Enhanced activity of metal oxide-doped Ga2O3–Al2O3 for NO reduction by propene

Effect of additives, In₂O₃, SnO₂, CoO, CuO and Ag, on the catalytic performance of Ga₂O₃–Al₂O₃ prepared by sol–gel method for the selective reduction of NO with propene in the presence of oxygen was studied. As for the reaction in the absence of H₂O, CoO, CuO and Ag showed good additive effect. When H₂O was added to the reaction gas, the activity of CoO-, CuO- and Ag-doped Ga₂O₃–Al₂O₃ was depressed considerably, while an intensifying effect of H₂O was observed for In₂O₃- and SnO₂-doped Ga₂O₃–Al₂O₃. Of several metal oxide additives, In₂O₃-doped Ga₂O₃–Al₂O₃ showed the highest activity for NO reduction by propene in the presence of H₂O. Kinetic studies on NO reduction over In₂O₃–Ga₂O₃–Al₂O₃ revealed that the rate-determining step in the absence of H₂O is the reaction of NO₂ formed on Ga₂O₃–Al₂O₃ with C₃H₆-derived species, whereas that in the presence of H₂O is the formation of C₃H₆-derived species. We presumed the reason for the promotional effect of H₂O as follows: the rate for the formation of C₃H₆-derived species in the presence of H₂O is sufficiently fast compared with that for the reaction of NO₂ with C₃H₆-derived species in the absence of H₂O. Although the retarding effect of SO₂ on the activity was observed for all of the catalysts, SnO₂–Ga₂O₃–Al₂O₃ showed still relatively high activity in the lower temperature region.     

A comparative study of Ag/Al2O3 and Cu/Al2O3 catalysts for the selective catalytic reduction of NO by C3H6

The selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO by C₃H₆ in excess oxygen was evaluated and compared over Ag/Al₂O₃ and Cu/Al₂O₃ catalysts. Ag/Al₂O₃ showed a high activity for NO reduction. However, Cu/Al₂O₃ showed a high activity for C₃H₆ oxidation. The partial oxidation of C₃H₆ gave surface enolic species and acetate species on the Ag/Al₂O₃, but only an acetate species was clearly observed on the Cu/Al₂O₃. The enolic species is a more active intermediate towards NO + O₂ to yield—NCO species than the acetate species on the Ag/Al₂O₃ catalyst. The Ag and Cu metal loadings and phase changes on Al₂O₃ support can affect the activity and selectivity of Ag/Al₂O₃ and Cu/Al₂O₃ catalysts, but the formation of enolic species is the main reason why the activity of the Ag/Al₂O₃ catalyst for NO reduction is higher than that of the Cu/Al₂O₃ catalyst.     

Selective catalytic reduction of NO by C3H8 over CoOx/Al2O3: An investigation of structure–activity relationships

A series of CoO_x/Al₂O₃ catalysts was prepared, characterized, and applied for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO by C₃H₈. The results of XRD, UV–vis, IR, Far-IR and ESR characterizations of the catalysts suggest that the predominant oxidation state of cobalt species is +2 for the catalysts with low cobalt loading (≤2 mol%) and for the catalysts with 4 mol% cobalt loading prepared by sol–gel and co-precipitation. Co₃O₄ crystallites or agglomerates are the predominant species in the catalysts with high cobalt loading prepared by incipient wetness impregnation and solid dispersion. An optimized CoO_x/Al₂O₃ catalyst shows high activity in SCR of NO by C₃H₈ (100% conversion of NO at 723 K, GHSV: 10,000 h⁻¹). The activity of the selective catalytic reduction of NO by C₃H₈ increases with the increase of cobalt–alumina interactions in the catalysts. The influences of cobalt loading and catalyst preparation method on the catalytic performance suggest that tiny CoAl₂O₄ crystallites highly dispersed on alumina are responsible for the efficient catalytic reduction of NO, whereas Co₃O₄ crystallites catalyze the combustion of C₃H₈ only.     

