Alumina supported manganese oxides for the low-temperature selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxide with ammonia

Alumina supported manganese oxides exhibit a high and selective activity for the catalytic reduction of nitric oxide with ammonia (SCR) between 385 and 575 K. Samples with 3–15 wt.-% manganese were studied at space velocities between 22 000–116 000 h⁻¹ and at standard conditions of 500 ppm NO, 550 ppm NH₃ and 2% O₂. Manganese acetate results in a better dispersion of the manganese oxide on the support and a higher specific catalyst activity than manganese nitrate as precursor, for which crystalline structures could be detected. Temperature-programmed reduction revealed that acetate yields Mn₂O₃ and nitrate mainly MnO₂ on the γ-alumina support. The nitric oxide conversion per amount of manganese is fairly independent of the loading for the catalysts prepared from each precursor. The use of ¹⁵NH₃ reveals that it reacts in a 1:1 molar ratio with nitric oxide towards ¹⁵NN and/or ¹⁵NNO. The SCR activity (to nitrogen) is strongly dependent on the oxygen partial pressure, whereas water inhibits reversibly. Lattice oxygen of the catalyst is not able to maintain the SCR reaction in the absence of oxygen. The nitrous oxide formation is independent of the oxygen partial pressure, but increases with increasing manganese loading and with temperature, resulting in lower selectivities for nitrogen formation. The nitrogen and nitrous oxide formation probably occur at different sites. Above 525 K ¹⁵NH₃ oxidation occurs, yielding mainly ¹⁵N₂O and ¹⁵NO, depending on the temperature. The nitrous oxide is not further reduced by ammonia over this type of catalyst. The addition of tungsten to the catalyst increases the selectivity for nitrogen considerably. The stability of the ex-acetate catalyst is good, for at least 600 h the activity remained constant. The catalysts are sensitive towards sulphur dioxide, the ex-acetate catalysts the least, due to the strong interaction with the alumina support, as is revealed by TPR.     

The effect of hydrogen on the selective catalytic reduction of NO in excess oxygen over Ag/Al2O3

The selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of nitrogen oxides (NO_x) by propane in the presence of H₂ on sol–gel prepared Ag/Al₂O₃ catalysts (0.5–5 wt.% Ag) was investigated. It was confirmed that hydrocarbon-assisted SCR of NO_x is remarkably enhanced by co-feeding hydrogen to a lean exhaust gas mixture (λ>1), attaining considerable activity within a wide temperature window (470–825 K). The samples had marginal activity at 575 K without co-fed H₂, but achieved up to 60% NO_x conversion in the presence of H₂ at a space velocity of 30,000 h⁻¹. NO₂ as NO_x feed component is not converted to N₂ by C₃H₈ to a substantial extent under lean conditions. This points to an activation route of NO through direct conversion to adsorbed nitrite/nitrate or to a dissociation of NO over Ag⁰, formed through short-term reduction by H₂. The nature of Ag species was characterized by X-ray diffraction, temperature-programmed reduction, pulse thermoanalytical measurements, electron microscopy and FTIR spectroscopy. It could be shown that Ag₂O nano-sized clusters are predominantly present on all samples, whereas formation of silver aluminate could not be confirmed. Nano-sized Ag₂O clusters can reversibly be reduced/reoxidized by H₂. A silver loading higher than 2 wt.% leads to a part of Ag₂O particles, which are thermally decomposed during calcination at 800 K or higher. The catalytic role of this metallic silver is still unclear. Formal kinetic analysis of catalytic data revealed that the activation energy of the overall reaction is significantly lowered in the presence of H₂. The presence of water does not change the activation energy. It is concluded that hydrogen reduces the nano-sized Ag₂O clusters to Ag⁰ on a short-term scale. Zero-valent silver promotes a dissociation pathway of NO_x conversion. The fact that more oxidized ad-species (nitrite/nitrate) are observed in the presence of H₂ is attributed to a dissociative activation of gas-phase oxygen on Ag⁰.     

Selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxide with ammonia at low temperatures

Selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxide with ammonia in synthetic low temperature flue gases has been investigated on a commercially available precious metal catalyst, NO_xCAT 920 LT^TM. It has been found that this catalyst is capable of achieving up to 90% conversion at temperatures below 300°C and low space velocities (12 000 h⁻¹), even in the presence of 20 ppm sulfur dioxide. The ideal ammonia concentration to reduce slip and achieve maximum conversion seems to be a stoichiometric match between ammonia concentration and nitric oxide concentration. A dual site model is proposed to explain the selectivity dependence on the presence of water vapor or sulfur dioxide.     

Selective catalytic reduction of NO by propene in excess oxygen on Pt- and Rh-supported alumina catalysts

A comparative study of Pt/alumina and Rh/alumina catalysts was performed for the selective catalytic reduction of NO with C₃H₆ in the presence of excess oxygen. Pt/alumina was more active for NO reduction at lower temperatures compared to Rh/alumina. However, the latter exhibited clearly superior performance in terms of selectivity to N₂. This makes Rh/alumina a more suitable catalyst for the selective catalytic reduction of NO under excess oxygen conditions. Detailed kinetic studies of the SCR of NO were performed on Pt/alumina and Rh/alumina to obtain low-temperature kinetic expressions for NO reduction and C₃H₆ oxidation in the presence and absence of NO. Qualitative similarities yet quantitative differences in these kinetic expressions appear to indicate the existence of two partially similar mechanistic schemes. One is based on the indirect participation of the reductant through reduction of the active sites, followed by dissociative adsorption of NO on reduced sites (applicable for Pt/alumina). The other is based on the direct participation of the reductant (apparently by its partial oxidation) in forming an activated intermediate species, followed by its interaction with activated NO (applicable for Rh/alumina).     

Improvement of catalytic activity and sulfur-resistance of Ag/TiO2–Al2O3 for NO reduction with propene under lean burn conditions

Ag-based catalysts supported on various metal oxides, Al₂O₃, TiO₂, and TiO₂–Al₂O₃, were prepared by the sol–gel method. The effect of SO₂ on catalytic activity was investigated for NO reduction with propene under lean burn condition. The results showed the catalytic activities were greatly enhanced on Ag/TiO₂–Al₂O₃ in comparison to Ag/Al₂O₃ and Ag/TiO₂, especially in the low temperature region. Application of different characterization techniques revealed that the activity enhancement was correlated with the properties of the support material. Silver was highly dispersed over the amorphous system of TiO₂–Al₂O₃. NO₃⁻ rather than NO₂⁻ or NOx reacted with the carboxylate species to form CN or NCO. NO₂ was the predominant desorption species in the temperature programmed desorption (TPD) of NO on Ag/TiO₂–Al₂O₃. More amount of formate (HCOO⁻) and CN were generated on the Ag/TiO₂–Al₂O₃ catalyst than the Ag/Al₂O₃ catalyst, due to an increased number of Lewis acid sites. Sulfate species, resulted from SO₂ oxidation, played dual roles on catalytic activity. On aged samples, the slow decomposition of accumulated sulfate species on catalyst surface led to poor NO conversion due to the blockage of these species on active sites. On the other hand, catalytic activity was greatly enhanced in the low temperature region because of the enhanced intensity of Lewis acid site caused by the adsorbed sulfate species. The rate of sulfate accumulation on the Ag/TiO₂–Al₂O₃ system was relatively slow. As a consequence, the system showed superior capability for selective adsorption of NO and SO₂ toleration to the Ag/Al₂O₃ catalyst.     

Selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxide with ammonia using MoO3/TiO2: Catalyst structure and activity

A series of titania supported MoO₃ catalysts (0–20 wt.-% MoO₃) were prepared by dry impregnation. The influence of the MoO₃ content on their catalytic performance for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of nitric oxide by ammonia in the presence of oxygen, as well as on their textural and structural properties has been studied. The samples were characterized by XRD, XPS, IR, and BET and porosimetry measurements. The coverage of the TiO₂ support by surface polymeric molybdenum species (where molybdenum is octahedrally coordinated) increases with the molybdenum loading. The formation of a layer of these interacting species on top of the titania surface is complete in the range 15–20 wt.-% MoO₃. The formation of crystallites of bulk MoO₃ starts before the completion of this surface layer (at around 10 wt.-% MoO₃) and increases progressively as the molybdenum loading increases from 10 to 20 wt.-% MoO₃. The SCR activity of the MoO₃/TiO₂ catalysts increases as the MoO₃ content increases to 15 wt.-% and then, for a further increase of the molybdenum loading, it slightly decreases. No specific influence of the molybdenum content on the resistance of catalysts towards SO₂ was observed; the same slight deactivation took place, when the SCR activity was measured in the presence of SO₂ in the feed, for all samples. Our results indicate that the octahedrally coordinated polymeric molybdenum surface species are mainly responsible for the exhibited SCR activity of the MoO₃/TiO₂ catalysts.     

