramic injection molding (CIM). Among such technologies, the CIM process employing alumina ceramics can be particularly useful for forming catalyzed substrates. Such methods can be used for the manufacture of many catalysis objects within the scope of the present invention. The materials for carrying out such methods are available from BASF AG of Ludwigshafen, Germany, who also publishes guides and textbooks describing manufacturing methods (see Piotter, et al., Sadhana, Vol. 28, Parts 1 and 2, February April 2003, 299-306). Some references describing conventional catalyst processes employing conventional ceramic catalysis carriers have reported significant wear from abrasion caused by agitation. Conventionally, efforts have been directed to minimize the effects of mechanical wear of ceramic substrates employed. The approach generally taken was through the manipulation of the composition and processing of the ceramic. The generally recognized phenomenon of such wear has been termed "attrition" the catalyst. The wear debris particles of such behavior have a special name - "fine". Such fine particles not only clog the filters and interfere with the process machinery but whose wear can also result in reduced catalytic activity. Current ceramic technology has employed additives for a pure aluminum oxide ceramic often used for catalyst support substrate material. Titanium (titanium oxide powder) with another material added to it (for example barium in a minor provide) has been blended to improve the resistance to rubbing. The molded parts of pure, fully sintered, durable alumina produced by the CIM process described may be suitable for many uses, but the wear factors should be considered for each specific process in selecting the shape of the substrate, materials and processing conditions. To improve the abrasion resistance, an alumina material (eg, AO-F alumina available from BASF) can be mixed with one to five percent titanium powder with the optional addition of one percent or less of barium to neutralize any sulfate content that affects abrasion performance. The function and advantage of these and other embodiments of the present invention can be more fully understood from the examples below. The following examples, while illustrating certain embodiments of the invention, do not exemplify the full scope of the invention. EXAMPLES Prophetic Example 1: Fabrication of a Catalyst Object Catalyst objects are made using moldable alumina powder material sold under the trade name Catamold® type AO-F available from BASF AG of Ludwinshafen, Germany and its distributors in other countries. The AO-F material is made of 99.8% pure aluminum oxide which is composed of finely divided powder mixed with about 20% polyacetal plastic material. This allows a plastic to be handled and molded using the existing plasticized screw molding equipment. Even complex forms with such techniques are possible. The complete process as described below exists as a commercial operation used routinely to produce molded ceramic parts. Parts as they are first molded by such a process currently do not require two processing steps, completely ceramic, beyond the plastic molding stage to become hardened durable ceramic forms. Due to the amount of plastic material added to make the plastic molding process possible, the parts as molded are designed to be, for example, 20 percent larger than that desired for the finished part. The particular polyacetal plastic chosen for the aggregate material allows such molded parts ("untreated" parts) to be chemically treated to remove all the added plastic. This is done in a first stage process from which the room temperature parts are gradually raised (at a rate of 3 ° C per minute) until it is set at 270 ° C. In such a heated environment, the untreated parts are then exposed to the nitric acid vapor for about one hour. This process, called "disunion", quickly converts all the plastic into the moldable part into a gas. In this way it is disengaged, free of the polyacetal, sometimes porous but firmly and precisely formed, the parts now "treated" in the second stage directly carried in a sintering operation. The temperature is gradually increased to 3 ° C per minute during the next 7 hour period reaching the full sintering temperature of 1610 ° C. After holding for about an hour, the parts are cooled slightly more rapidly at 5 ° C per minute up to 400 ° C, then they are further cooled slowly at 3 ° C per minute up to 50 ° C or room temperature. Now fully hardened solid formed parts can be handled, easily for any of the additional stages. This sintering cycle has several purposes: 1) to precisely shrink the parts up to the designated size; 2) fusing the part in a precisely formed non-porous solid ceramic in such a way that; 3) The resulting surfaces then become hard and smooth glaze. For control and beneficial economy, complete disbonding and the sintering operation cycle can occur in a continuous automated "push" tunnel baking system. The surfaces of the sintered parts thus emerge from the processing well suited to be coated with any of a variety of desired catalytically active materials, e.g., palladium or ed palladium metals or combinations as described above, the above methods can be used as the art. for the supported catalyst object examples given below. The economic advantage and shape possibilities using this CIM molding and sintering process makes it potentially valuable for application to form the catalytic objects of the present invention. Prophetic Example 2: Fabrication of a Supported Catalyzed Form This example illustrates the fabrication of a selected shape for a supported catalyst object of moderate size about 3mm in diameter that has multiple advantages over a sphere. The shape of the catalyst object is essentially a truncated icosahedron 10, as shown in FIG. 3, a variant of a soccer ball shape, having thirty-two substantially flat facets, twenty of which are hexagonal facets 12 and twelve of which are pentagonal facets 14. (The ideal Euclidean geometric shape of the truncated icosahedron 10 is shown in FIG 2). The catalyst object has a general spherical symmetry that still provides a relatively increased projected contact area when compared to a sphere, as each of the thirty-two protected contact areas may be larger in a surface area than some percentage of the surface area external total of the object. The total surface area of this particular polyhedron shape is up to forty-eight percent larger than a sphere of the same nominal diameter. FIG. 4A shows another view of a truncated icosahedron, while FIG. 4B shows a view of the thirty-two facets of the truncated icosahedron placed in plan and attached showing the relationship of the facets. To synthesize a catalyst in the form of a truncated icosahedron, the ceramic supported catalyst substrate having the desired shape is formed by the CIM methods described in Example 1 above. The ceramic substrates are then covered with selected catalyst material. For reasons of durability and ease of manufacture, the shape is modified in various ways from its ideal soccer ball shape. This modified form is then made a TICO. First, the sixty ends of the facets are rounded or "softened". As shown in FIG. 5, the facets 22 and 24 join an edge 20, which is slightly rounded to eliminate the sharp edge giving rounded smooth facet edges having a radius of curvature 26 of about 0.08 mm. Also, in embodiments where the catalyst object is synthesized using a mold, the angle of the facet in the line portion of a mold may be less than 90 ° to assist in the release of the catalyst object from the mold. FIG. 6 shows a catalyst object 30 having a facet 38 adjacent to a partly medial plane tube 36 of the mold 32. The line 34 illustrates a 90 ° angle in the mold part line 36. The facet 38 may preferably be slightly inclined so that the attached facets make an angle slightly less than 90 °, with respect to the plane of the starting tube. (The starting tube is the open facet of the mold such parts). This facilitates that the molded parts are more easily released from the mold cavity thus preventing a very large part from remaining in the mold cavity. Half of the cavity mold opening for such parts may be slightly larger than part to allow easy release from the mold.