Lean reduction of NO by C3H6 over Ag/alumina derived from Al2O3, AlOOH and Al(OH)3

The effectiveness of Ag/Al₂O₃ catalyst depends greatly on the alumina source used for preparation. A series of alumina-supported catalysts derived from AlOOH, Al₂O₃, and Al(OH)₃ was studied by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy, diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy, O₂, NO + O₂-temperature programmed desorption (TPD), H₂-temperature programmed reduction (TPR), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and activity test, with a focus on the correlation between their redox properties and catalytic behavior towards C₃H₆-selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO reaction. The best SCR activity along with a moderated C₃H₆ conversion was achieved over Ag/Al₂O₃ (I) employing AlOOH source. The high density of Ag–O–Al species in Ag/Al₂O₃ (I) is deemed to be crucial for NO selective reduction into N₂. By contrast, a high C₃H₆ conversion simultaneously with a moderate N₂ yield was observed over Ag/Al₂O₃ (II) prepared from a γ-Al₂O₃ source. The larger particles of Ag_mO (m > 2) crystallites were believed to facilitate the propene oxidation therefore leading to a scarcity of reductant for SCR of NO. An amorphous Ag/Al₂O₃ (III) was obtained via employing a Al(OH)₃ source and 500 °C calcination exhibiting a poor SCR performance similar to that for Ag-free Al₂O₃ (I). A subsequent calcination of Ag/Al₂O₃ (III) at 800 °C led to the generation of Ag/Al₂O₃ (IV) catalyst yielding a significant enhancement in both N₂ yield and C₃H₆ conversion, which was attributed to the appearance of γ-phase structure and an increase in surface area. Further thermo treatment at 950 °C for the preparation of Ag/Al₂O₃ (V) accelerated the sintering of Ag clusters resulting in a severe unselective combustion, which competes with SCR of NO reaction. In view of the transient studies, the redox properties of the prepared catalysts were investigated showing an oxidation capability of Ag/Al₂O₃ (II and V) > Ag/Al₂O₃ (IV) > Ag/Al₂O₃ (I) > Ag/Al₂O₃ (III) and Al₂O₃ (I). The formation of nitrate species is an important step for the deNO_x process, which can be promoted by increasing O₂ feed concentration as evidenced by NO + O₂-TPD study for Ag/Al₂O₃ (I), achieving a better catalytic performance.     

Activity enhancement of SnO2-doped Ga2O3–Al2O3 catalysts by coexisting H2O for the selective reduction of NO with propene

Catalytic reduction of NO by propene in the presence of oxygen was studied over SnO₂-doped Ga₂O₃–Al₂O₃ prepared by sol–gel method. Although SnO₂-doped Ga₂O₃–Al₂O₃ gave lower NO conversion than Ga₂O₃–Al₂O₃ in the absence of H₂O, the activity was enhanced considerably by the presence of H₂O and much higher than that of Ga₂O₃–Al₂O₃. The presence of SnO₂ and Ga₂O₃–Al₂O₃ species having intimate Ga–O–Al bondings was found to be essential for the promotional effect of H₂O. The promotional effect of H₂O was interpreted by the following two reasons. The first one is the removal of carbonaceous materials deposited on the catalyst surface by H₂O. The other is the selective inhibition by H₂O of the reaction steps resulting in propene oxidation to CO_x without reducing NO.     

The mechanism of SO2 effect on NO reduction with propene over In2O3/Al2O3 catalyst

An In₂O₃/Al₂O₃ catalyst shows high activity for the selective catalytic reduction of NO with propene in the presence of oxygen. The presence of SO₂ in feed gas suppressed the catalytic activity dramatically at high temperatures; however it was enhanced in the low temperature range of 473–573 K. In TPD and FT-IR studies, the formation of sulfate species on the surface of the catalyst caused an inhibition of NO_X adsorption sites, and the absorbance ability of NO was suppressed by the presence of SO₂, and the amount of ad-NO₃⁻ species decreased obviously. This leads to a decrease of catalytic activity at higher temperatures. However, addition of SO₂ enhanced the formation of carboxylate and formate species, which can explain the promotional effect of SO₂ at low temperature, because active C₃H₆ (partially oxidized C₃H₆) is crucial at low temperature.     

Fischer–Tropsch synthesis over Re-promoted Co supported on Al2O3, SiO2 and TiO2: Effect of water

The activity and selectivity of rhenium promoted cobalt Fischer–Tropsch catalysts supported on Al₂O₃, TiO₂ and SiO₂ have been studied in a fixed-bed reactor at 483 K and 20 bar. Exposure of the catalysts to water added to the feed deactivates the Al₂O₃ supported catalyst, while the activity of the TiO₂ and SiO₂ supported catalysts increased. However, at high concentrations of water both the SiO₂ and TiO₂ supported catalyst deactivated. Common for all catalysts was an increase in C₅₊ selectivity and a decrease in the CH₄ selectivity by increasing the water partial pressure. The catalysts have been characterized by scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM), BET, H₂ chemisorption and X-ray diffraction (XRD).     