Ce-P-O催化剂用于氨选择催化还原消除氮氧化物

制备了可用于氨选择催化还原消除氮氧化物的Ce-P-O催化剂,通过X射线衍射、扫描电镜、N₂吸附、H₂程序升温还原和氨程序升温脱附等手段对催化剂进行了表征,并考察了催化剂的性能。结果表明,催化剂在空速20 000 h^-1表现出较高的氮氧化物消除活性,NO转化率>90%,在水蒸汽和SO₂存在条件下,催化剂具有较好的催化活性和稳定性。     

Selective catalytic reduction of NO by ammonia with fly ash catalyst

This paper investigates the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO with NH₃ using fly ash catalyst. The catalytically active elements investigated here included Fe, Cu, Ni and V. The results indicated that fly ash, after pre-treatment, can be reasonably used as the SCR catalyst support to remove NO from flue gas. Cu gave the highest catalytic activity and NO conversion, compared with Fe, Ni and V. In the pre-treatment process, the nitric acid treatment and drying temperatures for the fly ash particles had little effect on the NO conversion. However, the calcination temperature had an important effect on the catalyst preparation process.     

Pd/Al2O3催化剂上CH4选择性还原NO的研究

考察了Pd/Al₂O₃、In/Al₂O₃和Co/Al₂O₃对甲烷选择性还原NO的催化活性。结果表明，采用浸渍法制备的Pd/Al₂O₃、In/Al₂O₃和Co/Al₂O₃三种催化剂，在有氧气氛下，用CH₄作还原剂催化还原NO时，Pd/Al₂O₃催化剂的活性最佳，热稳定性好，在550 ℃，用CH₄选择还原NO，Pd/Al₂O₃催化剂表现出较强的催化能力，NO的转化率达到100%。在高空速实验中，该催化剂亦表现出较高的活性，其活性顺序为Pd/Al₂O₃>In/Al₂O₃>Co/Al₂O₃。实验研究了助催化剂、氧含量以及空速对Pd/Al₂O₃催化剂活性的影响。     

The selective catalytic reduction of NO by propylene over Pt supported on dealuminated Y zeolite

The reactivity of Pt supported on a stable dealuminated Y zeolite (Pt/DeY) for the Selective Catalytic Reduction of NO by hydrocarbons (HC-SCR) has been investigated with a monolith sample. The results show that the Pt/DeY catalyst has substantial activity for this reaction at temperatures between 200 and 300°C. Furthermore, the presence of water and sulfur dioxide, at levels similar to the ones expected in vehicle exhaust gas, does not significantly affect the performance of the catalyst, which makes it a promising candidate for further commercial development. In the same temperature range, oxygen promotes the rate of the NO reduction by assisting in the activation of the hydrocarbon. NO₂ is also formed under the conditions studied as a result of the oxidation of NO. In the presence of the hydrocarbon however, it is preferentially reacting with the hydrocarbon, and reduces primarily back to NO. High selectivities were observed toward the formation of N₂O, which is a primary product of the hydrocarbon-SCR reaction.     

Deactivation of a Fe-ZSM-5 catalyst during the selective catalytic reduction of NO by n-decane: An operando DRIFT study

The selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO by n-decane was investigated on a Fe-ZSM-5 prepared by the FeCl₃ sublimation method. NO conversion profiles versus temperature were followed in both temperature programmed surface reaction (TPSR, 10 °C min⁻¹) and steady state experiments. A higher NO conversion with a maximum of ca. 80% at 400 °C is observed in the course of the TPSR tests. This phenomenon has been attributed to strong adsorption of n-decane which protects the active sites against the poisoning. Indeed, in steady state experiments at 390 °C the strong decrease of activity as a function of time on stream is due to the polymerisation of conjugated nitriles. This study indicates that long chain alkanes are not the most adequate reductants of NO for high temperature SCR applications. Moreover, due to an easier polymerization of conjugated nitriles on iron zeolites (stronger Fe Lewis sites), this type of catalyst seems less attractive than Cu-zeolite catalysts for the SCR of NO by hydrocarbons in this respect.     

