Method of producing copper-iron-aluminum catalysts

Claim 1

The method of preparing a copper-iron-aluminum catalyst, which consists essentially of the steps of: adding dropwise to a bath of water contained in a reaction vessel, (a) an aqueous solution of cupric salt, ferrous salt and aluminum salt, said solution (a) containing from 0.4 to 2.5 atoms of iron and from 0.4 to 2.0 atoms of aluminum per one atom of copper, and simultaneously adding dropwise to said bath of water, separately from said solution (a), (b) an aqueous solution of an alkali metal compound effective to precipitate all of the copper, iron and aluminum ions contained in said solution (a) as the corresponding hydroxides, then, after completion of said simultaneous steps of adding said solution (a) and said solution (b) to said bath of water to form a reaction mixture, agitating the reaction mixture for from 10 minutes to 10 hours, at a temperature of from 50° C. to a temperature lower than the boiling point of the reaction mixture and effective to dehydrate copper and iron hydroxides, while maintaining the reaction mixture at a pH of from 9.5 to 11.5, whereby to form a precipitate; then separating the precipitate from the reaction mixture, washing the precipitate with water, drying the precipitate and calcining the precipitate at a temperature of from 550° to 850° C. to obtain the copper-iron-aluminum catalyst.

Claim 2

The method of preparing a copper-iron-aluminum catalyst, which consists essentially of the steps of: adding dropwise to a bath of water contained in a reaction vessel, (a) an aqueous solution of cupric salt, ferrous salt and aluminum salt, said solution (a) containing from 0.4 to 2.5 atoms of iron and from 0.4 to 2.0 atoms of aluminum per one atom of copper, and simultaneously adding dropwise to said bath of water, separately from said solution (a), (b) an aqueous solution of an alkali metal compound effective to precipitate all of the copper, iron and aluminum ions contained in said solution (a) as the corresponding hydroxides, then, after completion of said simultaneous steps of adding said solution (a) and said solution (b) to said bath of water to form a reaction mixture, agitating the reaction mixture for from 10 minutes to 10 hours, at a temperature of from 50° C. to a temperature lower than the boiling point of the reaction mixture and effective to dehydrate copper and iron hydroxides, while maintaining the reaction mixture at a pH of from 9.5 to 11.5, whereby to form a precipitate; then separating the precipitate from the reaction mixture, washing the precipitate with water, drying the precipitate and calcining the precipitate at a temperature of from 550° to 850° C. to obtain the copper-iron-aluminum catalyst.