The influence of preparation variables on the performance of Pd/Al2O3 catalyst in the hydrogenation of 1,3-butadiene:: Building a basis for reproducible catalyst synthesis

A methodology based on design of experiments (DoE), high-throughput experimentation (HTE) and knowledge extraction was developed to study the influence of a multitude of preparation variables other than composition on the performance of supported catalysts. As an example, the methodology was applied to the impregnation of Pd on Al2O3 and its catalytic performance in the gas phase hydrogenation of 1,3-butadiene. From the experimental data of 90 differently synthesized catalysts, the relative importance of each preparation variable was assessed. Moreover, the experimental data were used to derive a non-linear regression model that predicts catalytic activity as a function of preparation variables. The model was validated successfully by additional experiments. The identified important preparation variables provide a good basis to develop recipes for more controlled and reproducible catalyst synthesis. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.