what drives catalysis research—ideas or funding?

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What Drives Catalysis Research - - Ideas or Funding?

An advantage of attending a meeting that features research other than your own discipline is that you are presented some of the same material but in a different wrap- ping, and this gives you pause for thought. So it was with the invited lecture presented by Dr. Richard Brook, professor at Oxford University and chief executive, Engineer- ing and Physical Sciences Research Council, United Kingdom, at the recent Sintering meeting held during September 24-27 at Penn State University. The following is based upon notes taken during Dr. Brook's presentation and, as frequently happens, there is always the likelihood of an incorrect attribution and/or the tainting of Dr. Brook's comments with the writer's own biases.

Professor Brook presented a provoca- tive look at the state of funding for research, leaving the listener wondering how we got here and is there hope for the future? Dr. Brook looked back to 1637, pro- viding his translation of Descartes that states, in effect:

1. There are so many explanations of- fered that all which were proposed as probable must be false.

Funding

Expectations-

Fig. 1.

2. A person appears to receive all the more credit the more his/her ideas deviate from common sense (implying that the person will need more wit and cunning to make the ideas seem probable).

Dr. Brook presented a look at the expectations and the funding for research, and reduced this complex issue to the figure shown in Fig. 1.

In region A, the Low Profile region, a person receives little or no funding and is therefore allowed almost complete free- dom of action - - limited only by his/her creativity and ability to turn ideas into reality - - to create a silk purse from a sow's ear, to transform lead into gold. Region D, Para- dise, where the funding is abundant and the expectations approach zero, was dis- missed quickly by Dr. Brook; only a few limited groups attain this lofty position - - particle physicists, large instrument as- tronomers, NASA space flights•

Obviously scientists and engineers strive to attain Paradise, and on occasion, such as in the recent energy crisis, catalysis scientists may approach this lofty position. When denied Paradise, scientists and engineers strive to attain region B, and the shorter the expectation line the better. Logic does not apply to the drive to attain regions B or D. During the 1960s "golden era of science", a University of Florida ad- ministrator made a plot showing that if the rate of increase in scientists and engineers was to continue, by about 2040 every man, woman and child in the US would be either a scientist or an engineer. This plot did not deter the University of Florida from making an intense drive to expand their sphere of influence in science and engineering, and to strive to place UF in Paradise. Most scientists and engineers, however, possess some degree of reality, and ac-

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cept that the best "Steady state condition" that they can hope for is region B, a region of High Profile and therefore one that de- mands High Expectations.

Dr. Brook indicated that region D was the "Steady state condition" envisioned by politicians, the Political region. Those of us in catalysis are certainly being made aware of the fact that industrial managements are becoming more and more like politicians: they expect more and more results for lesser and lesser expenditures. Historically we have become accustomed to following the pathway depicted as ABC; recent events indicate that management will accept only pathway AEC and that E should not be very expensive.

Lessons that those of us concerned with catalysis should learn are illustrated in an article by Ralph Landau [1]. In 1946, Landau was a co-founder of Scientific De- sign Co., Inc. (later Halcon International and Halcon SD Group). During the 1946- 1966 golden years of America's postwar dominance of the international economy, the company made rapid growth from within, in 1966 they formed a joint venture (Oxrane) with Atlantic Richfield Co. to ex- ploit a new technology that they had developed for the manufacture of propylene oxide [2]. The joint venture flourished, and grew during 1969-1979 to revenues of $1 billion per year.

Going offthe gold standard, the energy crisis of 1973, and soaring inflation to raise the US prime interest rate to 21% all con- tributed to Halcon finding themselves in the position where all of their cash flow was going to the banks. Suddenly the techno- logically successful Halcon had to turn its attention from technological strategy to sheer survival in the business world and to finding a way to make the next interest

payment. Discussions were underway with Arco to renegotiate some of the terms of the original financing arrangement. Lan- dau recalls vividly one of Arco's financial executives saying, "1'11 teach you the value of money [vs. technology]." Halcon's rapid growth and technological innovation did not impress Arco's financial wizard, and Halcon sold their half of the partner- ship 1o Arco. In the real world, there always seems to be a "deep pocket" around to "help" out such an unfortunate individual or company. In hard times many suffer while a select few prosper. Landau followed the old adage believed by many industrialists: those who can't, teach! Thus, Landau decided to become a mem- ber of the economics community at Stan- ford and Harvard Universities.

