PILLARED CLAYS AS SUPERIOR CATALYSTS FOR SELECTIVE CATALYTIC REDUCTION OF NITRIC OXIDE

Abstract

Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO{sub x} by hydrocarbons was investigated on Pt doped MCM-41 and copper ion and/or cerium ion-exchanged Al-MCM-41 in the presence of excess oxygen. It was found that Pt/MCM-41 provided the highest specific NO reduction rates as compared with other Pt doped catalysts reported in the literature, such as Pt/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} and Pt/ZSM-5. For different hydrocarbons, the catalytic activity decreased according to the sequence of C{sub 3}H{sub 6} {approx} C{sub 2}H{sub 4} >> C{sub 3}H{sub 8} > CH{sub 4}. This catalyst was also stable in the presence of H{sub 2}O and SO{sub 2}. Cu exchanged Al-MCM-41 and cerium promoted Cu-Al-MCM-41 (i.e., Ce-Cu-Al-MCM-41) were also found to be active in this reaction. Higher NO{sub x} conversions to N2 were obtained on the Ce-Cu-Al-MCM-41 as compared with Cu-Al-MCM-41. The activity of Ce-Cu-Al-MCM-41 was approximately the same as that of Cu-ZSM-5; but the former had a wider temperature window. TPR results indicated that only isolated Cu{sup 2+} and Cu{sup +} ions were detected in the Cu{sup 2+}-exchanged Al-MCM-41 samples, which may play an important role in the selective catalytic reduction of NO{sub x} to N{sub 2}. After some cerium ions were introduced into Cu-Al-MCM-41, Cu{sup 2+} in the molecular sieve became more easily reducible by H{sub 2}. This may be related to the increase of catalytic activity of NO{sub x} reduction by ethylene.