Enhancement strategies for SCR activity, H2O & SO2 resistances and N2 selectivity on upgraded HMoP/Co/MnCeOx/NF catalysts

Abstract MnCeOx/NF, Co/MnCeOx/NF and HMoP/Co/MnCeOx/NF catalysts were optimized step by step and used for the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NOx with NH3. The catalytic performance, water/sulfur resistances and N2 selectivity of the overall catalyst were significantly improved and maintained during above continuous optimization processes. Firstly, MnCeOx loaded 3D monolithic Ni-foam (MnCeOx/NF) catalysts were investigated using response surface methodology (RSM) method with central composite design (CCD). Regression equations and 3D response surface graphs showed that the model-predicted value was highly in line with experiment-actual result for the catalytic performances synchronously corresponding to load and calcination temperature, calcination and reaction temperature, which obtained 95.7% NOx conversion with 76.7% N2-selectivity at 179.5 °C over the optimal 16.5%MnCeOx/NF catalyst calcinated at 432 °C. Calcination temperature has a great influence on SCR activity that a suitable one increased the surface Mn4+, Ce3+ and chemical adsorption oxygen, while a high one visibly decreased NOx conversion due to the rapid weakened oxygen absorption and lattice oxygen content. The coexistence of typical Eley–Rideal and Fast-SCR reaction mechanisms were found over MnCeOx/NF, while the reaction rate of intermediates changed significantly but also reduced N2-selectivity due to the increased rate of side reactions as reaction temperature increasing. Secondly, among Co-, Ni- or Fe-modified catalysts, the optimized Co/MnCeOx/NF obtain an acceptable H2O and SO2 resistance with stable NOx conversion above 72% within 10 h at 175 °C. Furthermore, phosphomolybdic acid modified Co/MnCeOx/NF catalyst maintained more than 80% N2-selectivity at 275 °C along with almost 100% NOx conversion within 175 °C–275 °C. These advantages synergistically accelerate the overall SCR performances of activity, selectivity and resistance of the optimized HMoP/Co/MnCeOx/NF catalyst.