Copper catalysis proceeds with multiple steady states and oscillations in several oxidation reactions The understanding of such kinetic phenomena is essential for the control of copper-catalyzed industrial scale processes Information about the reasons and the ranges of the parameters causing these kinetic effects will be given from results gained by concentration programmed reaction (CP-reaction) experiments Elemental copper was used as unsupported catalysts and the oxidation of hydrogen and ethanol were introduced as model reactions CP-reaction experiments were performed in a tubular reactor as well as in a differential thermal gravimetric analyzer (TG/DTA) The application of a TG/DTA as a reactor gave the opportunity for a simultaneous measurement of the activity and the grade of oxidation of the copper catalyst (C) 2010 Elsevier B V All rights reserved