Deactivation mechanism of activated carbon supported copper oxide SCR catalysts in C2H4 reductant

Abstract

Current state‐of‐the‐art NH3‐SCR technology based on vanadium catalysts suffers problems associated with NH3 slip and poisoning of the catalyst and blockage of heat recovery steam generators (HRSG). If environmentally‐friendly catalysts capable of efficient operation at lower temperatures could be developed that used a reductant other than NH3, the issues with current state‐of‐the‐art SCR could be significantly lessened. Hence, in this study, activated carbon (AC) supported copper oxide‐based catalysts for SCR while using C2H4 as a reductant was discussed. Reaction testing of catalysts demonstrated high initial NO conversion with steeply declining activity over 2 h of testing when C2H4 was used as the reductant; in comparison, with the same catalyst and NH3 as the reductant, stable, long‐term NO conversion was achieved, but at a lower rate than the initial reactivity with C2H4. As a consequence, catalyst characterization studies were performed to assess deactivation mechanisms when C2H4 was the reductant. These studies included x‐ray diffraction, BET surface area and porosity, temperature programmed reduction, scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and x‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy of both fresh and deactivated catalysts. The analytical results showed the surface area and porosity of the catalyst remained unchanged and the initially highly‐dispersed Cu species became agglomerated and more crystalline during reaction testing. Furthermore, carbon black was also detected on the catalyst surface after testing, presumably formed during the decomposition of C2H4. Both agglomeration of the active Cu species and blockage by carbon deposits would decrease the availability of active sites and lead to decreased catalytic activity.