Fluidized bed plasma for pre-treatment of Co-ferrierite catalysts: An approach to NO x abatement

Abstract

Replacement of calcination procedures used during catalyst preparation, by a plasma treatment, was studied over a Co-ferrierite (Co-FER) catalyst. The catalyst was tested in the NO x selective catalytic reduction reaction. A combination of UV–Vis spectroscopy and TG analysis revealed the presence of ammonium ions on the untreated and plasma Co-FER samples but not on the calcined one. Therefore, it can be concluded that the plasma treatment was not able to replace the thermal calcination step. The evaluation of catalyst behaviour was performed both under temperature programmed surface reaction (TPSR) and under steady-state conditions at different temperatures. NO oxidation tests showed that, during TPSR runs, calcined catalyst produces more NO 2 than plasma catalyst. NO x consumption during TPSR of plasma catalyst confirms that precursors used on the ion-exchange procedure are still present on the catalyst even after the plasma treatment, reacting with NO to produce R-NO x , N 2O and N 2. Concerning deNO x tests using ethanol as reducing agent, TPSR tests showed higher NO x conversions over untreated and plasma catalysts due to the presence of ammonium and acetate precursors on these catalysts. Untreated, plasma and calcined catalysts present the same NO x and CO x conversions in isothermal tests.