Demonstration of a base metal Low-temperature Catalytic converter for deNOx (LowCat Demo)

在欧洲，糟糕的空气质量每年导致大约40万人额外死亡。2017年，39%的氮氧化物排放来自公路运输，另有45%来自燃烧或化学加工等行业。在超过欧盟空气质量法规规定的二氧化氮浓度的观测中，有86%是在路边监测站进行的，其中98%在城市或郊区。柴油动力车辆和机器是氮氧化物污染的主要来源之一。尽管根据首相的10点计划，纯汽油和柴油汽车将在2030年被禁止销售，但该政策只适用于轻型汽车。对于重型车辆和机器来说，在可预见的未来，柴油发动机仍将是主要的动力系统。柴油发动机的氮氧化物排放控制技术多种多样。SCR （Selective Catalytic Reduction，选择性催化还原）技术作为一种主要的脱氮技术，已经在高压运输车辆中应用了十多年。但SCR在低温（<200℃）下的NOx转化效率较差（小于50%）。此外，SCR催化剂的高成本也阻碍了其在中小发动机上的广泛应用。该项目开发了一种硅酸铁材料，最初打算作为金星大气中大气物质的类似物，我们已经证明它在催化选择性减少废气中NOx超过N2方面是有效的。该材料显示出在低温（包括环境温度）下催化还原NO2的卓越能力，因此我们将其称为LowCat。该项目的目的是扩大这种低成本新型催化剂的生产规模，改善和巩固其在低温NOx转化方面的优势，并在实际应用中展示其转化效率和成本效益。该项目的最终目标是改善城市空气质量，改善人类健康和福祉。

Poor air quality results in around 400,000 excess deaths per year in Europe. In 2017, 39 % of NOx emissions were from road transport, with a further 45 % from sectors which include combustion or chemical processing. 86 % of observations which exceed EU air quality legislation regarding ambient NO2 concentrations were made at roadside stations, with 98 % of these in urban or suburban areas. Diesel powered vehicles and machines are one of the major sources of NOx pollutions. Though the sales of pure petrol and diesel vehicles will be banned in 2030 according to the Prime Minister's ten point plan, the policy only applies to light duty vehicles. For heavy duty vehicles and machines, diesel engines will still be the main powertrains in the foreseeable future. There are various technologies for NOx emissions control from diesel engines. SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) as one of the major deNOx technologies has been used in HDVs for more than a decade. However, the NOx conversion efficiency of SCR at low temperature (<200 oC) is poor (less than 50%). In addition, the high cost of SCR catalyst has hindered its wide application in small to medium engines. This project has developed an iron silicate material, originally intended as an analogue for meteoric material in Venus' atmosphere, which we have shown to be effective in catalysing the selective reduction of exhaust NOx over N2. The material shows a remarkable ability to catalyse the reduction of NO2 at low (including ambient) temperatures, so we refer to it as LowCat. The aim of this project is to scale up production of this low-cost novel catalyst, improve and consolidate its advantages on low temperature NOx conversion and demonstrate its conversion efficiency and cost effectiveness in real world applications. The ultimate goal of the project is to contribute to better urban air quality and improve human health and well-being.