Structured cobalt oxide catalyst for VOC combustion. Part I: Catalytic and engineering correlations

Structured reactors based on metallic carriers for catalysts of highly enhanced transport properties can be an interesting alternative to monolithic converters. In this study the carriers based on wire gauze have been shown to improve the efficiency of the VOC combustion simultaneously decreasing the converter length. A successful application of metallic microstructures needs proper methods of catalyst layering. This study focuses on non-equilibrium plasma (NEP) deposition technique which is referred to Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) film deposition and to wet impregnation. The cobalt oxide catalyst deposited on wire gauze and steel sheets were characterised by XPS and Raman microscopy and tested in n-hexane oxidation in tubular and gradientless (jet-stirred) reactors. The model cobalt catalysts showed sufficiently high activity in relation with Pt reference catalysts. The most important factor affecting the catalyst activity was the type of the carrier. The best performance was achieved for the catalysts deposited on wire gauzes.