A process for the steam reforming of hydrocarbons comprises partially oxidising a feedgas comprising a hydrocarbon feedstock with an oxygen-containing gas in the presence of steam to form a partially oxidised hydrocarbon gas mixture at a temperature >1200 C. and passing the resultant partially oxidised hydrocarbon gas mixture through a bed of steam reforming catalyst, wherein the bed comprises a first layer and a second layer, each layer comprising a catalytically active metal on an oxidic support wherein the oxidic support for the first layer is a zirconia.

A method for preparing a porous inorganic material by at least: a) reaction of a mixture of one precursor of the oxide of a metal X in solution and a precursor of the oxide of a metal Y at a temperature of between 30 and 70 C., X and Y being, independently aluminum, cobalt, indium, molybdenum, nickel, silicon, titanium, zirconium, zinc, iron, copper, manganese, gallium, germanium, phosphorus, boron, vanadium, tin, lead, hafnium, niobium, yttrium, cerium, gadolinium, tantalum, tungsten, antimony, europium or neodymium; b) mixing of the mixture obtained at the end of a) at a temperature of between 80 and 150 C., the mixing period being adjusted so as to obtain a paste that exhibits a fire loss of between 20% by weight and 90% by weight; c) shaping of the porous inorganic material;
a) to c) being performed within an extruder.

The invention is for a method for making a heteropoly acid compound catalyst from compounds containing molybdenum, vanadium, phosphorus, cesium, copper, bismuth, antimony and boron in which molybdenum, vanadium, phosphorus, cesium, copper, bismuth and boron are at their highest oxidation states and antimony has a 3+ oxidation state. The catalyst contains oxides of molybdenum, vanadium, phosphorus, cesium, copper, bismuth, antimony, boron and, optionally, other metals. The catalyst has the formula:
Mo.sub.12V.sub.aP.sub.bCs.sub.cCu.sub.dBi.sub.eSb.sub.fB.sub.gO.sub.x
where Mo is molybdenum, V is vanadium, P is phosphorus, Cs is cesium, Cu is copper, Bi is bismuth, Sb is antimony, B is boron, O is oxygen, a is 0.01 to 5.0, b is 0.5 to 3.5, c is 0.01 to 2.0, d is 0.0-1.5, e is 0.0-2.0, f is 0.01-3.0, g is 0.0-4.0 and x satisfies the valences. Molybdenum is reduced by antimony and reoxidized during catalyst synthesis.

A process for removing nitrogen protoxide from gas mixtures which 5 contain it, comprising contacting with a catalyst which contains mixed oxides of copper, manganese and rare earth metals in an amount expressed as percentage by weight of CuO, MnO and rare earth metal oxide in the lowest state of valency of 20-45% CuO, 50-60% MnO, and 5-20% rare earth metal oxide.

Provided are a titanium dioxide-coated upconverting nanoparticle (UCNP) and a photocatalyst complex containing a gold nanorod (GNR) combined with the titanium dioxide-coated UCNP.

A unique process and catalyst is described that operates efficiently for the direct production of a high cetane diesel type fuel or diesel type blending stock from stoichiometric mixtures of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. This invention allows for, but is not limited to, the economical and efficient production high quality diesel type fuels from small or distributed fuel production plants that have an annual production capacity of less than 10,000 barrels of product per day, by eliminating traditional wax upgrading processes. This catalytic process is ideal for distributed diesel fuel production plants such as gas to liquids production and other applications that require optimized economics based on supporting distributed feedstock resources.

A catalyst carrier may have a cross-sectional shape that may include a plurality of surface channels having a first channel width and a second channel width, where the first channel width may be closer to a periphery of the cross-sectional shape than the second channel width and the first channel width may be less than the second channel width. The cross-sectional shape may further include a plurality of surface features where at least one surface feature is located between at least one pair of surface channels. The cross-sectional shape may further include a ratio L.sub.OC/L.sub.SCP of at least about 1.7, where L.sub.OC is a length of a total contour of the cross-sectional shape and L.sub.SCP is a length of an outer simple convex perimeter of the cross-sectional shape.

A process for the steam reforming of hydrocarbons comprises partially oxidizing a feedgas comprising a hydrocarbon feedstock with an oxygen-containing gas in the presence of steam to form a partially oxidized hydrocarbon gas mixture at a temperature >1200 C. and passing the resultant partially oxidized hydrocarbon gas mixture through a bed of steam reforming catalyst, wherein the bed comprises a first layer and a second layer, each layer comprising a catalytically active metal on an oxidic support wherein the oxidic support for the first layer is a zirconia.

A TiO.sub.2-based catalyst precursor material in powder form includes TiO.sub.2 particles with the formula TiO.sub.(2-x)(OH).sub.2x (x=0-1). The particles are coated with one or more auxiliary shaping agents and after coating and drying have a specific surface area of at least 150 m.sup.2/g. The material has a content of 1) 50-99.5% by weight of the titanium-oxygen compound with the general formula TiO.sub.(2-x)(OH).sub.2x, wherein x=0 to 1, or mixtures thereof, wherein the crystalline phases of the titanium-oxygen compound are in the anatase form, and 2) 0.5-50% by weight of an auxiliary shaping agent or mixtures thereof, which evaporates, sublimates and/or decomposes upon heating to temperatures below the transformation temperature from anatase to rutile, wherein the % by weight are relative to the total weight of the dried catalyst precursor material.

A catalyst for preparing aviation fuel from synthetic oil obtained by Fischer-Tropsch process, including: between 20 and 50 percent by weight of an amorphous aluminum silicate, between 5 and 20 percent by weight of alumina, between 20 and 60 percent by weight of a hydrothermally modified zeolite, between 0.5 and 1.0 percent by weight of a Sesbania powder, between 0.5 and 5 percent by weight of nickel oxide, and between 5 and 15 percent by weight of molybdenum oxide. The invention also provides a method for preparing the catalyst.