NSF Award
9960534
This Small Business Innovative Research Phase I project involves the development of a catalyst to control NOx emissions from combined cycle power plants using natural gas fired turbines (natural gas fired power plants). Guild Associates has developed an environmental catalyst for the control of nitrogen-containing compound emissions. The catalyst is unique in that it is able to destroy this class of compounds, which includes NH3, without generating NOx. The catalyst was recently investigated for its ability to reduce NOx in the presence of NH3 in humid air. Operating in the presence of excess NH3, the catalyst was able to completely reduce NOx without NH3 slip. NH3 slip is prevented because the catalyst is able to directly reduce the excess NH3 to N2 and H2O. The objective of this Phase I SBIR proposal is to evaluate this catalyst under conditions consistent with the natural gas fired power plant application and to modify the catalyst to address possible shortcomings. Successful completion of this effort will lead to a simple, low cost technology for control of NOx emissions from natural gas fired power plants without NH3 slip.<br/><br/>Current technologies are not capable of reducing NOx emissions to greater than 90% without significant levels of NH3 slip. Should the novel catalyst developed under this effort prove successful, power plants will be provided with low cost, simple technology to meet increasingly tighter NOx emissions levels.
