Session: 08-01: Poster Session

Paper Number: 149501

149501 - Reactivity of Alcohols and Aldehydes on Commercial Emissions Control Catalysts 

Abstract: 

Net-zero carbon fuels such as alcohols will play an important role in the decarbonization of on-road as well as the hard-to-electrify rail, marine and off-road engines in the transportation sector. Engines fueled by alcohols such as methanol and ethanol can generate toxic aldehydes like formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, respectively. Thus, tailpipe aldehyde emissions need to be controlled. Prior work has shown that the reactivity of fuels on emissions control catalysts are sensitive to their chemical structure. At low exhaust temperatures, relevant to idle and cold start conditions, aldehyde emissions from alcohol-fueled engines can be an issue. For commercialization of net-zero carbon fuels such as alcohols in the transportation industry, it is important to ensure compliance with the stringent U.S. EPA regulations. This research work focusses on understanding the reactivity of alcohols and their corresponding aldehydes on commercial emissions control catalysts.

The current effort involves investigation of net-zero carbon fuel reactivity on hydrothermally aged, commercial oxidation catalysts under engine-exhaust relevant conditions to help decarbonization of the transportation sector. An automated synthetic exhaust flow reactor system was used to measure the catalytic reactivity for a wide range of net-zero carbon fuels. The net-zero carbon fuels studied included alcohols, polyoxymethylene ethers, esters, alkanes and aromatics. In addition, the reactivity of aldehydes on the commercial catalysts were investigated. The impact of the net zero carbon fuels on other regulated pollutants such as CO and nitrogen oxides (NOx) has also been studied. To gain insights into the formation and the stability of the intermediates formed during oxidation of selected net-zero carbon fuels, Diffuse reflectance Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) has been used.

Presenting Author: Sreshtha Sinha Majumdar Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Presenting Author Biography: Sreshtha Sinha Majumdar is a R&D Associate staff member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) with 10+ years of overall experience in emissions control catalysis. Sreshtha has expertise in synthesis and development of emissions control catalysts, wash-coating catalytically active materials onto monolith cores, evaluation of catalysts on micro- and bench-scale flow reactors, and catalyst characterization. After her Ph.D. Sreshtha joined Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 2016 where her work focuses on developing emissions control solutions that enable high efficiency engines and alternative fuels to achieve emissions compliance. Specifically, Sreshtha investigates the fuel composition effects on emissions control catalyst light-off behavior to mitigate cold-start emissions, studies the underlying chemistry of trap materials to aid modelling efforts, and develops novel materials for low temperature exhaust aftertreatment. Recently, Sreshtha’s work has been focused on investigating the fuel chemistry impacts of net-zero carbon fuels or low-lifecycle carbon fuels for decarbonization of the non-road transportation sectors and on developing and scaling up water tolerant and low-temperature active methane oxidation catalysts.

Authors:

Sreshtha Sinha Majumdar Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Masud Rahman Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Josh Pihl Oak Ridge National Laboratory