Abstract:
Ternary oxide phases, including copper oxide, which exhibit unusal electronic properties, have been determined to exhibit catalytic function for the oxidiation of carbon monoxide, the hydrogenation of ethylene and the cracking of hydrocarbons.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     Oxide phases, particularly, ternary oxide phases, containing copper which exhibit unusual electronic properties have now been demonstrated to exhibit catalytic properties in catalysis. The ternary oxide, copper containing phases, are superconductors. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Superconductivity denotes the complete absence of electrical resistance below the superconducting temperature T c . It is a phenomenon occurring in some metals and alloys at very low temperatures, near the boiling points of liquid helium and hydrogen. 
     The invention relates to catalytic processes employing ternary oxide phases, containing copper, and exhibiting super conductivity transition temperature, T c , values exceeding 19K. The oxide phases Y-Ba-Cu, La-Ba-Cu and La-Sr-Cu, exhibit unexpected properties in catalysis. Specifically, they have been shown to catalyze cracking of hydrocarbon feeds, to catalyze the hydrogenation of ethylene to ethane and to catalyze the oxidation of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The copper ternary oxide phases exhibiting superconductivity transition temperature of T c  greater than 19 are made by providing the three oxides including copper oxides and grinding the mixture. The second oxide can be a barium, strontium or calcium oxide while a third oxide may be the oxide of a rare earth such as yttrium or lanthanum. 
     Although the quantities of oxides provided are not critical to realize a superconducting phase, preferably stoichiometric quantities of the oxides are admixed for grinding. 
     After grinding, the mixture is fired to produce the superconductor phase. Firing involves heating at temperatures of at least about 550° C. Initial heating at temperatures of at least about 550° C. can be programmed to higher temperatures in one or more stages. After firing, in incipient stages, the mixture may be reground and subsequently refired; preferably refiring is conducted at a temperature of at least 900° C. After firing, the fired mixture can be annealed in oxygen beginning at a temperature of at most 500° C. Preferably annealing is undertaken in a programmed manner down to about 200° C. in an oxygen atmosphere. Most preferably annealing is undertakem in a 100% oxygen atmosphere. 
     Oxidation of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide is undertaken by contacting the carbon monoxide with stoichiometric amounts of oxygen at temperatures of at least 600° F., preferably at at least 800° F. in the presence of the catalysts. 
     Hydrogenation of ethylene to ethane is undertaken by passing stoichiometric quantities of ethylene and hydrogen over the catalysts at a temperature of at least 300° F. Cracking of hydrocarbons in the presence of these catalysts must be undertaken above 800° F. 
    
    
     THE EXAMPLES 
     Preparations of the superconducting oxides were carried out by grinding intimately the stoichiometric quantities of the component metal oxide salts with a mortar and pestle. Regrinding and refiring were carried out for all reaction mixtures to ensure that complete reaction products were obtained. In the case of YBa 2  Cu 3  O 6 .8 annealing in an O 2  atmosphere was also carried out. All reactions were carried out on powdered solids. The superconducting nature of YBa 2  Cu 3  O 6 .8 was confirmed by demonstration of the Meissner effect (vis. the levitation of a SmCo magnet over samples cooled with liquid N 2 ). 
     Reactants, reaction conditions, and products are summarized in Table 1. 
     
                                           TABLE 1__________________________________________________________________________Synthesis Parameters of Superconducting OxidesReactants ReactionCatalyst(Mole Ratio)          Conditions      Products__________________________________________________________________________A.sub.1Ba(NO.sub.3).sub.2 (2)          4 h, 560° C.                          YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.6.8Cu(OH).sub.2 (3)          12 h, 780° C.Y(NO.sub.3) 6H.sub.2 O (1)          grind          10 h, 850° C.          cool, grind          950° C., 12 h          anneal 100% O.sub.2,          400° C. 4 hrA.sub.2Ba(NO.sub.3).sub.2 (2)          4 h, 560° C.Cu(OH).sub.2 (3)          12 h, 900° C.Y(NO.sub.3) 6H.sub.2 O (1)          grind          12 h, 900° C.          anneal 100% O.sub.2          4 h, 425° C.          reanneal 100% O.sub.2          6 h, 450°          slow cool, 1° C./min to 200° C.A.sub.3Ba(NO.sub.3).sub.2 (2)          4 h, 560° C.                          YBa.sub.2 Cu.sub.3 O.sub.6.8Cu(OH).sub.2 (3)          12 h, 900° C.          grind          12 h, 900° C.          grind          anneal, 100% O.sub.2 450° C.          6 h, 1° C./min coolA.sub.4Ba(NO.sub.3).sub.2 (2)          4 h, 560° C.Cu(OH).sub.2 (3)          12 h, 900° C.Y(NO.sub.3) 6H.sub.2 O (1)          grind          12 h, 900° C.          anneal, 100% O.sub.2, 6 h, 450° C.          slow cool. 1° C./min to 200° C.B    La.sub.2 (CO.sub.3).sub.3 8H.sub.2 O          4h, 630° C.                          La.sub.1.85 Ba.sub..15 CuO.sub.4(1.85)    10 h, 1000° C.Ba(OH).sub.2 H.sub.2 O (0.15)          grindCu(OH).sub.2 (1)          10 h, 100° C.__________________________________________________________________________ 
    
     EXAMPLE 1 
     Above prepared samples of varying compositions were tested for their catalytic capabilities in hydrocarbon conversion reactions. The test was carried out at three temperatures: 800°, 1000° and 1200° F. Known amounts of liquid n-hexane were injected into the gas chromatographic column via syringe pump. A ten minute on-line sample was taken and analyzed. All catalysts tested had little or no activity at 800° F., but considerable activity at higher temperatures. Calcined alumina was also treated to provide a reference. The results are listed in Table 2. 
     