In the current example, the catalytic particles are manufactured in such a way that each such truncated icosahedron has thirty-two essentially planar facets. These facets increase the projected contact area available - a strategy in sharp contrast to minimize the projected contact area, as in the sphere. The substantial difference in the projected contact area complements the relative increase in possible contact events with an agitated crowd of such objects of TICO facing catalysts packed with the reactor. The numerous resulting frequent contact conditions are observed to produce a relatively increased amount of catalyst for a selected reagent. The TICO supported catalyst carriers of the present example are molded using the process described above in Example 1 and are covered according to the needs. There are many methods that are familiar to those skilled in the arts for the removal of materials in substrates that can be used to deposit desired metals, oxides or other catalytic materials on TICO surfaces. The techniques can be selected from varied processes in the range from liquid elimination to vacuum evaporation. In the current example; TICO coated in cobalt metal is used in a Fischer-Tropsch reaction with appropriate synthesis gases either in a thick mix bubble column reactor (SBCR) or a continuously stirred tank reactor (CSTR). The thermal hardening of the TICO construction of the current example leads to such a highly exothermic process. Prophetic Example 3: Nine Sided Cylindrical Catalyst Granule Making FIGS. 8A-8B illustrate another inventive form of a catalytic object and the system comprises a catalytic granule employing a nine-sided cylindrical shape 40. FIG. 8A illustrates a side view along the length of the cylindrical granule, while FIG. 8B illustrates a cross-sectional view. The methods described above in Example 1 for CIM molding are used to make this inventive form. The unusual number and asymmetric configuration of the essentially planar facets 48 leads to good mixing and surface-to-surface contact with minimum insured effects. In FIGS.8A-8B, an illustrative embodiment of the cylindrical granule is shown. The cylindrical granule 40 has a general length 42, with the essentially planar facets having a length 44. The dome end of the granule has a length 46. The nominal diameter of the cylindrical granule 40 is shown by 52. In this particular example embodiment, the cylindrical granule is 11.5 mm long, with nine facets, essentially flat, each having a length of 7.5 mm. The length of the dome end is 1.95 mm. The diameter 52 of the cylindrical granule is 5.65 mm. The edges 50 are rounded as described above in Example 2. The illustrated size is arbitrary since the concept is broadly applicable to a wide range of possible sizes and alternative facet numbers. The use of other solid materials is also presented to those experts in the arts. The size of the current example in FIGS. 8A-8B is about three times the contact area of the illustrated and previously described TICO shape having a diameter of 3 mm. The largest contact area of the cylinder facet 40 can be essentially flat and smooth to be fully effective in contact events. The maximum projected contact area of this form is more than 8 percent of the total external surface area of the particle. This factor for the TICO form described above can typically be from just above 2 percent for the smallest facet to just above 3 percent for the largest facet. The form of FIGS. 8A-8B can be easily molded using the previously described CIM process or many other known molding techniques possible. The ends in dome, as shown in FIGS. 10A-10B, they can minimize the attraction of such parts in use that could arise from the simple square end geometry. FIG. 10A illustrates a cross-sectional view along the length side of the cylindrical granule, while FIG. 10B illustrates a side-down view of the length of the cylindrical granule. The dome design allows a smooth transition from the domed end to the cylindrical granule body, which comprises essentially planar facets. The diameter 60 is the maximum diameter of the body of the cylindrical granule, while the diameter 62 of the hemispherical dome is relatively smaller, which allows a smooth transition of the body to the dome end. Prophetic Example 4: Fabrication of a Granule Catalyst hecatohedron The hepatohedral form of the catalytic object illustrated in FIG. 9 comprises a relatively diametric symmetry that requires less modification to cause the molded object to be more easily released from a mold cavity. The external surface area of each facet is smaller than the TICO object for a given nominal diameter because the shape focuses more closely than that of the sphere. However, the large number of essentially flat facet surfaces provides considerably larger protected contact areas than with spheres of the same diameter. Smaller facets allow the shape to be made relatively easier with a desirable level of flat property and fine surface finishing. This catalytic form "HECA" is molded rapidly with the CIM process discussed above. Irregular facet shapes can moderate the closing tendencies of spherical symmetry. Example 5: Catalytic Enhancement by Surface Contact to Surface In order to observe the contact effect in the catalytic activity of the palladium metal, and alloys thereof, an experimental catalytic anvil-shock contact apparatus similar to that illustrated in FIGS. .12A-12C and previously described was fabricated as follows: Two cane elements are obtained from a cane replacement capsule approximately 1/4 inch (0.63 cm) in diameter. A portion of the surface of each cane element is spent, and small samples of palladium metal were welded to the cane pieces in strips downward. A sample of palladium of 3 mm x 3 mm (approximately) was welded to a rod, while palladium of 4 mm x 4 mm (approximately) was welded to another rod. An external magnetic field was applied for controlled movement of the pieces of cane, so that they put the palladium samples in contact with each other. In this way, the modified cane elements function to provide simple contact opening means. The modified rods were placed to close normally with a contact force of 6 grams as read by a dial-type spring dynamometer of 0 to 15 grams used to place the replacement spring force. The pieces of cane were mounted to a microscope glass slide as a base using almártega cement. The upper shank was contacted by the lower shank and bent up to 6 grams of force just open the contact as determined by the ohmmeter. The assembled slide was placed in a 1-inch (2.54 cm) inner diameter Pirex glass tube for exposure to reagents (methane gas). The volume inside the tube was approximately 75 ml. The ends of the tube were closed with a single hole silicone rubber stopper at each end. Methane gas was flowed through the Pyrex tube at a ratio of 5 to 10 ml per minute. An external wire circuit surrounding the tube was conducted by a power amplifier of a function generator to provide the magnetic opening force for the assembly. The palladium contacts in the rods were contacted at a ratio of about five times per second, for a period of time between several hours to as much as one day. Significant organic deposits were found in the contacts. The largest period showed more deposits. Gas chromatography shows that the molecular weight of the deposits was more than 20,000 in polystyrene equivalent. The palladium used ranged from pure palladium, palladium-ruthenium alloy comprising 10% ruthenium, and a palladium-silver alloy comprising 10% silver. The deposits look thick and sticky. Working Examples 6-14: Anvil / Shock Catalytic Reactor Test Apparatus (SAT) and its Use for Observing Increased Catalyzed Contact Reactions with Catalytic Object The SAT Apparatus An SAT apparatus was designed as drawn in FIG. 13 and described above to allow evaluation of the contact made with a variety of solid catalyst materials that are operated in a structure that provides a volume through which the carrier and reactive gases can flow. The SAT apparatus incorporates a digitally controlled electronically controlled electro-magnetic conductive system to produce precise repeated contact force between two pieces of catalysis materials (e.g., shock and anvil) in a manner that precisely parallels. A large heavy-duty welded steel car (30"x 60" [76.2 x 152.4 cm]) with 8-inch (20.32 cm) pneumatic tires (not shown) was used to support the total weight of the SAT device (ie, more than 700 pounds [317.51 kg]), as well as a battery backup power source (not shown, a line regulator conditioner (not shown), pipeline, and gas flow controls (see, for example, FIG. 16), an electronic digital computer controlled driving control system (not illustrated), and a computer with a 20"(50.8 cm) LCD monitor (not shown) The car also supports gas flow valves, flow observation tube and flowmeter (See Fig. 16). An Agilent Mass Sensitivity detector (Model 5879) 502 is placed adjacent to the carriage and connected to the SAT 100 system by means of a selector valve 504 and tubing with an enclosed heating space (not shown) attached to the carriage. Gas cylinders (not shown) supplying the feed gases are connected to the gas control panel 507 in the carriage through the pipe of the cylinder storage area near the carriage. The catalysis materials are provided in the SAT apparatus by means of a removable posterior shock insert and a removable anvil carrier, such that the catalyst materials can be easily changed. The small pieces of catalyst material are welded to the replaceable back anvil and anvil insert so that the manner in which the two catalysis materials come into contact with each other is constant over several samples. The materials of anvil and shock catalysis are of mm of thickness of stored ground roll manufactured to be flat and parallel to within 30 micro inches and formed as strips either 3 mm wide or 5 mm wide. The strips have a smooth glossy surface finish typically better than 0.5 microns of roughness. The 3 x 3 mm shock plate and the 5 x 12 mm anvil were cut from the strips with an 8/0 jeweler's saw and the cut edges are filed to remove any "burrs". FIGS. 14A-14G show several views of anvil assembly 110 of SAT 100. Anvil 200, which is welded to anvil insert 201 (FIG 14B), is positioned between the inlet