Hydrocarbon and soot oxidation over cerium and iron doped vanadium SCR catalysts

V$_{2}$O$_{5}$−WO$_{3}$/TiO$_{2}$ (VWTi) catalysts are widely employed for selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO$_{x}$. However, due to their poor thermal stability the application in diesel particulate filters (DPFs), i. e. 2‐way SCRonDPF is limited. In this study, the potential of Ce‐ and Fe‐doped VWTi systems for hydrocarbon and soot oxidation in addition to the SCR activity was systematically investigated for fresh and thermally aged samples. The formation of metal vanadates upon thermal aging, as identified by X‐ray diffraction, Raman and X‐ray adsorption spectroscopy, prevents drastic sintering of the support and maintains a high NO$_{x}$−SCR and hydrocarbon oxidation activity. Additionally, the doped VWTi catalysts show a slight increase of the CO$_{2}$ selectivity during hydrocarbon oxidation, which represents an important aspect for such multifunctional catalysts. Despite of the advantages, the formation of metal vanadates hinders the mobility of vanadium species and decreases the soot oxidation ability of the doped catalysts. Interestingly, a promising soot oxidation activity was identified for the VWTi−Fe sample after aging at 650 °C, which resulted in decomposition of the iron vanadate and generation of highly dispersed and mobile V$_{2}$O$_{5}$

A review on exhaust gas after-treatment of lean-burn natural gas engines – From fundamentals to application

Modern lean-operated internal combustion engines running on natural gas, biogas or methane produced from wind or solar energy are highly fuel-efficient and can greatly contribute to securing energy supply, e.g. by mitigating fluctuations in the power grid. Although only comparably low emission levels form during combustion, a highly optimized emission control system is required that converts pollutants over a wide range of operation conditions. In this context, this review article pinpoints the main challenges during methane and formaldehyde oxidation as well as selective catalytic reduction of nitric oxides. The impact of catalyst formulation and operation conditions on catalytic activity and selectivity as well as the combination of several technologies for emission abatement is critically discussed. Additionally, recent experimental and theory-based progress and developments are assessed, allowing coverage of all time and length scales relevant in emission control, i.e. ranging from mechanistic and fundamental insights including atomic-level phenomena to full-scale applications

Insights into the Structural Dynamics of Pt/CeO2_{2} Single-Site Catalysts during CO Oxidation

Despite their high atomic dispersion, single site catalysts with Pt supported on CeO$_{2}$ were found to have a low activity during oxidation reactions. In this study, we report the behavior of Pt/CeO$_{2}$ single site catalyst under more complex gas mixtures, including CO, C$_{3}$H$_{6}$ and CO/C$_{3}$H$_{6}$ oxidation in the absence or presence of water. Our systematic operando high-energy resolution-fluorescence-detected X-ray absorption near-edge structure (HERFD-XANES) spectroscopic study combined with multivariate curve resolution with alternating least squares (MCR-ALS) analysis identified five distinct states in the Pt single site structure during CO oxidation light-off. After desorption of oxygen and autoreduction of Pt$^{4+}$ to Pt$^{2+}$ due to the increase of temperature, CO adsorbs and reduces Pt$^{2+}$ to Pt$^{δ+}$ and assists its migration with final formation of Pt$_{x^Δ+}$ clusters. The derived structure–activity relationships indicate that partial reduction of Pt single sites is not sufficient to initiate the conversion of CO. The reaction proceeds only after the regrouping of several noble metal atoms in small clusters, as these entities are probably able to influence the mobility of the oxygen at the interface with ceria

INCAS BULLETIN, Volume 15, Issue 3/ 2023, pp. 31 – 46 (P) ISSN 2066-8201, (E) ISSN 2247-4528 Off-axis response and shear characterization of unidirectional ply-level hybrid carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer materials

Composite materials, among them Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP), have become a key material in structural applications for lightweight structures such as spacecraft and aircraft. CFRP can be found under various quality grades and their mechanical performances increase with their cost and quality grade. In order to limit the costs of the material without degrading technical performances, hybridization could be of interest. However, assessing the conservation of quality standards of hybridized CFRP is crucial. This paper investigates the off-axis mechanical response of ply-level hybrid carbon composites, with varying thickness and material quality. Two types of carbon fiber prepregs were combined in the same laminate using symmetric and asymmetric stacking sequences. Monotonic quasi-static off-axis tests were performed to evaluate the non-linear stress-strain behavior of the laminates, with Digital Image Correlation used to measure strain. The apparent elastic modulus and the in-plane shear modulus were evaluated from the tensile tests at three off-axis angles. The results indicate that the hybrid laminates exhibit higher failure stress levels compared to simple laminates, with an intermediate failure strain. Overall, this study provides insights into the off-axis mechanical behavior of ply-level hybrid carbon fiber composites, with potential applications in the design of composite structures

Methane Oxidation over PdO: Towards a Better Understanding of the Influence of the Support Material

The presence of water vapor during the oxidation of the strong greenhouse gas methane over PdO-based catalysts is known to result in severe inhibition and catalyst deactivation. In this context, our current study elucidates the role of the support material for different water concentrations in the reaction gas mixture. Compared to a reference PdO/Al2O3 catalyst, the catalytic activity can be significantly enhanced when using SnO2 and ZrO2 as support materials and remains stable during 24 h of operation at 823 K in the presence of 12 % H2O, whereas under identical conditions CH4 conversion drops by 68 % over PdO/Al2O3. The interplay between Pd species and catalyst support was systematically characterized by thermogravimetric analysis, temperature-programmed reduction experiments and TEM measurements. Finally, a kinetic scheme was derived based on the experimental data