Calcination in an inert gas in the presence of a small concentration of an oxidizing component

摘要

This invention relates to an improved process for preparing silver catalysts useful for the vapor phase production of ethylene oxide from ethylene and oxygen. An inert support is impregnated with a solution of a catalytically effective amount of a silver containing compound, a promoting amount of an alkali metal containing compound, and a promoting amount of a transition metal containing compound. The impregnated support is calcined by heating at a temperature of from about 200° C. to about 600° C. to convert the silver in the silver containing compound to metallic silver and to decompose and remove substantially all organic materials. The heating is conducted under an atmosphere comprising a combination of an inert gas and from about 10 ppm to about 5% by volume of a gas of an oxygen containing oxidizing component.