NOx emission
The emission of nitrogen oxides (NOx) associated with road transport is currently a subject of intense debate. In particular, limits on NOx emissions from diesel cars have been under discussion and new standards are requested to reduce emissions of NOx.
In cooperation with colleagues from Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Regensburg (Prof. R. Bierl and Prof. H.-P. Rabl) we have addressed some research directions related to the above problem.
In the PhD project of Thomas Rück highly sensitive devices for the quantitative determination of NO2 were developed. The sensing principle was based on photoacoustic spectroscopy which enabled the determination of NO2 concentrations down to the ppt (v/v) level. Careful consideration of potential interferences was necessary to ensure accurate determinations of NO2 traces in the gas phase. Another PhD project (Peter Braun) is concerned with contributions to the optimization of the ammonia-based selective catalytic reduction (SCR), a widely used approach for the reduction of NOx emissions in diesel engines.
At low exhaust temperatures, the SCR process is limited by difficulties in the decomposition of “AdBlue” (urea) to form ammonia. Several approaches to facilitate the AdBlue urea decomposition in the liquid phase have been studied. The potential of various inorganic catalysts as well as the effects of electrochemically induced pH shifts have been investigated in detail.
See our publications concerning the above field of research and other research activities under: