Abstract: The invention provides a combined heat and power plant with an integrated gas production system. The combined heat and power plant contains a steam reformer heated with a gas burner which converts a mixture of hydrocarbons and water vapour into a reformate gas stream containing hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The plant further contains a reactor system with several stages for removing carbon monoxide from the reformate gas stream. The plant also contains a heat exchanger for removing heat energy from the reformate gas stream and a fuel cell unit for producing electrical energy by catalytic reaction of the hydrogen contained in the reformate gas with oxygen in the fuel cell, wherein the reformate gas stream is supplied to the anode in the fuel cell unit and the anode waste gas is taken to the gas burner of the steam reformer as fuel, via a gas pipe.

Abstract: The present invention relates to three-dimensional catalyst gauzes for gas reactions knitted in two or more layers from noble metal wires in which the meshes of the individual layers are joined to one another by pile threads. In these catalyst gauzes weft threads are inserted between the mesh layers. These catalyst gauzes have an increased catalytic activity and efficiency in gas reaction. These improvements enable operation with a lower total amount of noble metal employed, for example by reducing the number of gauzes and/or the length of the wire processed in the catalyst gauze and/or the wire thickness, without thereby having to accept disadvantages with respect to the yield and selectivity of the gas reaction, mechanical strength and service life of the gauzes or unavoidable loss of noble metal.

Abstract: A process is provided for operating a three-way catalyst that contains an oxygen storage component, that has a minimum and a maximum filling degree for oxygen and that is located in the exhaust gas line of an internal combustion engine. The air/fuel mixture supplied to the engine is varied in such a way that the filling degree of the oxygen storage component in the catalyst is held within a set-point interval between the minimum and maximum filling degree. According to this process, in order to regulate the air/fuel mixture, migration of the filling degree out of the set-point interval is checked in a test phase in such a way that the filling degree is increased or lowered relative to the instantaneous value (initial value) by short-term enrichment or reduction in richness of the air/fuel mixture supplied to the engine by a certain amount and immediately returned to the initial value by a short-term opposing change in the air/fuel mixture (lean/rich pulse sequence or rich/lean pulse sequence).

Abstract: The present invention provides devices for glass melt devlivery and methods for using these devices. In these devices, a delivery nozzle comprising at least one platinum group metal material is directly heated by electricty. To facilitate heating, a cylindrical heating ring is mounted in ceramic base. The device's construction ensures a regulatable heating of the nozzle and the melted glass flux.

Abstract: The present invention provides an exhaust gas treatment unit for an internal combustion engine. A first catalyst unit produces ammonia from corresponding constituents in a rich exhaust gas composition. A second catalyst unit that is located downstream of the first catalyst unit temporarily stores the ammonia produced by the first catalyst unit in the presence of a rich exhaust gas composition. In the presence of a lean exhaust gas composition, the nitrogen oxides present in the exhaust gas are subjected to a reduction reaction using the temporarily stored ammonia as reducing agent. The exhaust gas treatment unit also contains a third catalyst unit that is located between the other two catalyst units, and oxidizes the nitrogen oxides present in the exhaust gas at lean exhaust gas conditions to a such an extent that 25 to 75 vol. % of the nitrogen oxides entering the second catalyst unit consist of nitrogen dioxide.

Abstract: The present invention provides a process for regenerating the catalytic activity of catalysts that have oxidizing functions. A catalyst that is located in the exhaust gas line of a diesel engine that preferably contains a catalytically active coating on a honeycomb carrier that does not have a filter function and that has at least one oxidizing function is regenerated. As a result of time-restricted increases in the exhaust gas temperature upstream of the catalyst to a value greater than 450° C., the combustion of soot particles and hydrocarbons deposited on the catalyst is initiated, and thus, the catalytic activity of the catalyst is at least partly regenerated.

Abstract: A nitrogen oxide storage catalyst which contains at least one catalyst material and at least one nitrogen oxide storage component from the group of alkali and alkaline earth metals. The nitrogen oxide storage component, after completing catalyst preparation, is present as finely divided barium sulfate, strontium sulfate, a mixture or mixed crystals of the two sulfates, or as their complete or incomplete decomposition product with an average particle size of less than 1 &mgr;m. Barium sulfate and/or strontium sulfate act as feed materials for the active storage component in the storage catalyst according to the invention. As a result of the reductive exhaust gas compositions occurring under normal automobile driving conditions barium sulfate and strontium sulfate decompose to compounds which are able to store nitrogen oxides. This compensates for the loss of active storage components which occurs due to aging.