Ammonia activation over catalysts for the selective catalytic reduction of NOx and the selective catalytic oxidation of NH3. An FT-IR study

The adsorption and transformation of ammonia over V₂O₅, V₂O₅/TiO₂, V₂O₅-WO₃/TiO₂ and CuO/TiO₂ systems has been investigated by FT-IR spectroscopy. In all cases ammonia is first coordinated over Lewis acid sites and later undergoes hydrogen abstraction giving rise either to NH₂ amide species or to its dimeric form N₂H₄, hydrazine. Other species, tentatively identified as imide NH, nitroxyl HNO, nitrogen anions N₂⁻ and azide anions N₃⁻ are further observed over CuO/TiO₂. The comparison of the infrared spectra of the species arising from both NH₃ and N₂H₄ adsorbed over CuO/TiO₂ strongly suggest that N₂H₄ is an intermediate in NH₃ oxidation over this active selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and selective catalytic oxidation (SCO) catalysts. This implies that ammonia is activated in the form of NH₂ species for both SCR and SCO, and it can later dimerize. Ammonia protonation to ammonium ion is detected over V₂O₅-based systems, but not over CuO/TiO₂, in spite of the high SCR and SCO activity of this catalyst. Consequently Brönsted acidity is not necessary for the SCR activity.     

Infrared study of catalytic reduction of lean NOx with alcohols over alumina-supported silver catalyst

Two intense IR absorption bands due to surface isocyanate (-NCO) species have been observed at 2262 and 2232 cm^–1 when an alumina-supported silver catalyst is exposed to a mixture of NO, O₂ and ethanol at 150°C and subsequently heated to > 300°C in vacuum. The intensity of the isocyanate band is hardly affected by the water existing in the mixture. Methanol is less reactive than ethanol for the formation of isocyanate species. The reaction mechanism of catalytic reduction of lean NOx with alcohols is discussed based on these IR spectroscopic findings.     

Kinetics of the selective catalytic reduction of NO by NH3 on a Cu-faujasite catalyst

The kinetics of the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO by NH₃ in the presence of O₂ has been studied on a 5.5% Cu-faujasite (Cu-FAU) catalyst. Cu-FAU was composed of cationic and oxocationic Cu species. The SCR was studied in a gas phase-flowing reactor operating at atmospheric pressure. The reaction conditions explored were: 458<T_R<513 K, 2503 (ppm) < 4000, 12 (%) < 4. The kinetic orders were 0.8–1 with respect to NO, 0.5–1 with respect to O₂, and essentially 0 with respect to NH₃. Based on these kinetic partial orders of reactions and elementary chemistry, a wide variety of mechanisms were explored, and different rate laws were derived. The best fit between the measured and calculated rates for the SCR of NO by NH₃ was obtained with a rate law derived from a redox Mars and van Krevelen mechanism. The catalytic cycle is described by a sequence of three reactions: (i) Cu^I is oxidized by O₂ to “Cu^II-oxo”, (ii) “Cu^II-oxo” reacts with NO to yield “Cu^II-N_xO_y”, and (iii) finally “Cu^II-N_xO_y” is reduced by NH₃ to give N₂, H₂O, and the regeneration of Cu^I (closing of the catalytic cycle). The rate constants of the three steps have been determined at 458, 483, and 513 K. It is shown that Cu^I or “Cu^II-oxo” species constitute the rate-determining active center.     

