Oxidation catalysis in environmental applications: nitric oxide and carbon monoxide oxidation for the reduction of combustion emissions and purification of hydrogen streams

The environmental applications of oxidation catalysis were examined as part of a two-stage strategy for the reduction of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and also for the removal of carbon monoxide from hydrogen streams. Cobalt-based catalysts were examined. Reduction of NOx, Co/TiO2 and Co/ZrO2 were studied for the oxidation of NO to NO2 in excess oxygen. NO oxidation was studied as the first step in a two-step catalytic scheme where NO is oxidized to NO2 and, in turn, NO2 is reduced with CH4 to N2 under lean conditions. Catalysts were prepared by sol-gel and incipient-wetness impregnation techniques. It was found that increasing the calcination temperature had an adverse effect on the activity of the IWI catalysts. Catalyst characterization showed higher activity for NO oxidation on Co/ZrO2 than on Co/TiO2 which was observed to correlate with the formation of the Co3O4 phase. For the preferential oxidation of CO, cobalt on several metal oxide supports were investigated and showed the highest activity on Co/ZrO2. A variety of reaction experiments were performed to examine the effects of reactant concentrations, residence time, and temperature on the CO conversion and O2 selectivity to CO2.