Kinetics of the oxidation of simple unsaturated hydrocarbons in the presence of vanadium contact catalysts

Summary

• 1. Aldehydes, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide, produced by the oxidation of propene over vanadium catalysts are formed by first-order reactions.

• 2. The first-order kinetics of these reactions are determined by the oxygen, their rates being almost independent of the hydrocarbon concentration under the conditioned studied.

• 3. The activation energies have been determined for the formation of aldehydes, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide from simple unsaturated hydrocarbons. The activation energy for the formation of carbon dioxide is much higher than the activation energies for the formation of carbon monoxide and of aldehydes, which are themselves very close in value.

• 4. The kinetics of the decomposition and oxidation of acetaldehyde in presence of vanadium catalysts have been studied, and the activation energies of these reactions have been determined.

• 5. The relative values of the activation energies for the vanadium-catalyzed primary and secondary oxidation reactions of the unsaturated hydrocarbons studied are such that it is impossible to effect a substantial increase in the aldehyde content of the reaction products by changes in the temperature of the process and the concentrations of the reactants.