Process for preparing an ethylene oxide catalyst

Claim 1

A process for preparing a catalyst article for the production of ethylene oxide which comprises; (a) impregnating a porous refractory support having a surface area from about 0.03 m 2 /g to about 10 m 2 /g with an aqueous solution of a salt of a higher alkali metal selected from the group consisting of potassium, rubidium, cesium or mixtures thereof in such concentration as to produce in the final product a higher alkali metal concentration from about 0.25 to about 16 milligram equivalent weights per kilogram total catalyst for each square meter of support surface area ((mgew/kg)/(m 2 /g)); (b) at least partially drying the product of step (a) at a temperature between about 100° C. and about 200° C. sufficiently to allow the impregnation of step (c); (c) recontacting the higher alkali metal impregnated support with a liquid phase containing dissolved therein a silver compound in an amount sufficient to deposit from about 1 to about 25 percent by weight of silver on the support surface, and (d) thermally treating the resulting product in the presence of a reducing agent to convert the silver compound to silver metal.