A novel laboratory bench for practical evaluation of catalysts useful for simultaneous conversion of NOx and soot in diesel exhaust

This study deals with the development of a laboratory bench for the practical evaluation of catalysts that are useful for the direct conversion of NOx and soot in the exhaust of diesel engines. The employed model exhaust is generated by using a diffusion burner with additionally dosing some gaseous components to the burner gas to obtain a realistic feed composition. The produced soot is extensively characterized by employing thermogravimetry, transmission electron microscopy, N2 physisorption and temperature programmed techniques. The results of the different characterization methods show that the present soot is suitable for the intended catalytic investigations. The simultaneous conversion of NOx and soot is examined like in practice, i.e. the soot is separated from the tail gas by a diesel particulate filter (DPF) that is coated with the catalyst. The deposited soot is then catalytically converted by NOx and O2 to form N2 and CO2. The conversions of NOx and soot are measured by exclusively applying gas analysers, whereby a special experimental procedure is developed to determine the soot removal. Hence, additional soot related analytics are not required. To show the suitability of the constructed bench a Pt/Fe2O3/β-zeolite sample is taken as test catalyst that is reported to be very active in NOx/soot reaction. The measurements performed with and without catalyst clearly show the effect of the used sample in simultaneous NOx/soot conversion. We therefore consider the constructed laboratory bench to be a useful tool for testing and ranking catalytic materials.