De-NOx characteristics of a combined system of LNT and SCR catalysts according to hydrothermal aging and sulfur poisoning

Aftertreatment Technologies for Diesel Engines: An Overview of the Combined Systems

The abatement of the pollutants deriving from diesel engines in the vehicle sector still represents an interesting scientific and technological challenge due to increasingly limiting regulations. Meeting the stringent limits of NOx and soot emissions requires a catalytic system with great complexity, size of units, and number of units, as well as increased fuel consumption. Thus, an after-treatment device for a diesel vehicle requires the use of an integrated catalyst technology for a reduction in the individual emissions of exhaust gas. The representative technologies devoted to the reduction of NOx under lean-burn operation conditions are selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and the lean NOx trap (LNT), while soot removal is mainly performed by filters (DPF). These devices are normally used in sequence, or a combination of them has been proposed to overcome the drawbacks of the individual devices. This review summarizes the current state of NOx and soot abatement strategies. The main focus of this review is on combined technologies for NOx removal (i.e., LNT–SCR) and for the simultaneous removal of NOx and soot, like SCR-on-Filter (SCRoF), in series LNT/DPF and SCR/DPF, and LNT/DPF and SCR/DPF hybrid systems.

Perovskite-Based Catalysts as Efficient, Durable, and Economical NOx Storage and Reduction Systems

Diesel engines operate under net oxidizing environment favoring lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions than stoichiometric gasoline engines. However, NOx reduction and soot removal is still a technological challenge under such oxygen-rich conditions. Currently, NOx storage and reduction (NSR), also known as lean NOx trap (LNT), selective catalytic reduction (SCR), and hybrid NSR–SCR technologies are considered the most efficient control after treatment systems to remove NOx emission in diesel engines. However, NSR formulation requires high platinum group metals (PGMs) loads to achieve high NOx removal efficiency. This requisite increases the cost and reduces the hydrothermal stability of the catalyst. Recently, perovskites-type oxides (ABO3) have gained special attention as an efficient, economical, and thermally more stable alternative to PGM-based formulations in heterogeneous catalysis. Herein, this paper overviews the potential of perovskite-based formulations to reduce NOx from diesel engine exhaust gases throughout single-NSR and combined NSR–SCR technologies. In detail, the effect of the synthesis method and chemical composition over NO-to-NO2 conversion, NOx storage capacity, and NOx reduction efficiency is addressed. Furthermore, the NOx removal efficiency of optimal developed formulations is compared with respect to the current NSR model catalyst (1–1.5 wt % Pt–10–15 wt % BaO/Al2O3) in the absence and presence of SO2 and H2O in the feed stream, as occurs in the real automotive application. Main conclusions are finally summarized and future challenges highlighted.

Inhibitory effect of SO2 on side reactions of NH3-SCR over olivine

The inhibitory effect of SO₂ on side reactions of NH₃-SCR over olivine was thoroughly investigated.