Nitrogen oxides exhaust emissions

As is well-known, sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides exhausted into air, which can result in acid rain, have caused serious deterioration of the environment. The potential need for regulation of SO and NO gases in combustion emissions is, nowadays, becoming an important research area. 

Since 1981, more complex emission control systems have been used in the U.S. in order to satisfy the stricter 1 g/mile emission requirement for nitrogen oxides. Exhaust gas recirculation alone was no longer sufficient to control nitrogen oxides. Meeting this new nitrogen oxide emission standard together with the hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide standard required a new catalyst and a totally new approach to emission control. 

The three-way catalytic converter has to respond to a wide range of exhaust conditions because exhaust emissions vary as a function of the driving mode. Typical engine out exhaust emissions for a passenger car are in the range O.OH-O.H vol hydrocarbons, 0.03-2.5 vol carbon monoxide, and 0.0-0.2 vol nitrogen oxides. Exhaust gas temperatures at the inlet to the catalytic converter are typically 350-500 C for a warmed up catalytic converter. At... 

Photochemical smog is most prevalent in cities where people are dependent on cars for transportation. On a typical day in Los Angeles, for example, nitrogen oxide (NO) emissions from car exhausts increase as traffic increases on the roads. The nitrogen oxide is formed when N2 and O2 react at high temperatures in car and truck engines. 

However, such a level can still be considered too high for vehicles having 3-way catalytic converters. In fact, results observed in the United States (Benson et al., 1991) and given in Figure 5.20 show that exhaust pollutant emissions, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides, increase from 10 to 15% when the sulfur level passes from 50 ppm to about 450 ppm. This is explained by an inhibiting action of sulfur on the catalyst though... 

These are carbon monoxide, CO, unburned hydrocarbons (HC), and the nitrogen oxides, NO. In the U.S.A., a program called Auto/Oil (Burns et al., 1992), conducted by automotive manufacturers and petroleum companies, examined the effect of overall parameters of fuel composition on evaporative emissions and in the exhaust gases. The variables examined were the aromatics content between 20 and 45%, the olefins content between 5 and 20%, the MTBE content between 0 and 15% and finally the distillation end point between 138 and 182°C (more exactly, the 95% distilled point). 

In the outdoor environment, the high concentrations of sulfur and nitrogen oxides from automotive and industrial emissions result in a corrosion having both soluble and insoluble corrosion products and no pacification. The results are clearly visible on outdoor bronze sculpture (see Airpollution Exhaust CONTROL, automotive Exhaust conthol, industrial). 

PGM catalyst technology can also be appHed to the control of emissions from stationary internal combustion engines and gas turbines. Catalysts have been designed to treat carbon monoxide, unbumed hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides in the exhaust, which arise as a result of incomplete combustion. To reduce or prevent the formation of NO in the first place, catalytic combustion technology based on platinum or palladium has been developed, which is particularly suitable for appHcation in gas turbines. Environmental legislation enacted in many parts of the world has promoted, and is expected to continue to promote, the use of PGMs in these appHcations. 

Exhaust emissions of CO, unbumed hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides reflect combustion conditions rather than fuel properties. The only fuel component that degrades exhaust is sulfur the SO2 concentrations ia emissions are directly proportional to the content of bound sulfur ia the fuel. Sulfur concentrations ia fuel are determined by cmde type and desulfurization processes. Specifications for aircraft fuels impose limits of 3000 —4000 ppm total sulfur but the average is half of these values. Sulfur content ia heavier fuels is determined by legal limits on stack emissions. 

Automotive Catalytic Converter Catalysts. California environmental legislation in the early 1960s stimulated the development of automobile engines with reduced emissions by the mid-1960s, led to enactment of the Federal Clean Air Act of 1970, and resulted in a new industry, the design and manufacture of the automotive catalytic converter (50). Between 1974 and 1989, exhaust hydrocarbons were reduced by 87% and nitrogen oxides by 24%. 

In principle, the catalytic converter is a fixed-bed reactor operating at 500—620°C to which is fed 200—3500 Hters per minute of auto engine exhaust containing relatively low concentrations of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides that must be reduced significantly. Because the auto emission catalyst must operate in an environment with profound diffusion or mass-transfer limitations (51), it is apparent that only a small fraction of the catalyst s surface area can be used and that a system with the highest possible surface area is required. 

Nitrogen Oxides. From the combustion of fuels containing only C, H, and O, the usual ak pollutants or emissions of interest are carbon monoxide, unbumed hydrocarbons, and oxides of nitrogen (NO ). The interaction of the last two in the atmosphere produces photochemical smog. NO, the sum of NO and NO2, is formed almost entkely as NO in the products of flames typically 5 or 10% of it is subsequently converted to NO2 at low temperatures. Occasionally, conditions in a combustion system may lead to a much larger fraction of NO2 and the undeskable visibiUty thereof, ie, a very large exhaust plume. 

A samphng probe is placed at any location in the stack, and a grab sample is collected in an evacuated flask. This flask contains a solution of siilfiiric acid and hydrogen peroxide, which reacts with the NO. The volume and moisture content of the exhaust-gas stream must be determined for calculation of the total mass-emission rate. The sample is sent to a laboratoiy, where the concentration of nitrogen oxides, except nitrons oxide, is determined colorimetrically. 

Reactions involving the catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides are of major environmental importance for the removal of toxic emissions from both stationary and automotive sources. As shown in this section electrochemical promotion can affect dramatically the performance of Rh, Pd and Pt catalysts (commonly used as exhaust catalysts) interfaced with YSZ, an O2 ion conductor. The main feature is strong electrophilic behaviour, i.e. enhanced rate and N2 selectivity behaviour with decreasing Uwr and , due to enhanced NO dissociation. 

Catalytic converters convert much of the NO and NO2 from exhaust gases into N2 and O2 before they are released into the atmosphere. These have helped alleviate pollution from nitrogen oxides at only a small additional cost. We could reduce pollution emissions even ftirther, but consumers and manufacturers are reluctant to pay the higher costs required to develop and produce cleaner ftiels and engines. 

Examples of multi-disciplinary innovation can also be found in the field of environmental catalysis such as a newly developed catalyst system for exhaust emission control in lean burn automobiles. Japanese workers [17] have successfully merged the disciplines of catalysis, adsorption and process control to develop a so-called NOx-Storage-Reduction (NSR) lean burn emission control system. This NSR catalyst employs barium oxide as an adsorbent which stores NOx as a nitrate under lean burn conditions. The adsorbent is regenerated in a very short fuel rich cycle during which the released NOx is reduced to nitrogen over a conventional three-way catalyst. A process control system ensures for the correct cycle times and minimizes the effect on motor performance. 

Compliance with the EuroIII standards (2000) forced the fitting of Diesel oxidation catalysts (DOC) in the exhaust line [for the after-treatment of unburnt hydrocarbons (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO)]. Additionally, the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) was adapted to reduce the engine-out emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx). 

NO control, diesel engine, 10 61. See also Nitrogen oxide (NO ) exhaust control NO emissions, 10 32, 35, 36, 46, 137 NO production, 13 855, 856-857 NO reduction catalysts, 12 430 NO reduction technology, post regenerator, 11 719-720 NOXSO process, 22 779 Nozzle disk centrifuge... 

In the leather and tanning industry dimethylamine sulphate is used in depilation processes. Under alkaline conditions, dimethylamine is released into the atmosphere and it reacts with nitrogen oxides produced from exhaust emissions, to give... 

---