Synergistic Elimination of NO_<i>x</i> and Chloroaromatics on a Commercial V₂O₅–WO₃/TiO₂ Catalyst: Byproduct Analyses and the SO₂ Effect

Abstract

The synergistic control of multipollutants is the frontier of environmental catalysis. This research is in the infancy stage, and many uncertainties still remain. Herein, we investigated the reaction characteristics of synergistic elimination of NO_<i>x</i> and chloroaromatics on a commercial V₂O₅-WO₃/TiO₂ catalyst. The reaction byproducts were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed, and their origins were clarified. In particular, the origins of polychlorinated dibenzo-<i>p</i>-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) from the synergistic reaction with or without SO₂ were first explored; this is crucial for assessing the environmental risk by applying such a synergistic system. Experimental results indicate that during the synergistic reaction, the V₂O₅-WO₃/TiO₂ catalyst was deactivated at 200 and 250 °C, whereas the 300 °C was sufficient to durably convert the NO and chlorobenzene at the turnover frequency (TOF) of 7.23 × 10^-4 and 1.32 × 10^-4 s^-1, respectively. A range of aromatics, alkenes, and alkanes, particularly their chlorinated congeners, were observed in the off-gases and on the catalyst surface, where those of 3-chlorobenzonitrile, 4-chloro-2-nitrophenol, and inorganic CS₂ were first discovered. In the time-on-stream test at 250 °C, the PCDD/Fs collected from the off-gases was measured at 0.0514 ng I-TEQ Nm^-3, but the most toxic dioxins congener, 2,3,7,8-TCDD, was not observed. The alkalinity of selective catalytic reduction reaction likely facilitated the chlorophenol formation, which eventually promoted PCDD/F generation. The SO₂ was found to benefit polychlorinated byproduct generation, but the addition of which distinctly inhibited PCDD/F formation.