                                           TABLE 2__________________________________________________________________________N-Hexane Cracking                                           Gamma     Catalyst A.sub.1               Catalyst A.sub.2                         Catalyst A.sub.3                                 Catalyst B                                           Alumina (Al.sub.2__________________________________________________________________________                                           O.sub.3)Test Condition     1 LHSV n-Hexane Charge, 10 min On-Line sampleTemp., °F.     1000.0          1200.00               1000.0                    1200.0                         1000                            1200.0                                 1000.00                                      1200.0                                           1000.0                                                1200.0n-Hexane Conv., %     2.8  56.10               4.8  53.1 N.A.                            53.1 2.00 50.3 4.2  85.2C.sub.1   0.2  7.00 0.5  6.4     6.2  0.10 5.0  0.3  8.8C.sub.2   1.2  22.80               2.0  22.2    22.5 0.70 21.1 1.2  24.1C.sub.3   1.2  13.00               1.5  12.9    13.0 0.60 13.1 1.2  15.5Other Crack Prod.     --   10.00               0.6  9.5     9.5  0.40 10.6 1.4  7.3Aromatics, %     0.2  3.33 0.2  2.1     1.9  0.20 0.5  0.1  29.5__________________________________________________________________________ 
    
     EXAMPLE 2 
     Above prepared samples were also tested for hydrogenation activity. Equal volumes of hydrogen and ethylene were charged into a small reactor containing granules of catalysts to be tested. The temperature ranges from 200 ° to 400° F. About 30 to 40% of ethylene was converted to ethane at 400° F. About 30 to 40% of ethylene was converted to ethane at 400° F. over all catalysts tested except over Gamma alumina which was included as a blank. Below 300° F., the hydrogenation activity of all catalysts reduced drastically. A 50/50 weight mixture of Y 2  O 3  and CuO was also tested for comparison; ethylene conversion therewith was 44% under otherwise similar conditions. The details are shown in Table 3. 
     
                                           TABLE 4__________________________________________________________________________Oxidation of COCatalyst  A.sub.1      A.sub.2      B            Quartz__________________________________________________________________________                                            ChipTemperature, °F.     600 800 1000 600 800 1000 600 800 1000 600 800 1000Charge, CO, GHSV     120 →             →                  →                      →                          →                               →                                   →                                       →                                            →                                                →                                                    →Air, GHSV 300 →             →                  →                      →                          →                               →                                   →                                       →                                            →                                                →                                                    →Product DistributionCO.sub.2 Formed, %     78.8         84.7             95.5 27.9                      93.8                          96.5 55.7                                   86.7                                       87.8 0   5.0 15.4Hydrocarbon, %     0.3 0.3 0.3  0.4 0.3 0.2  0.1 0.4 0.70 0.9 1.8 2.8__________________________________________________________________________ 
    
     EXAMPLE 3 
     The samples were also tested for carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon oxidation activity. The hydrocarbon oxidation over catalyst samples was studied by cofeeding methane, air and nitrogen at 1000° and 1200° F. with one single detectable product which appeared to be benzene. The carbon monoxide oxidation was determined by cofeeding CO and air in a ratio of 2:5 in the temperature range of 600° to 1000° F. Gas product samples, taken at 10 minutes on stream, were analyzed by mass spectroscopy and it was found that most of CO reactants were oxidized to CO 2  at temperatures as low as 800° F. Quartz chips have negligible activity at similar conditions. The results are listed in Table 4. 
     
                                           TABLE 3__________________________________________________________________________HYDROGENATION OF ETHYLENE__________________________________________________________________________Catalyst   A.sub.1      A.sub.3      A.sub.2      B__________________________________________________________________________Feed (GHSV)Ethylene   ←600→                   ←600→                                ←600→                                             ←600→H.sub.2    ←600→                   ←600→                                ←600→                                             ←600→Temperature, °F.      200 300  400 200 300  400 200 300  400 200 300  400Time on Stream,      10  20   30  10  20   30  10  20   30  10  20   30min.Ethylene Conv., %      0   3.83 36.51                   0   0    33.10                                0   0    44.99                                             0   0    33.17__________________________________________________________________________                                              A.sub.1                      A*/Al.sub.2 O.sub.3                                  Y.sub.2 O.sub.3 /CuO                                              H.sub.2 ReducedCatalyst       Kaiser Alumina                      (50/50)     (50/50)     at 500°__________________________________________________________________________                                              F.Feed (GHSV)Ethylene       ←300→                      ←300→                                  ←600→                                              ←600→H.sub.2        ←300→                      ←300→                                  ←600→                                              ←600→Temperature, °F.          200 300 400 300 400 200 200 300  400                                              200 300 400Time on Stream,          10  20  30  10  20  30  10  20  30  10  20  30min.Ethylene Conv., %          0   0   0   86.14                          92.74                              94.41                                  0   0   44  8.8 40.8                                                      63.9__________________________________________________________________________ *Regenerated at 1000° F. for 16 hours in air