In this work, I studied the induction catalysis of the epoxidation reaction of ethylene with oxygen to form ethylene oxide. I used a silver-copper catalyst on a pre-prepared base substrate with hydrothermally synthesised magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles coated in alumina in the form of Al2O3. With this work I aimed to determine the optimum conditions for ethylene oxide production and to evaluate the efficiency and performance of the catalyst. By experimental results, I found that the catalysis reactor works optimally at the temperature of 100 °C and pressure of 20 bars. Although the reaction carried out gave some of the desired ethylene oxide product, the conversion is still too low to actually bring such ethylene oxide production to an industrial scale. Through the analytical techniques carried out, I found that the iron nanoparticles in the catalyst are exposed to the reaction atmosphere. Thus, I conclude that the poor coverage of these particles is the main reason for the poor conversion and selectivity of ethylene oxide formation. In order to improve the performance of the catalyst, it would be necessary to further optimise the catalyst in order to achieve better results.
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