The removal of NO x from a lean exhaust gas using storage and reduction on H 3PW 12O 40·6H 2O

Abstract

NO x sorption and reduction capacities of 12-tungstophosphoric acid hexahydrate (H 3PW 12O 40·6H 2O, HPW) were measured under representative alternating conditions of lean and rich exhaust-type gas mixture. Under lean conditions, the sorption of NO x is large and is equivalent to 37 mg of NO x /g HPW. Although a part of these NO x remains unreduced, HPW is able to reduce some of the NO x to produce N 2 by a reaction between the sorbed NO 2 and hydrocarbon (HC), but this process is slow. The addition of 1% Pt affects strongly the chemical behaviour occurring during the course of a rich operation. The NO desorption observed at the beginning of the rich phase is strongly accelerated. The direct correlation between NO 2 consumption and CO 2 production shows that the principal pathway is the reaction CO+NO 2→CO 2+NO. In a mixture of reducing gas (CO, HC, H 2), the competition is strongly in favour of CO though in its absence the reaction observed was the hydrogenation of propene to propane.