Does anyone know real life examples that involve the use of catalyst?

Question

Something you would find in an industrial setting or even a biological setting. The only example shown in the text book is ozone depletion with nitric oxide serving as the catalyst and catalytic converters.

Any help will do! The chemical reaction steps would be even better!

Answer 1

Alcohol dehydrogenase catalyzes the metabolism of the alcohol of which you drank too much last night to acetaldehyde. Your avoiding a hangover depends on your enzymatic capacity to convert acetaldehyde to acetic acid.

CH3CH2OH ===> CH3CH=O ===> CH3COOH

Vanadium pentoxide, V2O5, catalyzes the oxidation of SO2 to SO3 for the contact process to make H2SO4.

2SO2 + O2 ===> 2SO3

SO3 + H2SO4 ===> H2S2O7

H2S2O7 + H2O ===> 2H2SO4

Answer 2

Forget your textbook.  Break out your parents (or your) auto manual.  Read about catalytic converters.  

Answer 3

In biological systems, any reaction involving enzymes (biological catalysts) is an example of this kind of process you are looking for.

Daily example is the bread chewing in the mouth: the amylase (enzyme found in mouth) accelerates the breakage of glucosidic  bonds of starch of bread yielding saccharides of low molecular weight that can be digested easily in intestines.

Answer 4

Cars usually have them to complete the combustion of anything that makes it out of the engine and there are plenty of sources for a more indepth discussion than here.

Answer 5

Most of the top synthetic chemicals in the world are fashioned by catalytic reactions.

Here are some of the biggies.  The number is US production in 2006, in billions of kilograms:

sulfuric acid, 36.0, from SO3 made via catalyzed SO2 oxidation on V2O5

ethylene, 25.0; propylene, 15.7; both via hydrocarbon cracking on heterogeneous catalysts, usually zeolites

polyethylene and polypropylene, 25.6, polymerization of ethylene and propylene on either homo- or heterogeneous catalysts based on Zr, Ti, or Cr

ammonia, 10.4, N2 + H2 on heterogeneous iron (Haber Process)

1,2-dichloroethane, 9.7, C2H4 + Cl2, heterogeneous FeCl3 catalyst

nitric acid 6.6, first step is catalyzed reaction of NH3 + O2 on heterogeneous platinum catalyst (Ostwald Process)

benzene, 6.7, either naptha reformation, on heterogeneous Pt or Re chlorides on a silica support, or toluene disporoportionation on a heterogeneous zeolite catalyst

ethylbenzene, 5.3, benzene + ethylene, homogeneous acid catalyst or heterogeneous zeolite

styrene, 4.8, dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene on heterogeneous Fe2O3 catalyst