Development of efficient ceria-zirconia based catalysts for the decomposition of nitrous oxide from nitric acid plants

摘要

Introduction There is a growing interest to minimize the emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) as side-product from nitric acid plants [1] because of a much higher global warming power than CO2. Different strategies have already been implemented at industrial scale but they are still suffering from significant drawbacks essentially associated to the poor selectivity and sometimes short lifetimes in particular when the catalyst process is inserted downstream the ammonia burner. In those critical conditions with high residual temperatures ～900 ℃, significant surface and bulk reconstructions take place and then lead to drastic loss of specific surface area and related catalytic performances in the decomposition of N2O to N2. An additional aspect has to be taken into account associated with the catalyst selectivity because the decomposition of NO must be avoided to preserve the cost efficiency of those typical industrial plants.