Experimental Investigation into the Denitrification Performance of a CuO/AC Catalyst Used for NO Reduction with Ammonia

Denitrification (De-NO_x) agents using activated carbon (AC) as the support have a large specific surface area, good pore structure, low reaction temperature and low price, amongst others. In this work, CuO/AC catalysts with coconut AC supported copper were prepared. De-NO_x experiments were conducted in a fixed-bed reactor using a simulated flue gas stream to investigate the effects of calcination temperature and Cu loading capacity in catalyst preparation, and operating parameters such as reaction temperature and gas composition on De-NO_x performance. Optimal settings for the selective catalytic reduction of NO with NH₃ were found to be a calcination temperature of approximately 250°C and 5-7.5 wt% Cu loading in catalyst preparation, and about 200-250°C reaction temperature as well as a moderate O₂ concentration in the flue gas.