On the nature of the silver phases of Ag/Al2O3 catalysts for reactions involving nitric oxide

The nature of the silver phases of Ag/Al₂O₃ catalysts (prepared by silver nitrate impregnation followed by calcination) was investigated by X-ray diffractograms (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and UV–VIS analyses and related to the activity of the corresponding materials for the oxidation of NO to NO₂. The UV–VIS spectrum of the 1.2 wt.% Ag/Al₂O₃ exhibited essentially one band associated with Ag⁺ species and the NO₂ yields measured over this material were negligible. A 10 wt.% Ag/Al₂O₃ material showed the presence of oxidic species of silver (as isolated Ag⁺ cations and silver aluminate), but the UV–VIS data also revealed the presence of some metallic silver. The activity for the NO oxidation to NO₂ of this sample was moderate. The same 10% sample either reduced in H₂ or used for the C₃H₆-selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO showed a significantly larger proportion of silver metallic phases and these samples displayed a high activity for the formation of NO₂. These data show that the structure and nature of the silver phases of Ag/Al₂O₃ catalysts can markedly change under reaction feed containing only a fraction of reducing agent (i.e. 500 ppm of propene) in net oxidizing conditions (2.5% O₂). The low activity for N₂ formation during the C₃H₆-SCR of NO (reported in an earlier study) over the high loading sample can, therefore, be related to the presence of metallic silver, which is yet a good catalyst for NO oxidation to NO₂. The reverse observations apply for the oxide species observed over the low loading sample, which is a good SCR catalyst but do not oxidize NO to NO₂.     

Surface properties and reactivity of Cu/γ-Al2O3 catalysts for NO reduction by C3H6: Influences of calcination temperatures and additives

The influences of calcination temperatures and additives for 10 wt.% Cu/γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts on the surface properties and reactivity for NO reduction by C₃H₆ in the presence of excess oxygen were investigated. The results of XRD and XPS show that the 10 wt.% Cu/γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts calcined below 973 K possess highly dispersed surface and bulk CuO phases. The 10 wt.% Cu/γ-Al₂O₃ and 10 wt.% Mn–10 wt.% Cu/γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts calcined at 1073 K possess a CuAl₂O₄ phase with a spinel-type structure. In addition, the 10 wt.% La–10 wt.% Cu/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst calcined at 1073 K possesses a bulk CuO phase. The result of NO reduction by C₃H₆ shows that the CuAl₂O₄ is a more active phase than the highly dispersed and bulk CuO phase. However, the 10 wt.% Mn–10 wt.% Cu/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst calcined at 1073 K possesses significantly lower reactivity for NO reduction than the 10 wt.% Cu/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst calcined at 1073 K, although these catalysts possess the same CuAl₂O₄ phase. The low reactivity for NO reduction for 10 wt.% Mn–10 wt.% Cu/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst calcined at 1073 K is attributed to the formation of less active CuAl₂O₄ phase with high aggregation and preferential promotion of C₃H₆ combustion to CO_x by MnO₂. The engine dynamometer test for NO reduction shows that the C₃H₆ is a more effective reducing agent for NO reduction than the C₂H₅OH. The maximum reactivity for NO reduction by C₃H₆ is reached when the NO/C₃H₆ ratio is one.     

Catalytic selective reduction of NO with propylene over Cu-Al2O3 catalysts: influence of catalyst preparation method

