Total oxidation of toluene at low temperatures in air using sono-impregnated Mn/Cu bimetal over activated clinoptilolite as a nanocatalyst: Designing the oxidation reaction rate with the optimization of the fixed bed reactor CFD model

Abstract

A series of manganese-copper oxides on clinoptilolite with various impregnation sequences were synthesized using ultrasonic irradiation. Their properties were characterized by XRD, BET, FTIR, FESEM, and EDX techniques. The XRD patterns confirmed the formation of Mn2O3/MnO and CuO as the crystalline phase on clinoptilolite. FESEM images confirmed that manganese and copper dispersed on support in nano-range size. EDX results indicated uniform dispersion of the elements. FTIR patterns demonstrated that surface groups of nanocatalysts agree with the patterns of metals and support applied in nanocatalysts synthesis. Catalysts were investigated in the oxidation of toluene from the polluted air. Results showed that bimetallic nanocatalysts are more active than single metal oxide nanocatalysts) Mn2O3/MnO/CuO(causing the synergism effect of active phases. The highest catalytic activity was observed on the Mn/Cu/CLT nanocatalyst in which excess manganese oxide as active sites existed on the support and led to a decreased complete oxidation temperature of toluene. The result of toluene oxidation from the polluted air demonstrated that the prepared nanocatalyst was very active and stable. Also, the Mars–Van Krevelen kinetic model and the calculated kinetic parameters of this model were used to develop and express the toluene catalytic oxidation reaction rate on newly synthesized catalysts using the combination of CFD method with an intelligent genetic optimization algorithm. All results obtained using this method have an RMSE less than 0.1. Also, the activation energy based on the Arrhenius law for the toluene oxidation reaction using the Mn/Cu/CLT optimal nanocatalyst was calculated by this method equal to 98480 J/mol with RMSE 0.0248.