A comparison study on non-thermal plasma-assisted catalytic reduction of NO by C3H6 at low temperatures between Ag/USY and Ag/Al2O3 catalysts

A comparison study was carried out on non-thermal plasma (NTP)-assisted selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO_x by propene over Ag/USY and Ag/Al₂O₃ catalysts. Ag/USY was almost inactive in thermal SCR while it showed obvious activities in NTP-assisted SCR at 100 °C–200 °C. Although the NO_x conversion over Ag/Al₂O₃ was also enhanced at 300 °C–400 °C by the assistance of NTP, it was ineffective below 250 °C. The intermediates over Ag/USY and Ag/Al₂O₃ were investigated using in situ DRIFTS method. It was found that key intermediates in HC-SCR, such as NCO, CN, oxygenates and some N-containing organic species were enriched after the assistance of NTP. The differences in the behaviors of above intermediates were not found between these two kinds of catalysts. However, some evidences suggested that different properties of the absorbed NO_x species resulted in the distinction of SCR reactions over Ag/USY and Ag/Al₂O₃. TPD profiles of Ag/Al₂O₃ showed that nitrates formed over the catalyst were quite stable at low temperatures, which might occupy the active sites and were unfavorable to SCR reactions. The nitrates over Ag/USY were unstable, among which the unidentate nitrate species is probably contributed to the SCR reactions at low temperatures.     

Selective catalytic reduction of NO x over Ag/Al2O3 using various bio-diesels as reducing agents

The effect of bio-diesel compounds (vegetable methyl and ethyl laurate and hexadecane) as reducing agents on the selective catalytic reduction of NO _x over a 2 wt.% Ag/Al₂O₃ was investigated. These components were found to have a two-fold effect on the SCR over Ag/Al₂O₃. First, the reduction activity below 400 °C was higher with bio-diesel than with n-octane, which is a representative compound for fossil fuels. This effect is attributed to the presence of the ester group in these molecules. However, the conversion above 400 °C decreased sharply and was considerable lower than with n-octane. The most interesting observation was found when the reduction efficiency of bio-diesel components was tested in the presence of hydrogen. The well known low temperature boosting effect of hydrogen was visible not only at lower temperatures, but also above 400 °C. Mechanistically the observation is extremely interesting and indicates that hydrogen effect cannot directly be connected to reduction of surface nitrates, which can be operative only at low temperature domain.     

Searching for the active sites of Co-H-MFI catalyst for the selective catalytic reduction of NO by methane: A FT-IR in situ and operando study

A Co-H-MFI sample has been studied through FT-IR spectroscopy of in situ adsorption and co-adsorption of probe molecules (o-toluonitrile, CO, NO) and has been tested in the CH₄-SCR process under IR operando conditions. The o-toluonitrile (oTN) adsorption and the oTN and NO co-adsorption, show that both Co²⁺ and Co³⁺ species are present on the catalyst surface. Co³⁺ species are located inside the zeolitic channels while Co²⁺ ions are distributed both at the external and at the internal surfaces. The operando study show the activity of Co³⁺ species in the reaction. The existence of three parallel reactions, CH₄-SCR, CH₄ total oxidation and NO to NO₂ oxidation, has been confirmed. Isocyanate species and nitrate-like species appear to be intermediates of CH₄-SCR and NO oxidation, respectively. A mechanism for CH₄-SCR has been proposed. Co²⁺ substitutional sites, very evident and predominant in the catalyst, which are very hardly reducible, seem not to play a key role in the SCR process.     

Nitrous oxide formation in low temperature selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides with V2O5/TiO2 catalysts

Nitric oxide and nitric dioxide compounds (NO_x) present in stack gases from nitric acid plants are usually eliminated by selective catalytic reduction (SCR) with ammonia. In this process, small quantities of nitrous oxide (N₂O) are produced. This undesirable molecule has a high greenhouse gas potential and a long lifetime in the atmosphere, where it can contribute to stratospheric ozone depletion. The influence of catalyst composition and some operating variables were evaluated in terms of N₂O formation, using V₂O₅/TiO₂ catalysts. High vanadia catalyst loading, nitric oxide inlet concentration and reaction temperature increase the generation of this undesirable compound. The results suggest that adsorbed ammonia not only reacts with NO via SCR, but also with small quantities of oxygen activated by the presence of NO. The mechanism proposed for N₂O generation at low temperature is based on the formation of surface V–ON species which may be produced by the partial oxidation of dissociatively adsorbed ammonia species with NO + O₂ (eventually NO₂). When these active sites are in close proximity they can interact to form an N₂O molecule. This mechanism seems to be affected by changes in the active site density produced by increasing the catalyst vanadia loading.