Process for reacting carbon monoxide and water

Claim 3

The method of claim 1 wherein the mole ratio of carbon monoxide-to-water is in the range of from about 1:10 to about 10:1.

Claim 4

The method of claim 1 wherein the reaction is performed at a temperature in the range of from about 315° C. to 425° C., at a pressure of at least 35 kilograms per square centimeter and with a mole ratio of carbon monoxide-to-water in the range of from about 4:1 to about 1:2.

Claim 5

The method of claim 1 wherein the space velocity is in the range of from about 0.2 to about 5 grams of carbon monoxide per gram of catalyst per hour.

Claim 6

The method of claim 1 wherein the cadmium component is in the form of cadmium oxide.

Claim 7

The method of claim 1 wherein the cadmium component is present at a concentration level in the range of from about 1 to about 10 weight percent, calculated as cadmium oxide and based on the weight of the catalyst.

Claim 8

The method of claim 1 wherein the support comprises a refractory inorganic oxide, a molecular sieve, a pillared smectite or vermiculite clay or a combination thereof.

Claim 9

The method of claim 7 wherein the refractory inorganic oxide comprises alumina, zirconia, titania, an oxide of a metal of the lanthanide series, an oxide of a metal of the actinide series, a combination thereof, or a combination thereof with silica or magnesia.

Claim 10

The method of claim 7 wherein the molecular sieve comprises a crystalline aluminosilicate, crystalline borosilicate, or mixture thereof, in the unexchanged or cation-exchanged form.

Claim 11

The method of claim 9 wherein the crystalline aluminosilicate comprises chabazite, mordenite, erionite, clinoptilolite, zeolite A, zeolite L, zeolite X, zeolite Y, ultrastable zeolite Y, zeolite omega, ZSM-5, ZSM-11, ZSM-12, ZSM-35, ZSM-38 or ZSM-48.

Claim 12

The method of claim 10 wherein the crystalline aluminosilicate is in the hydrogen- or rare earth-exchanged form.

Claim 13

The method of claim 9 wherein the crystalline borosilicate molecular sieve comprises a molecular sieve material having the following composition in terms of mole ratios of oxides: 0.9±0.2M.sub.2/n O:B.sub.2 O.sub.3 :ySiO.sub.2 :zH.sub.2 O wherein M is at least one cation having a valence of n, y is between 4 and about 600, and z is between 0 and about 160, and providing an X-ray diffraction pattern comprisingg the following X-ray diffraction lines and assigned strengths: ______________________________________ ˜d (Å) Assigned Strength ______________________________________ 11.2 ± 0.2 W-VS 10.0 ± 0.2 W-MS 5.97 ± 0.07 W-M 3.82 ± 0.05 VS 3.70 ± 0.05 MS 3.62 ± 0.05 M-MS 2.97 ± 0.02 W-M 1.99 ± 0.02 VW-M ______________________________________

Claim 14

The method of claim 7 wherein the pillared smectite or vermiculite clay comprises a multiplicity of cations interposed between the molecular layers of the clay and maintaining the spacing between the molecular layers in the range of from about 6 angstroms to about 10 angstroms at a temperature of at least 300° C. in an air atmosphere for at least 2 hours.

Claim 15

The method of claim 7 wherein the support comprises from about 20 to about 95 weight percent of an aforesaid refractory inorganic oxide and from about 5 to about 80 weight percent of an aforesaid molecular sieve or pillared smectite or vermiculite clay.

Claim 16

The method of claim 7 wherein the support comprises alumina, silica-alumina, cadmium-exchanged zeolite Y, rare earth-exchanged zeolite Y, ultrastable zeolite Y, pillared smectite or vermiculite clay or crystalline borosilicate molecular sieve.

Claim 17

The method of claim 15 wherein the support comprises alumina, cadmium-exchanged zeolite Y, rare earth-exchanged zeolite Y, ultrastable zeolite Y, or pillared smectite or vermiculite clay.

Claim 20

The method of claim 17 wherein the thorium component is in the form of thorium oxide.