port 230 and the outlet port 220 in such a manner that, when the reactive gas is fed from the inlet port 230 to the outlet port 220, the flow of reactive gas crosses the width of the anvil 200 and comes into contact with the anvil 200. FIG. 14D shows an approaching view of the input port 230 and the output port 220. The input port 230 comprises inputs 232, 234, and 236, through which the material can be introduced. The inlet port 230 further comprises nozzles 276, 278 and 280, which introduce the reactive material to the surface of the anvil 200. The nozzles 276, 278 and 280 are configured in such a way that the nozzle openings are positioned just above the surface of the anvil 200 and about * • _ mm from the edge of the anvil 200. The nozzles 276, 278 and 280 are placed at down angles about 3 degrees from the parallel with the plane of the anvil surface to ensure that the gas The reagent is contacted with the anvil 200. The nozzles 276, 278 and 280 are formed (for example in substantially rectangular form) such that, when the reactive gas is introduced into the anvil 200, the reactive gas has laminar flow. The bottom of the edges of nozzles 276, 278 and 280 are located precisely H mm above the upper surface of the anvil insert 201. Similarly, the outlet port 220 comprises complementary nozzles 270, 272 and 274, through which the reactant / product gas can exit after contacting the anvil 200. The nozzles 270, 272 and 274 are also configured in such a way that the nozzle openings are positioned just above the surface of the anvil 200 and about mm from the edge of the anvil 200, and the bottom edges of the nozzles 270, 272 and 274 are located precisely H mm above the upper surface of the anvil insert 201. The outlets 222, 224 and 226 are connected to the gas outlets 144 (see FIG 13) to evacuate the reactive / product gas from the SAT 100 apparatus and to feed the streams into the mass spectrometer analysis system (Agilent 5879 MSD). The 2002 resistor (for example, a lOOOmW resistor) eliminates the static charge. The ceramic components 290 and 294 insulate the anvil 200 from the stream, and the pins 292 and 293 guide the placement of the anvil 200 (FIG 14G). A particularly advantageous feature of the SAT apparatus allows several portions of the anvil 200 to be studied simultaneously. FIG. 14E shows a top view of a portion of the anvil assembly 110, wherein the dividers or "fences" 240 and 242 are placed across the width of, and in contact with, the anvil 200 to define the portions 210, 212, and 214 of the anvil 200, and to prevent the crossing of the reactant gas. of product from one portion to another portion during the operation. The dividers 240 and 242 can be held in place, for example, by slots or channels in the anchor port 230 and output port 220. In some cases, the dividers 240 and 242 can be made of glass, or any other material that can Physically isolating the portions 210, 212 and 214 from one another. In the current example mode, borosilicate glass "fences" (6 mil thick) that are 5.5 mm high and 18.3 mm long were used. The reactive gas was introduced in a direction 250 by means of inlets 232, 234 and 236, in such a way that reactive gas exiting from outlet 276 only comes into contact with a portion 210 of anvil 200, the reactant gas that exits. by the outlet 278 it only comes into contact with the portion 212 of the anvil 200, and the reactive gas leaving the outlet 280 only comes into contact with the portion 214 of the anvil 200. This configuration can be advantageous in that the different portions of the anvil 200 can be evaluated comparatively under the same reaction conditions to determine the relative increase in the catalytic activity portion 212 when contacted by a second catalytic material. In some cases, the dividers 240 and 242 are not necessary, since the laminar flow of the reactive gas can be controlled, for example, by controlling the inlet and outlet flows, such that substantially no reagent gas crossing of a portion is present. to another. In this example, the reactive gas flows in a direction 250 from the anchor port 230 to the outlet port 220. It should be understood that, in other embodiments, the reactive gas may flow in a direction opposite to the address 250 (eg, from port 220 to port 230). The anvil 200 was configured to have a large surface area (5 x 12 mm) different from the second catalytic surface (ie, the shock catalytic surface 300 (3 x 3 mm) and was configured in such a way that the shock plate was it contacts only the portion 212 of the anvil 200 during the operation In other words, the portion 212 of the anvil 200 was contacted by a second catalytic surface (ie, the shock plate 300) in the presence of reactive gas, while portions 210 and 214 of anvil 200 were not placed in contact with a second catalytic surface in the presence of the same reactive gas, portions 210, 212 and 214 were then evaluated separately for the catalytic activity that occurs in each individual portion. The anvil assembly 110 thus possesses a configuration and geometry that provides differential comparison of the "hit" areas (eg, portion 212) and "without hitting" (e.g. 0, 214) of the anvil 200 while exposing all conditions essentially identical to the areas. The differences in catalytic activity between the "hit" and "no hit" areas of the anvil 200 can then, with permission for reagent / product release times in the pipe runs and the correct correction for any differences in the surface area of the pipeline. Total catalyst are suitable for the intermittent presence of the additional area shock plate day in zone 212, is attributed solely by contacting the effects of, for example, the shock plate on the anvil. Figures 15A-15C show several views of the shock assembly 120, which is positioned directly on the anvil assembly 110 in the SAT apparatus 100. As shown in FIG. 15A, the shock post 300 is connected to an assembly comprising the aluminum foil suspension strips 320 and 322, aluminum foil structure, and the connector roller 330. The connector roller 330 is further connected to the actuator 130, as shown in FIG. 13, which controls the movement of the impact post 300 by means of the aluminum foil mechanism it operates, wherein the foil strips 320 and 322 oscillate as they are directed to the actuator 130. The aluminum foil structure 310 is 18 mm of thickness and is precisely of flat and parallel floor to allow the appropriate hold of the aluminum foil hanger strips 320 and 322. the aluminum foil hanger strips 320 and 322 and the aluminum foil frame 310 are made of X-material 750, and each has a different thickness to ensure that its resonance frequencies are significantly different. For example, the aluminum foil hanger strip 322 is 0.001"(0.00254 cm) thick and the aluminum foil hanger strip 320 is 0.002" (0.00508 cm) thick. The clamp assembly 340 and 342 are constructed to have smooth surfaces in order to evenly distribute the force through the 320 and 322 aluminum foil suspension strips and solidly anchored aluminum foil suspension strips 320 and 322, which are tensioned in an established fixation up to a force of 11 grams. The spacer 341 is finished to have a smooth surface such that the aluminum foil strip 320 is contacted uniformly, and the screws 343 self-level. The actuator 130 is directed to the oscillation of aluminum foil suspension strips 320 and 322 by means of the connector roller 330 in such a way that the impact post 300 moves in a direction 350 towards the anvil 200. The aluminum foil structure 310 it can be moved vertically by means of rotational mounting 360. Figure 15C shows an approaching view of the shock post 300 and the shock plate 301, which is bonded by welding to a lower surface of the shock post 300 and the insert of anvil 201 were manufactured from a stainless steel, providing very flat and smooth surfaces for which the catalyst material was welded. The coupling surfaces of these carrier parts were tinned in a similar manner, removing any excess weld with solder mix. The catalyst pieces (that is, anvil 200, strike plate 301) were then easily fused to the carrier parts with a minimum amount of solder, by fusing the two pre-tinned parts in the presence of a very small amount of a rosin flow. . The 316L parts were tinned with silver-tin 221C soldering using a Lucas-Milhaupt hydrochloric acid-based flow welder for stainless steel work (Handy Flux Typpe TEC). A thin strip (0.003"thick (0.00762)) of this SnAG eutectic alloy welder was provided by Lucas-Milhaupt These tin and melting operations were carried out using an electrical temperature controlled by a hot laboratory plate. used fluxes were completely removed after each welding operation and then with a pure water wash and rinsed with acetone before use As described above, the shock plate 301 is a small plate of catalytic material (for example, a 3 x 3 mm plate of Pd in this example) attached to a lower surface of the shock post 300, so that the strike plate 301 comes into contact with the anvil 200 when the shock post 300 is lowered in the direction 350 (FIG 15A) The removable shock post 300 is made of 316L material, is 0.250"(0.635 cm) in diameter and has a notch precisely placed 347 to the lower end which engages the two screws 349 ball loaded in spring at the position of the shock post 300 within the shock assembly 120. As shown in FIGS. 15B-15C, the shock post 300 also comprises a 1/16"pin (0.15875 cm) and fits against the V 353 slot in the bottom of the 303 aluminum foil clamp plate to maintain proper alignment Shock plate day 301. In an example mode, the strike plate 301 comes into contact with the anvil 200 only in the portion 212 of the anvil 200, and does not contact the portions 210 or 214 of the anvil 200. As shown in the experimental runs described more fully in FIG. Next, the anvil portion 200 which is brought into contact with the shock plate 300 (that is, the portion 212), in the presence of a reactive gas, shows enhanced catalytic activity relative to portions 210 and 214. In some cases, the catalytic activity can be increased by over 50%, or over 90%, relative to the portions without hitting 210 and 214. The catalyst materials were bonded to the shock post 300 and the anvil insert 201 by a welding technique special using a eutectic welding. Eutectic welding has a specific