NO reduction to N₂ by C₃H₆ was investigated and compared over Cu-Al₂O₃ catalysts prepared by four different methods, namely, the conventional impregnation, co-precipitation, evaporation of a mixed aqueous solution, and xerogel methods. It was found that the catalyst preparation method as well as the Cu content exerts a significant influence on catalyst activity. For the catalysts prepared by the first three preparation methods, with the increase of Cu content from 5 to 15 wt%, the maximum NO reduction conversion decreased slightly, but the temperature for the maximum NO reduction also decreased. For the xerogel Cu-Al₂O₃, there was a significant decrease in NO reduction conversion with the increase of Cu content from 5 to 10 wt%. In the absence of water vapour, the Cu-Al₂O₃ catalyst prepared by the impregnation method exhibited the highest activity toward NO reduction. The purity of alumina support was found to be a crucial factor to the activity of the Cu-Al₂O₃ catalyst prepared by impregnation. In the presence of water vapour, a substantial decrease in NO conversion was observed for the Cu-Al₂O₃ catalysts prepared by the first three methods, especially for the impregnated Cu-Al₂O₃ catalyst. In contrast, the presence of water vapour showed only a minor influence on the xerogel 5 wt% Cu-Al₂O₃ and it showed the highest activity for NO reduction in the presence of 20% water vapour. The xerogel 5 wt% Cu-Al₂O₃ catalyst was also found to be less affected by a 5 wt% sulfate deposition than the Cu-Al₂O₃ catalysts prepared by other methods.     

Promoting effects of CO2 on dehydrogenation of propane over a SiO2-supported Cr2O3 catalyst

The effects of carbon dioxide on the dehydrogenation of C₃H₈ to produce C₃H₆ were investigated over several Cr₂O₃ catalysts supported on Al₂O₃, active carbon and SiO₂. Carbon dioxide exerted promoting effects only on SiO₂-supported Cr₂O₃ catalysts. The promoting effects of carbon dioxide over a Cr₂O₃/SiO₂ catalyst were to enhance the yield of C₃H₆ and to suppress the catalyst deactivation.     

Influence of BaO on Pd/Al2O3-based catalysts in C2H4 and CO oxidation as well as in NO reduction

In this study, Pd/Al₂O₃ and Pd/BaO/Al₂O₃ metallic monoliths were used to investigate the effect of BaO in C₂H₄ and CO oxidation as well as in NO reduction. A FT-IR gas analyser was used to study the activity of the catalysts. Several activity experiments carried out with dissimilar feedstreams revealed that BaO enhances CO and C₂H₄ oxidation as well as NO reduction reactions in rich conditions. This effect is due to BaO, which causes a decrease in the ethene poisoning of palladium. In lean conditions BaO is present in the form of Ba(OH)₂ which reacts with oxidised NO releasing water. Therefore, NO was stored during the lean reaction.     

Mean field modelling of NOx storage on Pt/BaO/Al2O3

A mean field model, for storage and desorption of NO_x in a Pt/BaO/Al₂O₃ catalyst is developed using data from flow reactor experiments. This relatively complex system is divided into five smaller sub-systems and the model is divided into the following steps: (i) NO oxidation on Pt/Al₂O₃; (ii) NO oxidation on Pt/BaO/Al₂O₃; (iii) NO_x storage on BaO/Al₂O₃; (iv) NO_x storage on Pt/BaO/Al₂O₃ with thermal regeneration and (v) NO_x storage on Pt/BaO/Al₂O₃ with regeneration using C₃H₆. In this paper, we focus on the last sub-system. The kinetic model for NO_x storage on Pt/BaO/Al₂O₃ was constructed with kinetic parameters obtained from the NO oxidation model together with a NO_x storage model on BaO/Al₂O₃. This model was not sufficient to describe the NO_x storage experiments for the Pt/BaO/Al₂O₃, because the NO_x desorption in TPD experiments was larger for Pt/BaO/Al₂O₃, compared to BaO/Al₂O₃. The model was therefore modified by adding a reversible spill-over step. Further, the model was validated with additional experiments, which showed that NO significantly promoted desorption of NO_x from Pt/BaO/Al₂O₃. To this NO_x storage model, additional steps were added to describe the reduction by hydrocarbon in experiments with NO₂ and C₃H₆. The main reactions for continuous reduction of NO_x occurs on Pt by reactions between hydrocarbon species and NO in the model. The model is also able to describe the reduction phase, the storage and NO breakthrough peaks, observed in experiments.     

