I~ Boreskov Institute of Catalysis Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences
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I~ BORESKOV INSTITUTE OF CATALYSIS SIBERIAN BRANCH OF RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES ANNUAL REVIEW of Activities in Fundamental Areas 1999 BORESKOV INSTITUTE OF CATALYSIS SIBERIAN BRANCH OF RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Novosibirsk Published by Boreskov Institute of Catalysis Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva, 5 Novosibirsk, 630090 Russia Phone: (007) 383 2 34 32 69 FAX: (007) 383 2 34 30 56 E-mail: [email protected] http: //www.catalysis.nsk.su © Boreskov Institute of Catalysis, 2000 2 Dear Colleagues, This is a real pleasure for me to present already the sixth issue of annual reviews of the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis in the main fields of its academic and R&D activities covering the year 1999. The Boreskov Institute of Catalysis is well known to experts in both academic and industrial catalysis not only in Russia and CIS, but also in many western and oriental countries. Since the sixties it has remained the largest chemical research institution in the Asian part of Russia having many deep and stable traditions and providing research in nearly all fields of catalysis. Its interests spread from the sophisticated purely academic research to the real applied problems, including commercial catalysts and catalytic technologies. During the last years according to numerous changes in Russia and its stepwise approach to the market economy, there were also some sufficient changes in the behavior and life of the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis. However, in spite of general instability in the country, the Institute could survive as a high quality specialized organization. Moreover, the intensity and quality of the research and engineering activity at the Institute became even higher. Fortunately, the Institute gained in research in catalysis fundamentals, thus continuing the old traditions originated from the beginning of the Institute due to a very powerful impulse of its creator and first director Academician Georgii K. Boreskov. Hope, the readers will feel that themselves, when comparing the materials of this and previous issues of the Annual Review. The year 1999 was very important for the life of the Institute in many aspects. First of all, the Institute has condoned to sustain successfully in the extremely high financial instability of Russia in the mid of 1998. This appeared possible only due to a very high professional value of the Institute among the industries both in Russia and abroad that helped financial self- maintenance of the Institute. Thus, since 1996 nearly one quarter of the Institute's budget originates as royalties or license fees from the industries, mainly the western ones. The total income from the Russian and foreign industries into the overall budget of the Institute has approached the value of 75 % in 1999. Also, since the mid 1990’s there was established a really strategic partnership with some world leading industrial companies. Since 1998 the Institute has been operating in the status of the Key Russian institution and federal coordinator in the field of catalysis and catalytic technologies, i.e. in the very high 3 federal status, the same as the Institute had in the former USSR. From that year the Institute succeeded also in reestablishing the National Russian R&D program in new generation of catalysts and catalytic technologies sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technologies of the Russian Federation. Since 1998 the Institute has been united with some other R&D chemical institutions of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the frame of a new R&D association: the United Institute of Catalysis headed by the director of the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis. Now the United Institute of Catalysis (UIC) includes the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis with its Omsk and St. Petersburg Divisions, the Research and Engineering Institute for Technical Carbon in Omsk as well as Scientific-Engineering Center “Zeosit” in Novosibirsk and Volgograd Scientific-Engineering Center on the Volga River. The facilities of the UOC include now three powerful pilot plants capable of providing manufacturing of the first industrial batches of various catalysts and specialty chemicals. The year 1999 was the fifth year of activity of the third generation of the directorate of the Institute. According to the Bylaw of both the Institute and the Russian Academy of Sciences, in the spring of 2000 there was accomplished a procedure of reelection of the Director of the Institute for the next five-year period. V. Parmon has remained the position of the Director. According to the Bylaw the next step has to be renovation also of the staff of both the Board of Directors as well as the Scientific Council of the Institute up to year 2005. Indeed, these changes will be very important, since even now the main research and administrative management in the Institute belongs to a sufficiently young generation of researches. However, one can be sure that the new management of the Institute will also recognize well all the existing problems taking the maintenance