NO decomposition and reduction by CH4 over Sr/La2O3

Abstract

Both NO decomposition and NO reduction by CH4 over 4%Sr/La2O3 in the absence and presence of O2 were examined between 773 and 973 K, and N2O decomposition was also studied. The presence of CH4 greatly increased the conversion of NO to N2 and this activity was further enhanced by co-fed O2. For example, at 773 K and 15 Torr NO the specific activities of NO decomposition, reduction by CH4 in the absence of O2, and reduction with 1% O2 in the feed were 8.3·10−4, 4.6·10−3, and 1.3·10−2 μmol N2/s m2, respectively. This oxygen-enhanced activity for NO reduction is attributed to the formation of methyl (and/or methylene) species on the oxide surface. NO decomposition on this catalyst occurred with an activation energy of 28 kcal/mol and the reaction order at 923 K with respect to NO was 1.1. The rate of N2 formation by decomposition was inhibited by O2 in the feed even though the reaction order in NO remained the same. The rate of NO reduction by CH4 continuously increased with temperature to 973 K with no bend-over in either the absence or the presence of O2 with equal activation energies of 26 kcal/mol. The addition of O2 increased the reaction order in CH4 at 923 K from 0.19 to 0.87, while it decreased the reaction order in NO from 0.73 to 0.55. The reaction order in O2 was 0.26 up to 0.5% O2 during which time the CH4 concentration was not decreased significantly. N2O decomposition occurs rapidly on this catalyst with a specific activity of 1.6·10−4 μmol N2/s m2 at 623 K and 1220 ppm N2O and an activation energy of 24 kcal/mol. The addition of CH4 inhibits this decomposition reaction. Finally, the use of either CO or H2 as the reductant (no O2) produced specific activities at 773 K that were almost 5 times greater than that with CH4 and gave activation energies of 21–26 kcal/mol, thus demonstrating the potential of using CO/H2 to reduce NO to N2 over these REO catalysts.