temperature at which it melts and immediately becomes fluid (that is, it does not show a range of softness as when heated). This property allows the welding of a flat catalyst material to a flat carrier metal in such a way that the capillary action of the fluid welder ensures the precise parallel coupling of the surfaces. A variety of existing alloys within a range of working temperature. In some cases, a particular proportion of gold and silicon can be made eutectic at a relatively high temperature. The alloy selected for experiments described herein was pure tin with 3.5% silver, which melts at precisely 221 ° C. The strips of the catalyst material were tinned only on the coupling side with this eutectic welder. After tinning, the soldered tin layer was minimized by deburring the tinned surface with "solder mix" which is a very fine copper braid about 3 mm wide, coated with a "rosin" type welder flow. The debugging of the welder was carried out to the point where the welding film is bright, smooth, thin and does not show small lumps or high points. After tinning, the strike plate 301 was bonded to the shock post 300 and the anvil 200 was bonded to the anvil insert 201 by welding. A four-port Valco selector valve (VICI) 504 was used for the sample, sequentially each of the three anvil areas and the gas stream inlet from portions 210, 212 and 214. This type of selector valve ventilates the ports not shown, not selected to a vacuum-emptied tube, therefore maintain the flow through the sampled port and the non-selected inputs that maintain the flow current for when a sample is selected. Input port 230 and output port 220 were connected to their corresponding Valco or power ports through a 316L stainless steel tube of 1/16 inch (0.15875 cm) commonly used in chromatography and welding equipment by Valco as T100C40 as electropolished internally clean and sealed in meter lengths. These tubes are folded by hand to form a position in them so that each set of three raised openings connecting a nozzle block seated firmly in each tube in its 1/16 inch opening widened thereby by gently connecting the diameter of the inner tube 0.040"(1 mm) to the nozzle path Each nozzle was machined EDM in wire in the nozzle block 230, 220 providing a smooth laminar flow transition from the 1 mm ID round to the opening of the wide nozzle 1.0 x 3.1 mm Lateral movement of the wire EDM was used to form the transition from the round to the wide nozzle opening.The use of EDM machining (for example, machining of high nickel alloy materials) often It produces residual products due to the spark erosion of the metal, starting from a "white layer." Just as "white layers" can be formed when the cleaning operations were carried out or chemicals were used. if you go, which can cause the appliance to malfunction. In order for mechanical and chemical tolerance to be conserved, precision surfaces should be brought to a neat size of shiny metal. Consequently, many components of the SAT 100 system were fabricated from a single inch thick plate of high nickel alloy material X-750, which is chemically resistant. The Ni alloy was vacuum annealed at 1800 ° F (982 ° C) and quenched slowly in argon to develop properties desired for these applications. The X-750 is prone to work during machining, especially due to hardening of the precipitation within a temperature range of 1000 to 1300 ° F (704 ° C). Thus, cutting speeds and feeds were carefully managed to avoid work hardening. The cobalt cutters were used at moderate cutting speed. After substantial machining of pre-annealed material a subsequent annealing cycle was carried out to preserve properties and provide stability. In some cases, two or three annealed cycles are preferred. In some cases, the high nickel alloy material X-750 is completely annealed before starting any machine operations, and the "white coating" of the soft product is removed to a depth of 0.015-0.025 inches (0.0381-0.0635 cm) . The SAT 140 tank was heated in a controlled manner by five cartridge heaters (not shown) attached to a 3/4 inch (1,905 cm) thick aluminum heat transfer plate (not illustrated) intimately bonded by twelve stainless steel screws 18-8 of 1 / 4-20 (not shown) in the lower part of the base 141 of the closed 140. These tests allow to be conducted at elevated temperatures of up to 200 ° C or higher in some cases. Both facets of coupling of these two parts were flat floor-surface better than 3 / 10,000 inches (0.00762 mm) flat with surface fine roughness less than 50 microinches (0.00127 mm). The surfaces were coated very thinly before assembling with a finely powdered boron nitride lubricant sold by Omega Engineering as the HTRC compound. The two parts slide repeatedly with each other moving one inch (2.54 cm) or close to evenly distribute the compound to ensure that all surfaces are wetted with the compound by reducing the sliding stroke gradually to adjust a millimeter or close. The 1 / 4-20 screws were fitted with a flat head with stainless steel washers and stainless Bellvill spring washers to allow thermal expansion while maintaining the desired clamping force. They were set in countersunk recesses (0.585"(1.4859 cm) D) at the bottom of the heat transfer plate and the release hole for the 1 / 4-20 screws were about 0.280" (7.1 mm) in size. Various thermocouples (not shown) provide the temperature reading of the anvil during operation. These and other thermocouples were used as sensors to control a PID temperature controller (not shown) that provides power to five cartridge heaters of 250 volts in. (0.63 cm) in diameter (not shown) (available from Omega Engineering as CIR). -1042 / 120V) recessed evenly across the middle line of the heat transfer plate. These cartridges are also covered with a HTRC thermal compound to fully attach the heat to the plate. The mounting holes for the H inch heaters (0.63 cm) in diameter provide a space of 10 to 12 mils before the compound is applied since the heaters are inserted. The PID controller operates a "zero-break" solid-state release that minimizes the production of electrical noise that can interfere with the electronic control system and data recording computer (not shown) that are part of the general SAT system. To provide comprehensive stability and low heat transfer to the aluminum main base plate, a 3-3 / 16 inch (7.62-0.47 cm) thick block foam material of closed cell glass (trade name "Foamglas" from Dow Corning) (not shown) was cut from larger pieces and laminated up and down with an aluminum sheet metal 1/32 inch (0.079 cm) thick to prevent material crumbling. The laminate was made using a Dow Corning 736 high temperature RTV silicon sealant using a thin layer to adhere the metal to the glass foam. The length at 14-5 / 8"(35.56-1.58 cm) was slightly less than the base length enclosed and the width was 5-5 / 16" (12.7-0.79 cm), allows the release of the brakes that place and secure the heat transfer plate. The SAT 140 lock in this way was mounted to the car so that it was separated from the car by the block of Foamglas. The reservoir 140 is designed to contain a moderately pressurized gaseous atmosphere, some of which flows over the contact catalytic materials. The tank 140 has the dimensions 18"x 5.5" x 7.5"(45.72 cm x 13.97 cm x 19.05 cm), with a metal base one inch (2.54 cm) thick 141 and a welded metal structure 143 supporting five sides forming the enclosed volume of about 8.5 liters.The structure and base were made of an X-750 material and all fully annealed parts were welded together using the type 80 filler rod and subsequently annealed before the final machining Each end of the structure is formed of an X-750 material of one inch (2.54 cm) thick 5.5"x 7.5" (13.97 cm x 19.05 cm) The ends are enclosed each by a flat floor plate metal partition of inch (1.27 cm) thick 145, 147, material 316L that has penetrations for inlet gases and thermocouple sensors Both of these plate plates are secured with 6mm steel cap screws and self-leveling spherical washers (self-aligning washers) JERGENS steel) threaded into the holes plugged into the ends of the enclosed structure. Viton O ring of 1/8 inch (0.31 cm) nominal diameter material in one channel in each septum plate is sealed to provide leak-free operation. The upper part and the two sides employ thick borosilicate plate glass windows (eg 9mm) 149 (Schott Glass) that form a pressurized enclosure, using similar Viton O rings to seal the sides. These O-rings were manufactured by vulcanizing to size by a commercial vendor using a reference plate with all three required different rectangular channels corded on this plate as a revision in the appropriate dimensions. The front glass window can be removed. The upper part of the reservoir 140 also employs a borosilicate glass window and has a hole 151 located directly above the Alnico magnet 330 attached to the upper part of the upper aluminum foil carrier clamp plate 332. An exhalation assembly of air bound to PIN 132, the structure of which is shown in greater detail in FIGS. 17A-C, is installed with sealed O-rings and silicon rubber gaskets so that the wire bonding roller 131 of 0.030"(0.076 cm) 316L diameter is freely moved by an electromagnetic conducting system 130 placed directly above this The electromagnetic conductor system 130 is mounted on an inch Boom plate (1.27 cm) in thickness (not shown) (VPN) mounted vertically on a Mast (VRT) (not shown) made of a 6"channel (15.24 cm) wide heavy weight aluminum that is solidly anchored by bolts to a thick aligned mounting block (not shown), bolts are also secured to a horizontal aluminum main base plate of ^ inch (1.90 cm) thick of 30 square inches (76.2 cm2) (not shown). This main mechanical base is maintained on several inflated bicycle wheels (not shown) forming an isolated low level vibration effect of the car equipment or sources that carry the built structure, which reduces the undefined and uncontrolled levels of variation by vibration of the contact force between the shock plate and the anvil. SAT General Test Protocol Cone described above, the SAT system is composed of six basic subsystems. 1) gas sources and regulators, 2) valves and gas flow controls, 3) SAT test tank, 4) Valco selector valve, 5) Agilent 5879 mass selective detector 6) data logging and control electronics of impulse shock.

