CO Oxidation in the Presence of Claus Tail Gas Species over Au/RE2O3-TiO2 Catalysts

Abstract

At present most tail gas incineration units operate at 973 K to oxidize CO. Catalytic incineration offers an economic advantage as a result of lower operating temperatures; however, the catalysts in use to date, are not efficient for oxidation of CO and H2 in presence of sulfur species. Mixed metal oxide supported gold nanoparticles have received considerable attention regarding CO oxidation. This study focuses on synthesizing catalysts operational under Claus tail gas incineration that involves high concentration of sulfur species and water. Gold nano-particles supported on TiO2 doped with rare earth oxide (i.e., La, Eu, Er) catalysts were synthesized and compared against the well-known Au/TiO2 catalyst through characterization and catalytic activity analyses. XPS data pointed to the presence of electron-rich gold nanoparticles. The catalytic activity results showed a relatively superior catalytic activity of Au/Eu2O3−TiO2 for CO oxidation in the presence of sulfur species. However, the synthesized Au/RE2O3-TiO2 catalysts have not been able to significantly out-perform Au/TiO2 catalyst.