Getting insight into the oxidation of SO2 to SO3 over P modified VW/Ti catalyst: Effect and inhibition mechanism

Abstract

Commercial VW/Ti catalyst used in selective catalytic reduction (SCR) process is one of the major sources of SO3 in coal-fired boiler, and modification of VW/Ti catalyst by adding catalytic promoter has been demonstrated to be an effective way to inhibit SO3 generation. In this study, the effect of P addition on the activity of NOx conversion and SO2 oxidation over VW/Ti catalyst was investigated. The results showed that the P-modified VW/Ti catalyst not only enhanced the catalytic activity at low temperature, but also reduced the oxidation rate of SO2. The 1.5PVW/Ti catalyst exhibited the lowest SO2 oxidation rate at 360 °C and achieved about 30 % reduction in SO2 oxidation rate when compared to 0PVW/Ti catalyst, whereas the conversion of NOx was still above 95 %. The physicochemical properties of catalysts were comprehensively characterized with N2 adsorption, XRD, H2-TPR, NH3-TPD, XPS and DRIFTS. The results illustrated that the W-O-W structure was also the main reason for SO2 oxidation on P-modified VW/Ti catalyst, which oxidized SO2 to form intermediate products HSO4− and constantly replenished in the presence of O2. The oxidation of SO2 was weakened by the generation of VOPO4 on P-modified VW/Ti catalyst surface, which inhibited the formation of VOSO4 by reducing the adsorption of SO2 on the catalyst. In addition, the release of P-OH and W=O were promoted with the addition of P, which led to a significant increase in the intensity of the Brønsted and Lewis acid sites, resulting in the increase in the conversion of NOx at low temperatures.