NH3-SCR over Cu/SAPO-34 catalysts with various acid contents and low Cu loading

Four Cu/SAPO-34 catalysts are used to research the effect of their acid content on their NH3-SCR activity, by changing the proportion of Si in the catalyst. Though the catalysts exhibit similar Cu loading performed by an ion-exchange method, they lead to different NO conversions in the temperature range of 120–600 °C. The NH3-TPD results show that varying the proportion of Si can adjust the acid content of SAPO-34. In the low temperature range, kinetic tests prove that the various acid contents did not affect the apparent activation energy (Ea) of the Selective Catalytic Reduction by NH3 (NH3-SCR) over Cu/SAPO-34. But it is found that the acid densities are related to the NO conversion at low temperature. In the high temperature range, increasing the acid content of the Cu/SAPO-34 catalysts inhibits the observed NH3 conversions in the NH3 oxidation results. As NH3 oxidation and NH3-SCR are competing reactions and the former can decrease NO conversion, this inhibition is therefore beneficial to NH3-SCR. Finally, the influence of the acid content of the catalysts on the NH3 oxidation is also investigated by kinetic tests.