Catalysis and Chemical Engineering

Catalysis in Industry

Catalysts are substances that speed up reactions by presenting an alternative pathway for the breaking and building of bonds. The solution to this alternative pathway is lower activation energy than that needed for the uncatalyzed reaction.



Much fundamental and applied research is affected by industrial companies and university research laboratories to find out how catalysts work and to develop their effectiveness. If the catalytic activity can be updated, it may be tolerable to lower the temperature and/or the pressure at which the process works and thus save fuel which is one of the significant costs in a large-scale chemical process. Further, it may be possible to lessen the number of reactants that are consumed forming undesired by-products.