Selective catalytic reduction of N2O in industrial emissions containing O2, H2O and SO2:: behavior of Fe/ZSM-5 catalysts

The catalytic behavior in N2O reduction by propane in the presence of O-2, H2O and SO2 of Fe/ZSM-5 catalysts prepared by ion exchange and chemical vapour deposition (CVD) is reported. The catalyst prepared by CVD shows a lower dependence of the rate of selective N2O reduction on the decrease in C3H8 to N2O ratio in the feed and a higher resistance to deactivation by SO2 in accelerated durability tests with high SO2 concentration (500 ppm). This catalyst shows stable catalytic behavior in the presence of SO2 for more than 600 h of time-on-stream. Characterization of the catalysts by UV-VIS-NIR diffuse reflectance indicates that the poor performances of the sample prepared by ion exchange could be related to the presence of highly clustered Fe3+ species, in this catalyst. On the other hand, Fe2O3 particles are not present in the sample prepared by CVD while mainly isolated Fe3+ ions and iron-oxide nanoclusters are present. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.