The health of catalysis, and science in general, depends critically upon the length of the line ABC and upon the height of the line CB. Today many would contend that the length of ABC is even longer, and that CB is even shorter, than when Landau learned the cruel lesson of the rapidly changing values of technology and fin- ance.

Politicians in the US are, by the nature of their existence, directed to the short term result: a US Senator has only six years before re-election decides success or failure, and other elected officials have even fewer years. Politicians are therefore always on the lookout for successful hap- penings, and especially those they can share in or claim the entire credit. Unfortu- nately, scientists and engineers have raised expectations that too frequently fall far short and these have led to an erro- neous model that is dear to most politicians: all problems will go away with time so why waste money funding research?


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Theory Experiment

Many s u c c e s s e S ~ w successes

starring Role " Supporting Role

,- Past

................... Future

Fig. 2. Dr. Brook also addressed the issue of

visibility of the research effort: sintering in his case and catalysis in ours. He asked whether it was wiser to invest in work based upon theory or upon experiment during the initiation period of a discipline, or during any period that impacts future funding. The results can lead to two general consequences: a Starring role or a Supporting role. In the case of sintering he showed that the discipline was founded primarily on experimental studies, and that the data generated in this work led to much success. However, he concluded that, while much success was attained, it has led sintering to occupy currently a supporting role rather than the starring role desired of most participants in the discipline. In looking at sintering, he provided a simple figure to illustrate hie thesis (Fig. 2).

Initially experimental work was the only available approach to study such a complex issue as sintering; thus, early theore- tical work centered upon very simple models whereas the experimental approach involved very complex experimental studies. Dr. Brook contends that the time is now at hand in the sintering discipline to address this issue anew since studies based upon theory and upon ex-

periment involve about the same complexity (Fig. 3).

He further asserts that the time may be at hand for emphasis to be placed upon theory - - an approach that he recognizes will lead to less success but one which he sees as having the potential to move sintering from its supporting role to that of a starring role. Thus, Dr. Brook is making the plea for a change of direction in research and research funding to emphasize theory, recognizing that the risk of less success is more than offset by the reward of attaining a starring role. Those experimentalists who are unable to make such a transition may not readily agree with this argument that the good of the group requires some major casualties.

Complexity

Experimental

Time

Fig. 3.

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We in catalysis are certainly aware of the desire to move from a supporting role to a starring role for our discipline. One example of this is the formation of a Com- mittee on Visibility by The North American Catalysis Society. However, in our situ- ation, the issue is not as simple as it is for sintering. Catalysis is currently fragmented into many sub-disciplines, each stub- bornly viewing itself as the discipline des- tined to decide the good for catalysis, and harboring residual hostility toward the other sub-disciplines.

One factor that holds back a discipline is that it becomes exhausted. Dr. Brook illustrated this aspect of science using a remark made by Mott to the effect that, "...solid state chemistry is an interesting subject but it is worked out." This was put in a somewhat different context by Dick Gonzales at the San Diego NAM when he stated that, "Everyone is catalysis is get- ting old. Just look around this room."

There has always been a residual hostility to mechanistic studies by those who control the purse strings. Furthermore, the open expression of this hostility ebbs and flows, always in concert with the real or perceived threat. In the US the Manhattan Project could not cost too much in 1944. Likewise, the pressure of WWll was great enough so that the development of fluid catalytic cracking by Exxon could not cost too much. Twenty years later President Kennedy decided that the race to put a person on the moon could not cost too much. If in the pursuit of these lofty goals, some "long-haired professors" had "fun" doing mechanistic studies, that was a part of the cost of success.