Influence of metal oxides on the catalytic behavior of Au/Al2O3 for the selective reduction of NOx by hydrocarbons

The reduction of NO by propene in the presence of excess oxygen over mechanical mixtures of Au/Al₂O₃ with a bulk oxide has been investigated. The oxides studied were: Co₃O₄, Mn₂O₃, Cr₂O₃, CuO, Fe₂O₃, NiO, CeO₂, SnO₂, ZnO and V₂O₅. Under lean C₃H₆-SCR conditions, these oxides (with the exception of SnO₂) convert selectively NO to NO₂. When mechanically mixed with Au/Al₂O₃, the Mn₂O₃ and Co₃O₄ oxides and, to a much greater extent, CeO₂ act synergistically with this catalyst greatly enhancing its SCR performance. It was found that their synergistic action is not straightforwardly related to their activity for NO oxidation to NO₂. The exhibited catalytic synergy may be due to the operation of either remote control or a bifunctional mechanism. In the later case, the key intermediate must be a short-lived compound and not the NO₂ molecule in gas-phase.     

Selective photo-oxidation of various hydrocarbons in the liquid phase over V2O5/Al2O3

More than 0.22 mmol of isolated VO₄ species of V₂O₅/Al₂O₃ exhibited the highest evolution of the partial oxidation products (alcohol and ketone) in the oxidation of cyclohexane and cyclopentane. The conversion of cyclohexane and the selectivity of the partial oxidation products were achieved to be 0.49% and 85% over 0.8 g of 3.5 wt.% V₂O₅/Al₂O₃, respectively, where the K/A ratio was 6.2. In addition, V₂O₅/Al₂O₃ can selectively oxidize various hydrocarbons in the liquid phase by the one-step oxygen atom insertion to CH bond. The order of priority was tertiary carbon > secondary carbon > primary carbon > benzene ring.     

Catalytic oxidation of saturated hydrocarbons on multicomponent Au/Al2O3 catalysts: Effect of various promoters

The performance of unpromoted and MO_x-(M: alkali (earth), transition metal and cerium) promoted Au/Al₂O₃ catalysts have been studied for combustion of the saturated hydrocarbons methane and propane. As expected, higher temperatures are required to oxidize CH₄ (above 400 °C), compared with C₃H₈ (above 250 °C). The addition of various MO_x to Au/Al₂O₃ improves the catalytic activity in both methane and propane oxidation. For methane oxidation, the most efficient promoters to enhance the catalytic performance of Au/Al₂O₃ are FeO_x and MnO_x. For C₃H₈ oxidation a direct relationship is found between the catalytic performance and the average size of the gold particles in the presence of alkali (earth) metal oxides. The effect of the gold particle size becomes less important for additives of the type of transition metal oxides and ceria. The results suggest that the role of the alkali (earth) metal oxides is related to the stabilization of the gold nanoparticles, whereas transition metal oxide and ceria additives may be involved in oxygen activation.     

Catalytic oxidation of HCN over a 0.5% Pt/Al2O3 catalyst

The adsorption of HCN on, its catalytic oxidation with 6% O₂ over 0.5% Pt/Al₂O₃, and the subsequent oxidation of strongly bound chemisorbed species upon heating were investigated. The observed N-containing products were N₂O, NO and NO₂, and some residual adsorbed N-containing species were oxidized to NO and NO₂ during subsequent temperature programmed oxidation. Because N-atom balance could not be obtained after accounting for the quantities of each of these product species, we propose that N₂ and was formed. Both the HCN conversion and the selectivity towards different N-containing products depend strongly on the reaction temperature and the composition of the reactant gas mixture. In particular, total HCN conversion reaches 95% above 250 °C. Furthermore, the temperature of maximum HCN conversion to N₂O is located between 200 and 250 °C, while raising the reaction temperature increases the proportion of NO_x in the products. The co-feeding of H₂O and C₃H₆ had little, if any effect on the total HCN conversion, but C₃H₆ addition did increase the conversion to NO and decrease the conversion to NO₂, perhaps due to the competing presence of adsorbed fragments of reductive C₃H₆. Evidence is also presented that introduction of NO and NO₂ into the reactant gas mixture resulted in additional reaction pathways between these NO_x species and HCN that provide for lean-NO_x reduction coincident with HCN oxidation.     

The role of lanthana loading on the catalytic properties of Pd/Al2O3-La2O3 in the NO reduction with H2

The role of La₂O₃ loading in Pd/Al₂O₃-La₂O₃ prepared by sol–gel on the catalytic properties in the NO reduction with H₂ was studied. The catalysts were characterized by N₂ physisorption, temperature-programmed reduction, differential thermal analysis, temperature-programmed oxidation and temperature-programmed desorption of NO.