A test run begins with the front window of the reservoir 140 open. The bayonet connected to the inner magnet link 133 to the PIN head 132 is removed to allow the structure of the laminate 310 to rotate upwardly by means of the rotary assembly 360 when exposing the impact post 301 so that it can be removed and replaced by a post desired shock / catalyst and corresponding anvil insert 201 with its catalyst material similarly removed and replaced with one desired for the test run. These parts were prepared prior to establishing a test run. After installing the desired shock plate 301 and the anvil 200, the next step was to start a start run of the new shock plate and the anvil. A start run was started by first selecting the number of runs to be taken by the shock pole 300. Typically, how 3000 runs were used with the system operating normally at 3 runs per second. After the start run, the anvil insert 201 and the shock pole 200 were examined in the SEM with the data of photos taken and an EDAX analysis taken. The insert and the cost were returned to the SAT tank and the front side of the glass of the tank 140 was reinstalled. The gas flow conditions were then established for the test. For runs with palladium catalyst material, nitrogen carrier gas at a flow rate of 2.5 liters per minute was used within the main port of tank 140. Reactive methane gas was fed to inlets 142 at a rate of one liter per minute. . Prior to the start of the test gas run, the chamber and nozzles were fed with pure helium gas for 20 minutes to clean all the lines. The shut-off valve 503 between the outlet of the Valco 504 and MSD 502 selector valves was kept closed until the pressure indicated the output of the stable tank reading 140 to more than 1.5 psi 0.105 kg / cm2). During this period of initial gas flow within the reservoir, a test of the MSD internal calibration spectrum was run by using the injector of the test substance constructed in the MSD 502. After completing this test, MSD 502 was allowed to turn off the pump and when it was stable, the shut-off valve was opened and the test run was started. Throughout the test run, the performance of MSD 502 and the temperature conditions were recorded by the system's computer. After a stable gas flow was established, a temperature adjustment program was started for the desired set points for the temperature of the test operation. Test runs were run at various temperature levels and for varying periods of time as described more fully below. Test runs were run at 3 runs per second with a strike force of around 12 g. After each run, the strike plate 301 and the anvil 200 will be examined again by SEM and EDEAX for mechanical changes or other effects on the surface. Typically no alterations were found. As shown in the results data described below, substantial increases in the abundance of the catalyzed product were generally observed in the samples taken from the contact area of the anvil 200 (e.g., portion 212) relative to two non-contact areas of the anvil 200. (for example, portions 210 and 214). The Valco 504 selector valve was used to sequentially sample the gas product from the portions 210, 212 and 214 of the anvil 200, as well as the inlet gas stream for the portions 210, 212 and 214. For example, the portion 210 Sampling first, portion 212 is sampled in second place and portion 214 in third place. In some cases, the "no hit" portion 214 was sampled too quickly after the hit portion 212 and the towing material (e.g., excess product) was observed for the non-hit portion 214. This anomaly was confirmed upon reversal the rotation of the selector valve 504, such that portion 214 is sampled first, sample portion 212 second, and portion 210 is sampled third. As expected, when the portion was sampled without hitting 210 too fast, after the hit portion 212, entrainment material (e.g., excess product) was observed for the portion without hitting 210. When a longer period of time was allowed prolonged to clean the lines between each sampling, the effects of drag1 were greatly reduced. The effects of catalytic identification far exceeded the effects of entrainment. Test Example 6: Use of an SAT apparatus for palladium-catalyzed synthesis of hydrocarbons from methane gas at 70 ° C. The above-described SAT apparatus was coupled with a 5"x 12" Pd anvil and a blow plate. 3"x 3" Pd and the run of tests was generally done as described above. In this example, the SAT apparatus was heated to 70 ° C and the methane gas was fed into the inlets 142 at a ratio of one liter per minute. During the test run, the shock plate made contact with the anvil at a ratio of 3 strokes per second with a strike force of about 12 g. Samples of reactive gas from the knocked portion and portions without hitting the anvil were fed into the mass spectrometer during the various periods of time to measure the levels of product produced during the test run. Figure 18A shows the numbers of mass (x axis) and abundance (y axis) of the species in the reactive gas for a portion without hitting the anvil, sampled at various times (z-axis) during the test run. The peaks having a mass number of about 14 correspond to the methane starting material while the peaks with a mass number of about 30 correspond to a higher hydrocarbon product. Fig. 18B shows the mass numbers (x axis) and species abundance (y axis) in the product gas for the tapped portion of the anvil, sampled at various times (z axes) during the test run. When comparing fig. 18A with 18B shows that the ratio of product abundance to the abundance of methane-starting material for the portion without hitting the anvil is substantially less than that for the hit portion of the anvil, indicating that the contact between the anvil of Pd and the Pd shock plate substantially enhanced the catalytic reactivity of Pd in the synthesis of higher hydrocarbons from methane at this temperature. Test example 7: Use of an SAT apparatus for palladium-catalyzed synthesis of hydrocarbons from methane gas at 150 ° C This test run was carried out as described in test example 6, except that the SAT apparatus was heated at 150 ° C during the test run. FIG. 19A shows the numbers of mass (x axis) and abundance (y axis) of species in the reactive gas for a portion "without hitting" the anvil, sampled at various times (z axis) during the test run. FIG. 19B shows the mass numbers (x axis) and species abundance (y axis) in the product gas for the "struck" portion of the anvil, sampled at various times (z-axis) during the test run. When comparing FIGS. 19A with 19B shows that the ratio of product abundance to the abundance of the methane starting material for the "non-hit" portion of the anvil is substantially less than that for the "hit" portion of the anvil, indicating that the contact between the Pd anvil and the Pd strike plate substantially enhanced the catalytic reactivity of Pd in the synthesis of higher hydrocarbons from methane at this temperature. Test Example 8: Use of the SAT Apparatus for Synthesis of Hydrocarbons catalysed with palladium from methane gas from 71 ° C to 31 ° C This test run was carried out as described in Test Example 6, except that the run Test started with the SAT apparatus heated to 71 ° C, and the temperature was decreased to 31 ° C in the course of the test run. FIG. 20A shows the numbers of mass (x axis) and abundance (y axis) of species in the reactive gas for a portion "without hitting" the anvil, sampled at various times (z-axis) during the test run. FIG. 20B shows the mass numbers (x axis) and species abundance (y axis) in the product gas for the "struck" portion of the anvil, sampled at various times (z-axis) during the test run. When comparing FIGS. 20A with 20B shows that the ratio of product abundance to the abundance of the methane starting material for the "no-hit" portion of the anvil is substantially less than that for the "hit" portion of the anvil, indicating that the contact between the Pd anvil and the Pd strike plate substantially enhanced the catalytic reactivity of Pd in the synthesis of higher hydrocarbons from methane in this temperature range. Test Example 9: Use of the SAT Apparatus for Synthesis of Hydrocarbons catalysed with palladium from methane gas from 60 ° C to 80 ° C This test run was carried out as described in Test Example 6, except that the run Test started with the SAT apparatus heated to 60 ° C, and the temperature rose to 80 ° C in the course of the test run. FIG. 21A shows the numbers of mass (x axis) and abundance (y axis) of species in the reactive gas for an "unsharpened" portion of the anvil, sampled at various times (z-axis) during the test run. FIG. 21 B shows the mass numbers (x axis) and species abundance (y axis) in the product gas for the "struck" portion of the anvil, sampled at various times (z-axis) during the test run. When comparing FIGS. 21 A with 21B shows that the ratio of product abundance to the abundance of the methane starting material for the "non-hitting" portion of the anvil is substantially less than that for the "struck" portion of the anvil, indicating that the contact between the Pd anvil and the Pd strike plate substantially enhanced the catalytic reactivity of Pd in the synthesis of higher hydrocarbons from methane in this temperature range. Test Example 10: Use of the SAT Apparatus for Synthesis of Hydrocarbons catalysed with palladium from methane gas from 30 ° C to 92 ° C. This test run was performed as described in Test Example 6, except that the test run started with the SAT apparatus heated to 30 ° C, and the temperature rose to 92 ° C in the course of the test run. . FIG. 22A shows the numbers of mass (x axis) and abundance (y axis) of species in the reactive gas for a portion "without hitting" the anvil, sampled at various times (z-axis) during the test run. FIG. 22B shows mass numbers (x axis) and species abundance (y axis) in the product gas for the "struck" portion of the anvil, sampled at various times (z axis) during the test run. When comparing FIGS. 22 A with 22B shows that the ratio of product abundance to the abundance of the methane starting material for the "non-hitting" portion of the anvil is substantially less than that for the "struck" portion of the anvil, indicating that the contact between the Pd anvil and the Pd strike plate substantially enhanced the catalytic reactivity of Pd in the synthesis of higher hydrocarbons from methane in this temperature range. Test Example 11: Use of the SAT Apparatus for Synthesis of Hydrocarbons catalysed with palladium from methane gas from 100 ° C to 200 ° C This test run was carried out as described in Test Example 6, except that the run of Test started with the SAT apparatus heated to 100 ° C, and the temperature rose to 200 ° C in the course of the test run. FIGS. 23A shows the mass numbers (x-axis) and abundance (y-axis) of species in the reactive gas for an "unsharpened" portion of the anvil, sampled at various times (z-axis) during the test run. FIG. 23B shows the mass numbers (x axis) and species abundance (y axis) in the product gas for the "struck" portion of the anvil, sampled at various times (z-axis) during the test run. When comparing FIGS. 23A with 23B shows that the ratio of product abundance to the abundance of the methane starting material for the "no hit" portion of the anvil is substantially less than that for the "struck" portion of the anvil, indicating that the contact between the Pd anvil and the Pd strike plate substantially enhanced the catalytic reactivity of Pd in the synthesis of higher hydrocarbons from methane in this temperature range. Test Example 12: Use of the SAT Apparatus for Synthesis of Hydrocarbons catalysed with palladium