of high activity and productivity of R&D of the Institute in both fundamental and applied areas as the goals of the highest priority. Hope this issue of the Annual Review of the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis is exhibiting many sides of the current Institute’s capacity in basic research on catalysis, catalysts and catalytic technologies. As to the activity of the Institute in the applied areas, which is now much more active than before, we publish special issue of the Institute’s reviews. May, 2000 Valentin N. Parmon 4 United Institute of Catalysis (UIC) UIC BIC Research and Volgograd Engineering Engineering Institute Engineering Scientific Center for Technical Carbon Scientific Center ZEOSIT (Omsk) (Novosibirsk) Leading Institute (Novosibirsk) Moscow Department St-Petersburg Division Omsk Division Pilot Plant Pilot Plant Pilot Plant for for Catalysts and for Technical Carbon Fine Organic Adsorbents Preparation Preparation Synthesis BORESKOV INSTITUTE OF CATALYSIS OF THE SIBERIAN BRANCH OF THE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES The Boreskov Institute of Catalysis of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (BIC) still remains the largest specialized institute working in the field of catalysis not only at the territory of Asian part of Russia, but in the world too. It is the only institution in the country fully specialized on the problems of catalysis and encompasses all its aspects from fundamental and theoretical to industrial mastering of new catalysts. The Institute was founded in 1958. Initiator of the Institute and its permanent director up to 1984 was Academician Georgii K. Boreskov (1907-1984), an eminent scientist with international recognition, an outstanding physical chemist and chemical technologist. In 1992 the Institute of Catalysis was named after Academician G.K. Boreskov. In 1976 Professor Kirill I. Zamaraev has been invited by Academician G.K. Boreskov to join the Institute of Catalysis as a Deputy Director. Kirill Ilyich has come to Novosibirsk at early 1977 together with a large team of young chemical physicists, thus largely widening the studies of elementary catalytic reactions on molecular-atomic level through application of modern physical and kinetic instrumental methods of investigation. In 1984 Professor Zamaraev became the Director of the Institute of Catalysis, and since that time he was the real leader of all research and development activity of this huge (up to 1000 people in staff) Institute. K.I. Zamaraev, the former President of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Foreign Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy and of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology, holder of the Silver Medal of the Royal Chemical Society of Great Britain as a centenary lecture, has passed away in the prime of his brilliant scientific career on 26 June 1996. In 1995 Professor Valentin N. Parmon, prominent specialist in the field of catalysis, chemical kinetics and photocatalysis, headed the third generation of the directorate of the Institute. Since 1998 the Institute has been united with some other R&D chemical institutions of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the frame of a new R&D association: the United Institute of Catalysis headed by the director of the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis. Now the United Institute of Catalysis (UIC) includes the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis with its Omsk and St. Petersburg Divisions, the Research and Engineering Institute for Technical Carbon in Omsk as well as Scientific-Engineering Center “Zeosit” in Novosibirsk and Volgograd Scientific-Engineering Center on the Volga River. 5 STRUCTURE OF THE INSTITUTE The Institute of Catalysis with its Omsk and St. Petersburg Divisions currently has 1000 employees, of these 5 Corresponding Members of the RAS, more than 50 Professors, about 200 have a Ph.D. degree, and about 30 Ph.D. students. The Institute presents the unique society of specialists in broad spectra of catalysts problems, able to solve any questions related to phenomena of catalysis, from theoretical problems like quantum-chemical calculations up to designing of industrial catalysts and processes. The structure of the Institute incorporates 7 scientific-research departments, Department of Applied Catalysis Problems, Center for Catalyst Characterization and Testing, and Information Center. The structure of the Institute includes also scientific-supportive units, manufacturing facilities, administration and services. The Center for Catalyst Characterization and Testing has a bank of catalyst samples, supports and adsorbents, a set of State Standard Samples to calibrate and certify instruments for measurements of specific surface areas of various dispersed and porous materials. The main directions of its activity are: - Complex investigation and characterization of the catalysts, including data on their chemical and phase composition, dispersity and pore structure, nature of active components, etc. - Joint investigations with foreign firms and organizations in order to design new catalysts, processes and technologies; search for new prospect catalytic systems. - Development of modern standard experimental methods and equipment for catalyst studies and tests.