The physicochemical properties of Pd catalysts as well as the catalytic activity and selectivity are modified by La₂O₃ inclusion. The selectivity depends on the NO/H₂ molar ratio (GHSV = 72,000 h⁻¹) and the extent of interaction between Pd and La₂O₃. At NO/H₂ = 0.5, the catalysts show high N₂ selectivity (60–75%) at temperatures lower than 250 °C. For NO/H₂ = 1, the N₂ selectivity is almost 100% mainly for high temperatures, and even in the presence of 10% H₂O vapor. The high N₂ selectivity indicates a high capability of the catalysts to dissociate NO upon adsorption. This property is attributed to the creation of new adsorption sites through the formation of a surface PdO_x phase interacting with La₂O₃. The formation of this phase is favored by the spreading of PdO promoted by La₂O₃. DTA shows that the phase transformation takes place at temperatures of 280–350 °C, while TPO indicates that this phase transformation is related to the oxidation process of PdO: in the case of Pd/Al₂O₃ the O₂ uptake is consistent with the oxidation of PdO to PdO₂, and when La₂O₃ is present the O₂ uptake exceeds that amount (1.5 times). La₂O₃ in Pd catalysts promotes also the oxidation of Pd and dissociative adsorption of NO mainly at low temperatures (<250 °C) favoring the formation of N₂.     

Total oxidation of propene and propane over gold–copper oxide on alumina catalysts: Comparison with Pt/Al2O3

Oxidation of propene and propane to CO₂ and H₂O has been studied over Au/Al₂O₃ and two different Au/CuO/Al₂O₃ (4 wt.% Au and 7.4 wt.% Au) catalysts and compared with the catalytic behaviour of Au/Co₃O₄/Al₂O₃ (4.1 wt.% Au) and Pt/Al₂O₃ (4.8 wt.% Pt) catalysts. The various characterization techniques employed (XRD, HRTEM, TPR and DR-UV–vis) revealed the presence of metallic gold, along with a highly dispersed CuO (6 wt.% CuO), or more crystalline CuO phase (12 wt.% CuO).

A higher CuO loading does not significantly influence the catalytic performance of the catalyst in propene oxidation, the gold loading appears to be more important. Moreover, it was found that 7.4Au/CuO/Al₂O₃ is almost as active as Pt/Al₂O₃, whereas Au/Co₃O₄/Al₂O₃ performs less than any of the CuO-containing gold-based catalysts.

The light-off temperature for C₃H₈ oxidation is significantly higher than for C₃H₆. For this reaction the particle size effect appears to prevail over the effect of gold loading. The most active catalysts are 4Au/CuO/Al₂O₃ (gold particles less than 3 nm) and 4Au/Co₃O₄/Al₂O₃ (gold particles less than 5 nm).     

Water vapor sensitivity of nanosized La(Co, Mn, Fe)1−x(Cu, Pd)xO3 perovskites during NO reduction by C3H6 in the presence of oxygen

A series of La(Co, Mn, Fe)_1−x(Cu, Pd)_xO₃ perovskites having high specific surface areas and nanosized crystal domains was prepared by reactive grinding. The solids were characterized by N₂ adsorption, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), temperature programmed desorption (TPD) of O₂, NO + O₂, C₃H₆, in the absence or presence of 5% H₂O, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, as well as activity tests towards NO reduction by propene under the conditions of 3000 ppm NO, 3000 ppm C₃H₆, 1% O₂, 0 or 10% H₂O, and 50,000 h⁻¹ space velocity. The objective was to investigate the influence of H₂O addition on catalytic behavior. A good performance (100% NO conversion, 77% N₂ yield, and 90% C₃H₆ conversion) was achieved at 600 °C over LaFe_0.8Cu_0.2O₃ under a dry feed stream. With the exposure of LaFe_0.8Cu_0.2O₃ to a humid atmosphere containing 10% water vapor, the catalytic activity was slightly decreased yielding 91% NO conversion, 51% N₂ yield, and 86% C₃H₆ conversion. A competitive adsorption between H₂O vapor with O₂ and NO molecules at anion vacancies over LaFe_0.8Cu_0.2O₃ was found by means of TPD studies here. A deactivation mechanism was therefore proposed involving the occupation of available active sites by water vapor, resulting in an inhibition of catalytic activity in C₃H₆ + NO + O₂ reaction. This H₂O deactivation was also verified to be strictly reversible by removing steam from the feed.