Catalytic Temperature Effects on Conversion Efficiency of PM2.5 and Gaseous Emissions from Rice Husk Combustion

Most studies on honeycomb catalysts have been conducted using simulation models and exhaust experiments from automobiles. Very few monolithic catalyst studies have been applied to the agricultural sector, especially the catalyst exhaust system for flue purification from the biomass industry. The importance of exhaust gas purification and particulate removal from biomass power plants has become critical for evaluating the performance and environmental sustainability of biomass combustion. This is one of the first studies to investigate the performance of honeycomb catalysts for the oxidation of flue (PM2.5), (CO), and (SO2) from a rice husk briquette combustion system. The experimental setup comprised a fixed-bed electric furnace, the catalyst, an aerosol sampler, and a flue gas analyzer. Rice husk (0.1 g/mL density) and rice husk briquettes (0.8 g/mL density), were burned at 600–1000 °C for 3 min. From the results, the catalyst CO conversion rate was 100% at the optimum heated temperatures of 427.4–490.3 °C. At these temperatures, the inhibition effect of the chemisorbed CO was significantly minimized, enhancing the adsorption of oxygen, which reacted with CO to form CO2. However, SO2 oxidation was lower than that of CO because platinum-based catalysts are generally more attracted to CO in the presence of oxygen. The emission of PM2.5 decreased from its uncatalyzed-value (1169.9 mg/m3 and 1572.2 mg/m3) to its catalyzed values (18.9 mg/m3 and 170.1 mg/m3). This is a significant result in ensuring cleaner production of energy from rice husk.