Spillover assisted catalytic effects (SPACE)—a new reaction model for bifunctionally catalyzed hydrocarbon conversions

An extended model for the conversion of hydrocarbons on bifunctional catalysts is proposed. It incorporates hydrogen spillover into the concept of bifunctional catalysis (spillover assisted catalytic effect, SPACE) and postulates a coexistence of two types of spilt-over hydrogen species at the surface. According to the proposed mechanism hydroisomerization is accompanied by a recombination and, therefore, consumption of activated spilt-over hydrogen. The extended model satisfactorily explains experimental results which were apparently in contrast to the classical bifunctional mechanism. It is exemplary applied to n-pentane hydroconversion on erionite.