from methane gas from 85 ° C to 40 ° C This test run was carried out as described in Test Example 6, except that the run of Test started with the SAT apparatus heated to 85 ° C, and the temperature was decreased to 40 ° C in the course of the test run. FIG. 24A shows the numbers of mass (x axis) and abundance (y axis) of species in the reactive gas for a portion "without hitting" the anvil, sampled at various times (z-axis) during the test run. FIG. 24B shows the mass numbers (x axis) and species abundance (y axis) in the product gas for the "struck" portion of the anvil, sampled at various times (z-axis) during the test run. When comparing FIGS. 24A with 24B shows that the ratio of product abundance to the abundance of the methane starting material for the "non-hit" portion of the anvil is substantially less than that for the "hit" portion of the anvil, indicating that contact between the Pd anvil and the Pd strike plate substantially enhanced the catalytic reactivity of Pd in the synthesis of higher hydrocarbons from methane in this temperature range. Test Example 13: Use of the SAT Apparatus for Synthesis of Hydrocarbons catalysed with palladium from methane gas from 24 ° C to 130 ° C. This test run was performed as described in Test Example 6, except that the test run started with the SAT apparatus heated to 24 ° C, and the temperature was raised to 130 ° C in the course of the test run . FIG. 25A shows the numbers of mass (x axis) and abundance (y axis) of species in the reactive gas for a "no hit" portion of the anvil, sampled at various times (z-axis) during the test run. FIG. 25B shows the mass numbers (x axis) and species abundance (y axis) in the product gas for the "struck" portion of the anvil, sampled at various times (z-axis) during the test run. When comparing FIGS. 25A with 25B shows that the ratio of product abundance to the abundance of the methane starting material for the "unsharpened" portion of the anvil is substantially less than that for the "struck" portion of the anvil, which indicates that the contact between the Pd anvil and the Pd strike plate substantially enhanced the catalytic reactivity of Pd in the synthesis of higher hydrocarbons from methane in this temperature range. Test Example 14: Use of the SAT Apparatus for Synthesis of Hydrocarbons catalysed with palladium from methane gas from 100 ° C to 65 ° C This test run was carried out as described in Test Example 6, except that the run of Test started with the SAT apparatus heated to 100 ° C, and the temperature was decreased to 65 ° C in the course of the test run. FIG. 26 A shows the numbers of mass (x axis) and abundance (y axis) of species in the reactive gas for a portion "without hitting" the anvil, sampled at various times (z-axis) during the test run. FIG. 26B shows the mass numbers (x axis) and species abundance (y axis) in the product gas for the "struck" portion of the anvil, sampled at various times (z-axis) during the test run. When comparing FIGS. 26A with 26B shows that the ratio of product abundance to the abundance of the methane starting material for the "no-hit" portion of the anvil is substantially less than that for the "hit" portion of the anvil, indicating that the contact between the Pd anvil and the Pd strike plate substantially enhanced the catalytic reactivity of Pd in the synthesis of higher hydrocarbons from methane in this temperature range. Although various embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated herein, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily envision a variety of other means and structures to perform the functions and obtain the results or advantages described herein, and each such variation. , modifications and improvements are considered to be within the scope of the present invention. More generally, those skilled in the art would readily appreciate that all the parameters of material dimensions and configurations described herein mean that they are exemplary and that the parameters, dimensions, materials, and current configurations will depend on the specific applications for which the teachings of the present invention are intended. use Those skilled in the art will recognize, or may determine when using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalents for the specific embodiments of the invention described herein. Therefore, it is understood that the above embodiments are presented by way of example only and that within the scope of the appended claims and the equivalents thereto, the invention may be practiced otherwise than specifically described. The present invention is directed to each aspect, system, material and / or individual method described herein. In addition, any combination of two or more such aspects systems, materials and / or methods as long as such aspects systems, materials, and / or methods are not mutually inconsistent, are included within the scope of the present invention. In the claims (as well as the above specification) all transition phrases or inclusion phrases such as include, include, carry, have, contain, composed of, made of, formed of, involving and the like should be interpreted as an open end this is, they mean include but are not limited to and therefore encompass the items listed hereinafter and equivalent thereof as well as additional articles. Only the transition phrases or inclusion phrases "consisting of" and "consisting essentially of, shall be interpreted as closed or semi-closed sentences respectively." The indefinite articles "a" and "ones" as used herein in the specification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to the contrary, it shall be understood that they mean at least one The phrase "and / or", as used herein in the specification and in the re-indications, shall be understood to mean any or both of the elements thus joined, that is, elements that are presented together in some cases and are presented separately in other cases.Other elements may be optionally present different from the elements specifically identified by the clause "and / or", whether related or not related to those elements specifically identified, so, as a non-limiting example, a reference to "A and / or B" can be referred to in a modality , only to A (which optionally includes elements other than B); in another mode, only to B (which optionally includes elements other than A); still in another modality to both A and B (which optionally include other elements); etc. As used herein in the specification and in the claims, "or" should be understood to have the same meaning as "and / or" as defined above. For example, when items are separated in a list, "o" and "and / or" should be interpreted as being inclusive, this is, the inclusion of at least one but also including more than one of a number or item list and optionally additional items not listed. Only terms that clearly indicate otherwise such as "only one of", or "exactly one of", will refer to the inclusion of exactly one element of a number or list of elements. In general, the term "or" as used herein, will only be construed as indicating exclusive alternatives (ie, "one or the other but not both") when preceded by exclusivity terms such as any, " one of ", or" exactly one of ". As used herein in the specification and in the claims, the phrase "at least one", with reference to a list of "one or more elements," shall be construed unless otherwise indicated, which means at least one selected element of one or more of the elements in the list of elements, but that does not necessarily include at least one of each and all the elements listed specifically within the list of elements and that do not exclude any combinations of elements in the list of elements. The definition also allows elements to be optionally present different from the elements specifically identified within the list of elements to which the phrase "at least one" refers, whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified. a non-limiting example, "at least one of A and B" (or equivalently, "at least one of A or B", or equivalently at least one of A and / or B ") can be referred to in one modality, at least one, optionally including more than one A, without any decent B (and optionally including elements other than B); in another embodiment at least one, optionally including more than one B, without any a present (and optionally including elements other than A); still in another embodiment, A at least one, optionally including more than one A, and at least one, optionally including more than one B (and optionally including other elements) etc. Some terms as used herein, refer to the form of orientation and / or geometric relationship of or between for example one or more articles, structures, forces, fields, flows, directions / trajectories, and / or subcomponents thereof. and / or combinations thereof and / or any other tangible or intangible elements not listed above, compatible with the characterization by such terms unless defined or indicated otherwise, it will be understood that they do not require absolute conformity with a definition. mathematical of such term but rather, it will be understood that they indicate the conformation with the mathematical definition of such term to the possible degree for the subject matter so characterized, as it is understood by someone expert in the art most closely related to such subject matter. Examples of such terms related to shape, orientation, and / or geometric relationship include but are not limited to descriptive terms of: shape such as round, square, circle / circle, rectangular / rectangle, triangular / triangle, cylindrical / cylinder, elliptical / ellipse, (n) polygonal / (n) polygon, etc; angular orientation, such as perpendicular, octagonal, parallel, vertical, horizontal, collinear, etc .; contour and / or trajectory, such as plane / flat, coplanar, hemispherical, semihemispheric, 1 ine / linear, hyperbolic, parabolic, flat, curved, straight, arcuate, sinusoidal, tangent / tangential, etc .; direction, such as north, south, east, west etc .; properties of surface and / or bulk material and / or spatial / temporal resolution and / or distribution, such as uniform reflecting, transparent, clear, opaque, rigid, impermeable, uniform, inert, non-moistened, insoluble, permanent, invariable, constant, homogeneous, etc .; as well as many others that would be evident to those experts in the relevant techniques. As an example, a manufactured article that is described herein as being "square" does not require that such article have facets or sides that are perfectly flat or linear and that are intercepted at exactly 90 degree angles (in fact such an article can only exist as a mathematical abstraction) but rather, the form of such an article must be interpreted as approaching a "square" when mathematically defined to the degree typically achievable and achieved by the aforementioned manufacturing art as understood by those skilled in the art. the art or as it is specifically described. All references cited herein, including patents and published applications, are incorporated herein by reference. In cases where the current specification and a document incorporated as reference and / or referred to herein include a conflicting description and / or inconsistent use of terminology, and / or the use of embedded / referenced documents or define terms differently than those that are used or defined in the current specification, this specification will control. It is noted that in relation to this date, the best method known to the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, is that which is clear from the present description of the invention.

