7: Thermodynamics and Kinetics

Thermodynamics and kinetics build the physico-chemical fundamentals for the quantitative description of chemical reactions. Hence, they are at the heart of chemical and engineering science and applications as a whole and, of course, include and govern catalytic reactions as well. In the present chapter, the most important basic principles of chemical thermodynamics are briefly presented and the relevance to catalysis is emphasized. Besides treatment of the chemical equilibrium, examples for applications in reaction engineering, mostly with respect to optimizing the maximum achievable conversion are given. In a second part, the kinetics of chemical reactions are first treated on a general level. After introducing the reaction rate, parameters for catalytic activity and stability are described. Finally, two examples for specific cases of catalytic kinetics, i.e., the Langmuir–Hinshelwood–Hougen–Watson approach and the Michaelis–Menten kinetics are presented.