Catalytic oxidation of NO to NO2 on activated carbon

Catalytic oxidation of NO to NO2 over activated carbons PAN-ACF, pitch-ACF and coconut-AC at room temperature (30 degreesC) were studied to develop a method based on oxidative removal of NO from flue gases. For a dry gas, under the conditions of a gas space flow rate 1500 h(-1) in the presence of oxygen of 2-20% in volume concentration, the activated coconut carbon with a surface area 1200 m(2)/g converted about 81-94% of NO with increasing oxygen concentration, the pitch based activated carbon fiber with a surface area 1000 m(2)/g about 44-75%, and the polyacrylonitriale-based activated carbon fiber with a surface area 1810 m(2)/g about 25-68%. The order of activity of the activated carbons was PAN-ACF < pitch-ACF < coconut-AC. However, NO conversion markedly decreased with the increases in temperature and humidity. For the dry gas, the apparent reaction rate was expressed by an equation: R = k(c)P(NO)P(O2)(beta) (F/W), where beta is 0.042, 0.16, 0.31 for the coconut-AC, the pitch-ACF and the PAN-ACF respectively, and k(c) is 0.94 at 30 degreesC. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.