Claims (77)

1. Claims Having described the invention as above, the content of the following claims is claimed as property. A catalytic reactor system adapted to carry out a chemical reaction to produce a desired chemical of a reagent introduced into the system and further adapted to facilitate the recovery of a desired chemical from the catalytic reaction system, characterized in that it comprises At least two catalytic objects, each object has at least one complementary surface in the shape and / or contour on at least one surface in another of the catalytic objects such that a protected contact area between two of the catalytic objects is capable of being greater than 1% of a catalytically active total external contact surface area of the two contact catalytic objects; and a device that induces contact configured and arranged to repeatedly bring complementary surfaces of at least two catalytic objects in contact with each other such that the protected contact area between two of the contact catalytic objects is on average greater than 1. % of the catalytically active total external contact surface area of the two contact catalytic objects.
2. 2. The catalytic reactor system according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises at least two catalytic objects each object has at least one surface complementary in shape and / or contour for at least one surface in each other of the catalytic objects such that a The protected contact area between any of the two catalytic objects may be greater than 1% of the catalytically active total external contact surface area of the two contact catalytic objects.
3. 3. The catalytic reactor system according to claim 1, characterized in that each of the two catalytic objects comprises at least one essentially flat surface such that an essentially flat surface of a first catalytic object is capable of contacting a surface essentially flat of a second catalytic object.
4. 4. The catalytic reactor system according to claim 1, characterized in that the catalytic objects comprise catalytically active material comprising a metal or metal alloy.
5. 5. The catalytic reactor system according to claim 1, characterized in that the catalytic objects further comprise a support material coated with a catalytically active material.
6. 6. The catalytic reactor system according to claim 5, characterized in that the support material is a ceramic.
7. 7. The catalytic reactor system according to claim 1, characterized in that at least two catalytic objects comprise discrete particles or granules.
8. 8. The catalytic reactor system according to claim 1, characterized in that the catalytic objects are essentially non-porous.
9. 9. The catalytic reactor system according to claim 7, characterized in that the catalytic reactor system comprises a reactor of the bubble column of the thick mixture and the device that induces contact comprises a device configured to generate the flow of fluids capable of suspending and / or stirring discrete particles or granules.
10. 10. The catalytic reactor system according to claim 1, characterized in that the catalytic reactor system comprises a continuously stirred tank reactor and wherein the device inducing the contact comprises a stirring device.
11. 11. The catalytic reactor system according to claim 1, characterized in that the device that induces contact comprises an apparatus. mechanical comprising, or which is linked to, at least one of the catalytic objects.
12. 12. The catalytic reactor system according to claim 7, characterized in that the discrete particles or granules have a shape that is essentially a truncated icosahedron.
13. 13. The catalytic reactor system according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one of the catalytic objects has a shape that is essentially a cylinder.
14. 14. The system of the catalytic reactor according to claim 13, characterized in that a cross section of the cylinder perpendicular to its longitudinal axis has a perimeter that is essentially polygonal.
15. 15. The catalytic reactor system according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one of the catalytic objects is configured as a gear having a plurality of gear teeth comprising a catalytic material.
16. 16. The catalytic reactor system according to claim 1, further characterized in that it comprises a reactor comprising an inlet configured to allow the reagent to flow in the reactor and an outlet configured to allow the desired chemical product to flow out of the reactor , wherein the catalytic objects are contained within the reactor such that the catalytic objects are exposed to the reagent.
17. 17. The catalytic reactor system according to claim 1, characterized in that the complementary surface of the first catalytic object has a surface area that is greater than the surface area of the complementary surface of the second catalytic objective, such that, when in contact with the second catalytic object, the complementary surface of the first catalytic object comprises a first portion of its surface area which is brought into contact with the complementary surface of the second catalytic object and at least a second portion of the surface area which does not come into contact with the second catalytic object. the complementary surface of the second catalytic object.
18. 18. The catalytic reactor system according to claim 17, characterized in that the first portion of the surface area of the complementary surface of the first catalytic object that is brought into contact with the complementary surface of the second catalytic object can be isolated from at least one second portion of the surface area that does not come into contact with the complementary surface of the second catalytic object such that the reactants and / or products in contact with the first portion of the surface area can be sampled independently of the reactants and / or products in contact with at least a second portion of the surface area.
19. 19. A method for carrying out a chemical reaction catalyzed by a heterogeneous catalyst in a catalytic reactor system, characterized in that it comprises the acts of: exposing at least two objects of the catalytic reactor system, each object having at least one complementary surface in the shape and / or contour of at least one surface in another of the objects, at least one of the objects is a catalytic object having a surface that is catalytically active, to an environment comprising a selected reagent, creating repeated contact between the objects such that the contact area projected between the complementary surfaces of two contact objects is on average greater than 1% of the catalytically active total external contact surface area of the two contact objects, allowing the selected reagent to be subjected to a chemical reaction to at least one catalytically active surface to produce a desired product, and rec operate the desired product from the catalytic reactor system.
20. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that each of the objects is a catalytic object having a surface that is catalytically active.
21. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that each of the catalytic objects comprises at least one essentially planar surface having an area comprising at least about 1% of the catalytically active external surface area of the object.
22. 22. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that the catalytic objects are immersed in the environment.
23. 23. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that the environment is a solution comprising the selected reagent.
24. 24. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that the environment is a gas comprising the selected reagent.
25. 25. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that the contact is recurrent and transient.
26. 26. The method according to claim 19, characterized in that the contact causes at least a portion of an external catalytically active surface area of the catalytic object to be regenerated.
27. A catalytic object, characterized in that it comprises an external surface comprising a plurality of facets / patches of mosaic where at least one facet / patch of mosaic meets an adjacent facet on one edge to form a predetermined three-dimensional shape, wherein a plurality of the mosaic facets / patches comprises catalytically active material.
28. 28. The catalytic object according to claim 27, characterized in that an individual mosaic facet / patch has a surface greater than 1% of the total external surface area of the catalytic object.
29. 29. The catalytic object according to claim 27, characterized in that each facet / patch mosaic comprises a catalytically active material.
30. 30. The catalytic object according to claim 27, characterized in that at least one facet / patch mosaic is essentially planar.
31. 31. The catalytic object according to claim 30, characterized in that each facet / mosaic patch is essentially planar.
32. 32. The catalytic object according to claim 27, characterized in that the catalytically active material comprises a metal or metal alloy.
33. 33. The catalytic object according to claim 27, characterized in that the predetermined three-dimensional shape is essentially a truncated icosahedron.
34. 34. The catalytic object according to claim 27, characterized in that the predetermined three-dimensional shape is essentially a cylinder.
35. 35. The catalytic object according to claim 27, characterized in that the predetermined three-dimensional shape is essentially in the form of a gear tooth in a gear.
36. 36. The catalytic object according to claim 31, characterized in that the edge is round.
37. 37. The catalytic object according to claim 27, further characterized in that it comprises a support material coated with catalytically active material.
38. 38. The catalytic object according to claim 27, characterized in that the support material is a ceramic.
