Potential Risk of NH3 Slip Arisen from Catalytic Inactive Site in Selective Catalytic Reduction of NOx with Metal-Free Carbon Catalysts

Ammonia emissions from industrial processes have rapidly increased in the past years. Recent advances have used carbon-based selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology combined with a reaction–regeneration process to reduce NOx from sintering flue gas, while NH3 slip is seldom accounted for in this process. This study demonstrates that although the electrophilic carboxyl groups (−COOH) on metal-free carbon catalysts exhibit strong adsorption toward NH3, they do not participate in the SCR reaction. As a result of the competitive adsorption of NH3 in the reaction step, these catalytic inactive carboxyl groups not only prolong the time to the SCR steady state, but also result in the potential risk of NH3 slip. A linear relationship with the equimolar ratio between carboxyl groups and slipped NH3 was established in the regeneration steps. The slip of NH3 could be alleviated by the decomposition of carboxyl groups, and special attention should be paid to the presence of inactive sites with strong NH3 adsorption on industrial-employed carbon catalysts. In addition to advancing the understanding of the NH3–SCR mechanism, this work also provides valuable opportunities for the control of ammonia emissions from industrial processes.