Performance of Transition Metal Ions Exchanged Zeolite 13X in Greenhouse Gas Reduction

This study investigated the performance of multi-transition metal (Cu, Cr, Ni and Co) ions exchanged zeolite 13X catalysts on methane emission abatement, especially at methane level of the exhaust from natural gas fueled vehicles. Catalytic activity of methane combustion using multi-ions exchanged catalyst was studied under different parameters: mole % of metal loading, inlet velocity and inlet methane concentration at atmospheric pressure and 500 °C. Performance of the catalysts was investigated and explained in terms of the apparent activation energy, number of active sites and BET surface area of the catalyst. This study showed that the multi-ions exchanged catalyst outperformed the single-ions exchanged and the acidified 13X catalysts. Lengthening the residence time could also lead to higher methane conversion %. Catalytic activity of the catalysts was influenced by the mole % of metal loading which played important roles in affecting the apparent activation energy of methane combustion, active sites and also the BET surface area of the catalyst. Increasing mole % of metal loading in the catalyst decreased the apparent activation energy for methane combustion and also the BET surface area of the catalyst. In view of these, there existed an optimized mole % of metal loading where the highest catalytic activity was observed.