In spite of the residual hostility to mechanistic studies,/t must be recognized that nothing injects more life into a discipline

than the drive to understand, to explain. The most certain way to extinction of a discipline is to remove mechanistic studies. Dr. Brook emphasized the need to be far-reaching in mechanistic studies by stating that Friedrich Schuler indicated that the potential for error keeps a subject alive.

What is needed for catalysis is simple: (1) imaginative ideas and the mechanistic studies that flow from them and (2) spon- sors to accept the potential for error. The solution would seem simple: somehow an approach must be developed that will teach the "Arco financial wizard" that the value of money exists only if technology is developed. When no technology is for sale, money has no value.

The problem is that technology has become much more sophisticated and has become so difficult to understand that even active practitioners find it difficult to comprehend. A busy CEO, even if techni- cally trained, does not have the "time to be taught". It would therefore seem that the only viable approach is to develop trust between management and the technolog- ists. The value of this approach was beau- tifully illustrated by Vladimir Haensel is his description of how trust by management at UOP made it possible for him and his co- workers to develop naphtha reforming to its monumental success [3]. This development was a major driving force for mechanistic studies during at least the two de- cades that followed, and was a primary factor in the development of the concepts of polyfunctional catalysis. In short, those of us in catalysis must somehow become more conversant with the language and the problems of the financial wizards of management so that the development of trust can begin.

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References

[1] R. Landau, ResearchTechnology Man- agement, May-June, 1992, pp. 28-33.

[2] R. Landau, D. Brown, J. L. Russell and J. Kollar, Epoxidation of Olefins, presented at Symposium on New Con- cepts and Techniques in Oxidation of Hydrocarbons, 7th World Petroleum Congress, Mexico City, Apr. 1967 in Proceedings of the Congress, Petro- chemistry, Elsevier, Essex, England, Vol. 5, 1967, pp. 66-72.

[3] V. Haensel, Chemtech, (September 1994) 10-13.

B.H. Davis

Methanol synthesis

A monograph "Methanol Synthesis, Science and Engineering" by J. Skrzypek, J. Sloczynski and St. Ledakowicz has been published recently by Polish Scientific Publishers Warszawa (Warsaw) 1994 (158 pp., in English). The monograph provides an extensive critical review of the problems related to methanol synthesis, including thermodynamics, kinetics, catalysis and reactor engineering.

A first short part entitled "Stoichiometry and Thermodynamics" (12 references) summarizes the equilibrium data of the methanol synthesis for different tempera- tures and concentrations of reactants. This is followed by an extensive chapter on "Catalysis" (470 references), which gives a review of the catalytic systems, special emphasis being put on Cu(ZnO)AI203 catalysts. The preparation of the catalysts is described in detail, including the formation of precursors, their structure and changes on calcination and reduction. A separate paragraph is devoted to catalyst

deactivation due to sintering and poison- ing. A considerable part of the next chapter is devoted to a discussion of the adsorp- tion of reactants on mixed Cu(ZnO)AI203 catalysts and on the model oxides CuO and ZnO in poly- and mono-crystalline form. The structure of active centres and the molecular mechanism of the reaction is considered in conclusion.

The following chapter, entitled "Kinetics" (43 references), presents a sur- vey of the kinetic data for methanol synthesis and the reverse water-gas shift reaction on CuO-based industrial and model catalysts.

The final chapter, entitled "Reactor engineering aspects of methanol synthesis" (74 references), describes various types of reactors used for methanol synthesis. De- signing and modelling of the reactors are considered in a separate paragraph.

Numerous tables and figures through- out the text allow the reader to compare easily the ample literature data and to draw his own conclusions. The monograph should be useful to both research workers and engineers whose work is related di- rectly or indirectly tothe problems of methanol synthesis.

The book is available through the In- stitute of Chemical Engineering, Polish Academy of Sciences, PL 44-100 Gliwice, ul. Batycka 5, Poland.

B. Grzybowska

8th Internetlonal Symposium on Rela- tions Between Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Cetalyeis

The 8th International Symposium on Relations Between Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Catalysis (Sth SHHC) was


what drives catalysis research—ideas or funding?

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