39. 39. A catalytic reactor system adapted to carry out a chemical reaction to produce a desired chemical product from a reagent introduced into the system, and further adapted to facilitate the recovery of a desired chemical from the catalytic reactor system, characterized because it comprises a mechanical apparatus constructed and directed to create intermittent contact between a catalytically active surface of a catalytic object and a contact surface of a second object, such that a contact area projected on the average between the two objects is greater than 1% of the total external contact surface area of the two contact objects.
40. 40. The system of the catalytic reactor according to claim 39, characterized in that the contact surface of the second object is a catalytically active surface.
41. 41. The catalytic reactor system according to claim 39, characterized in that the mechanical apparatus comprises a motor.
42. 42. The catalytic reactor system according to claim 41, characterized in that the mechanical apparatus comprises a gear pump device.
43. 43. The catalytic reactor system according to claim 41, characterized in that the mechanical apparatus comprises a series of gear pump devices.
44. 44. The system of the catalytic reactor according to claim 39, characterized in that the mechanical device comprises an anvil and a shock plate.
45. 45. A method for producing catalytic action on at least one reactive material in a catalytic reactor system, characterized in that it comprises: providing a catalytic reactor system comprising at least two catalytic objects, wherein the catalytic objects each comprise a catalytically active material on at least a portion of an external surface of the catalytic object, exposing the catalytic objects to a environment comprising the reactive material, producing the movement of the catalytic objects sufficient to cause transient surface to surface contact contact events frequently repeated between the surface areas of the catalytic objects using a device that induces contact, the contact events that Each has on average a projected contact area of more than 1% of the total average projected surface contact area of the catalytic objects that come into contact during the contact event, and chemically transform at least some reactive material into a desired product chemistry different from the reactive material, and recover the desired product from the catalytic reactor system.
46. 46. The method according to claim 45, characterized in that the frequently repeated transient surface-to-surface contact contact events progressively occur such that substantially all of the catalytically active external surface of the catalytic objects is contacted during the method .
47. 47. The method according to claim 45, characterized in that the movement is made on average of the distribution of the contact events during essentially all the catalytically active outer surfaces of all the objects.
48. 48. The method according to claim 45, characterized in that the movement is made on average of the distribution of the contact events during a majority of the catalytically active outer surfaces of the objects.
49. 49. The method according to claim 45, characterized in that the movement averages the distribution of the contact events during limited portions of the external surfaces of the objects comprising the catalytically active surfaces.
50. 50. The method according to claim 45, characterized in that the catalytically active outer surface of at least a portion of the at least one catalytic object is separated into facets / mosaic patches, each facet / patch of mosaic having an outer surface area that is substantially less than the total catalytically active external surface area of at least one catalytic object that is separated into facets / patch mosaics.
51. 51. The method according to claim 50, characterized in that a first facet / mosaic patch of the catalytic object that is separated into facets / patches of mosaic has the composition of different surface material from a second facet / patch of mosaic in the same catalytic object.
52. 52. The method according to claim 51, characterized in that a first facet / patch mosaic of a first catalytic object which is separated into facets / patches of mosaic has the composition of different surface material from a second facet / patches of mosaic in a second catalytic object which is separated into facets / mosaic patches.
53. 53. The method according to claim 45, characterized in that the aspect ratio of at least one catalytic object is less than about 1.05.
54. 54. The method according to claim 45, characterized in that the aspect ratios of each of the catalytic objects are between about 1.25 and about 1.05.
55. 55. The method according to claim 45, characterized in that the aspect ratio of at least one of the catalytic objects is between 1.25 and 2.00.
56. 56. The method according to claim 45, characterized in that the aspect ratio of at least one of the catalytic objects is between about 2.00 and about 3.00.
57. 57. The method according to claim 45, characterized in that the aspect ratio of at least one of the catalytic objects is greater than about 3.00.
58. 58. The method according to claim 45, characterized in that all the catalytic objects have essentially the same size and shape.
59. 59. The method according to claim 45, characterized in that all the catalytic objects have essentially the same shape but are different by more than 5% from at least one of the other catalytic object in size.
60. 60. The method according to claim 45, characterized in that the external surface of the catalytic objects comprises facets / patches of mosaic and wherein at least one first and second catalytic object have different essentially polyhedral shapes from one another.
61. 61. The method according to claim 60, characterized in that the external surface of the first catalytic object comprises a first number of facets / mosaic patches while the external surface of the second catalytic object comprises a second number of facets.
62. 62. The method according to claim 60, characterized in that the first catalytic object differs by more than about 5% in size from the second catalytic object.
63. 63. The method according to claim 61, characterized in that the first catalytic object differs by more than about 5% in size from the second catalytic object.
64. 64. The method according to claim 45, characterized in that one shape of the catalytic objects is substantially the same as a truncated icosahedron having round edges that join facets / adjacent essentially flat mosaic patches, wherein the width of an Round edge, which defines a minimum distance separating adjacent substantially flat mosaic facets / patches, does not exceed about 2% of nominal overall diameter of the truncated icosahedron.
65. 65. The method according to claim 64, characterized in that the sizes of the corresponding dimensions of any of the two catalytic objects are within 5% of each other.
66. 66. A catalytic object, characterized in that it comprises an external surface comprising a plurality of facets / patches of mosaic wherein at least one facet / patch of mosaic covers an adjacent facet on one edge to form a selected three-dimensional shape, wherein at least a facet / patch mosaic comprises a catalytically active material; and wherein the selected three-dimensional shape is essentially a truncated icosahedron.
67. 67. The catalytic object according to claim 66, characterized in that each facet / patch mosaic comprises a catalytically active material.
68. 68. A catalytic object, characterized in that it comprises an external surface comprising a plurality of facets / patches of mosaic wherein at least one facet / patch of mosaic covers a facet adjacent to an edge to form a selected three-dimensional shape, wherein at least a facet / patch mosaic comprises a catalytically active material, and wherein the selected three-dimensional shape is essentially a cylinder with facets.
69. 69. The catalytic object according to claim 68, characterized in that each facet / patch mosaic comprises a catalytically active material.
70. 70. A catalytic object, characterized in that it comprises an external surface comprising a plurality of mosaic facets / patches wherein at least one facet / patch of mosaic covers an adjacent facet at an edge to form a selected three-dimensional shape, wherein the The three-dimensional shape selected is essentially in the form of a gear tooth in a gear and wherein at least one facet / patch of mosaic which comprises a catalytically active material that is located in a portion of gear teeth configured to make contact with a surface Complementary when the gear is joined with a corresponding gear tooth of another gear while it is in use.
71. 71. A method for manufacturing an object of the molded substrate adapted to be coated with a catalytic material characterized in that it comprises: adding a fluid mixture comprising a ceramic material and a polymeric material for a mold having a predetermined three-dimensional shape; fusing the mixture within the mold to form a molded object having a shape complementary to the predetermined three-dimensional shape; treating the molded object to remove at least a portion of the polymeric material from the molded object to produce a treated molded object; and sintering the treated molded object to produce the molded substrate object; wherein the object of the molded substrate has a complementary shape for the predetermined three-dimensional shape; wherein the shape of the molded substrate object comprises a plurality of mosaic facets / patches wherein at least one facet / patch of mosaic covers a facet adjacent to an edge and wherein an individual mosaic facet / patch has a surface area greater than 1% of the total external surface area of the molded substrate; wherein the shape of the object of the molded substrate has the characteristics that a mixture of a plurality of the molded substrate objects has a lower tendency to aggregate as to reduce the mobility of the objects of the molded substrate than a plurality of objects of similar size that they have a shape characterized by spherical symmetry; and wherein the object of the molded substrate is substantially non-porous with surfaces of substantially smooth facets / patches.
72. 72. The method according to claim 71, further characterized in that it comprises; coating the molded substrate object with a catalytic material.
73. 73. The catalytic reactor system according to claim 1, characterized in that the catalytic object comprises a ceramic that is catalytically active on its surface.
74. 74. The catalytic object according to claim 27, characterized in that a plurality of the surfaces of the adjacent mosaic facets / patches comprises catalytically active material.
75. 75. The catalytic object according to claim 27, characterized in that it comprises catalytically active material on its surface.
76. 76. The catalytic object according to claim 27, characterized in that the catalytically active material comprises at least one metal oxide material.
77. 77. The catalytic object according to claim 27, characterized in that the predetermined three-dimensional shape is essentially a cylinder with longitudinal facet.