Main Article Content
Abstract
The abatement of nitrogen oxide (NOX) species, such as NO, NO2, and N2O from the exhaust gases of automotive as well as stationary sources is a very important aspect of emission control in terms of having a cleaner environment. The work presented in this paper aims at detecting and understanding some critical behaviour aspects of zeolite containing catalysts. An already available mathematical model for precious metal catalysts was used as a starting point. A specially designed set of experiments provided the information needed to improve some special modelling features. New submodels were introduced to account for hydrocarbon and H2O adsorption, as well as diffusion limitations in the zeolite. The effect of flow maldistributions during real world operation is investigated experimentally and numerically. Although a number of issues (especially regarding the de-NOx mechanisms) are not fully resolved, significant progress was achieved as regards the understanding and prediction of zeolite catalyst operation.