Selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxide by hydrocarbons over mordenite-type zeolite catalysts

Abstract

The reduction of NO by hydrocarbons such as C 2H 4, C 2H 6, C 3H 6, and C 3H 8 has been investigated over mordenite-type zeolite catalysts including HM, CuHM, NZA (natural zeolite), and CuNZA prepared by an ion-exchange method in a continuous flow fixed-bed reactor. NO conversion over CuNZA catalyst reaches about 94% with 2000 ppm of C 3H 6 at 500°C. As reductants, alkenes seem to exhibit a higher performance for NO conversion than alkanes regardless of the catalysts. No deterioration of the catalytic activity due to carbonaceous deposits for CuNZA was observed above 400°C even after 30 h of on-stream time, but SO 2 in the feed gas stream causes a severe poisoning of the CuNZA catalyst. The effect of H 2O on NO conversion was significant regardless of the catalysts and the reductants employed in this study. However, CuNZA catalyst shows a unique water tolerance with C 3H 6. The reaction path of NO to N 2 is the most important factor for high performance of this catalytic system. NO is directly reduced by a reaction intermediate, C n′ H m′ (O) formed from hydrocarbon and O 2, N 2O is another reaction intermediate which can be easily removed by C n′ H m′ (O).