PassIve Adsorbent of NOx for pollution control in internal combustion hydrogen engineS – PIANOS

The PIANOS project aims to propose and develop materials capable of adsorbing large quantities of NOx at low temperature and releasing them at a sufficiently high temperature for their subsequent reduction under the conditions imposed by an internal combustion hydrogen engine. In this context, considering the absence of hydrocarbon in the exhaust gases the chemical properties of the material surface could be of extreme importance for enhancing the NOx storage capacity, the oxidation of NO to NO2 and the material will have to be selected with regard to cost. Up to now, to the best of our knowledge, only a few studies have reported the use of a non-precious passive NOx adsorber (PNA) material for cold start Diesel engine application. The PIANOS project proposes to synthesise and to develop microporous and mesoporous stable and resistant PNAs responding to high adsorption ability and high temperature of NOx release, easy to implement to allow their use in real conditions.
In addition, the reuse/repair/remain of the materials used for the after-treatment of the H2 internal combustion engine would be a real asset to improve the eco-design of the overall system and compete with the fuel cell vehicles.
In summary, the PIANOS project proposes to synthesize and develop microporous and mesoporous mixed oxides and zeolites materials, with adequate basic properties, that adsorb nitrogen oxides over a wide temperature range. These materials must also be able to desorb NOx at temperatures close to the activity range of SCR NH3 catalytic systems. These materials must be stable and resistant, efficient in real conditions and reusable after an adapted cleaning.