LowCat Optimisation

Poor air quality impacts tens of thousands of people annually in the UK alone, causing poor health outcomes including excess deaths. NOx is a key contributor to poor air quality and is produced largely by combustion, most infamously in diesel vehicles. This has led to legislation regulating the emissions of vehicles.

The next set of standards in the EU, Euro 7, will come into force in 2025 and present a massive challenge for vehicle manufacturers. Emissions at low exhaust temperatures typical of queue driving are particularly difficult to mitigate.

At the University of Leeds we are developing a catalyst material, originally made as an analogue for meteoric material in Venus' atmosphere, which catalyses the reduction of NO2 at room temperature, due to this low temperature catalytic activity we call the material LowCat. This is particularly advantageous since diesel combustion produces NO2 as a higher proportion of NOx under low temperature conditions.

LowCat also catalyses the reduction of NO at temperatures competitive with industry standard materials and can simultaneously catalyse the oxidation of CO. The catalytic activity of LowCat has been quantitatively examined in a chemical kinetics flow-tube and confirmed in initial trials in the exhaust of a diesel generator, bringing it to technology readiness level 5.

LowCat is being developed toward market deployment in collaboration with several end user industrial partners. In currently active STFC funded research projects, prototype catalytic exhaust aftertreatment systems utilising LowCat are being manufactured and will be deployed to demonstrate the material's full potential for NOx reduction. We are also designing further projects investigating the application of LowCat for NOx reduction in the exhaust of potential low carbon fuels such as ammonia and hydrogen.

The low temperature activity of LowCat also suggests potential for application in chemical plant exhaust streams and at hotspots of poor air quality.

In this project we will develop and optimise a scalable process for the manufacture of LowCat. We previously developed a 20 litre batch process capable of producing the kg scale of material required for prototyping. Here we will investigate a potential alternative precursor which could improve catalyst lifetime, deciding which gives optimal product based on activity and mechanistic studies.

The resulting chemistry will then be implemented in a flow reactor, and a process developed in collaboration with a new SME industrial partner, MinChem Ltd. Understanding of the mechanism of catalysis will also support further commercialisation development towards target markets.