METHOD FOR FABRICATING EXHAUST GAS DECONTAMINATION REACTOR
A method for fabricating an exhaust gas decontamination reactor, which is an exhaust gas decontamination pipe or a exhaust gas decontamination honeycombed structure, comprises steps: respectively coating a cathode layer and an anode layer on an outer wall surface and an inner wall surface of a pipe; and forming an enclosed reducing environment inside an internal channel of the pipe. The method for fabricating an exhaust gas decontamination honeycombed structure comprises steps: respectively coating cathode layers and anode layers on first inner wall surfaces of first passages and second inner wall surfaces of second passages; and forming enclosed reducing environments inside the second passages. Then, the cathode layers function as reaction sites to decontaminate exhaust gas. The present invention needn't arrange a reducing-gas system in the reactor and thus can decrease the volume and fabrication cost thereof.
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The present invention relates to an electrochemical-catalytic converter, particularly to a method for fabricating an exhaust gas decontamination pipe and an exhaust gas decontamination honeycombed structure.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONFresh and clean air is essential for human health. Science and technology has promoted economical development. However, exhaust gas of vehicles and factories, especially motor vehicles and heavy industry factories, seriously pollutes the air.
The emission standard of motor vehicles has been advanced persistently. However, the continuously increasing motor vehicles still bring about more and more serious air pollution. In a motor vehicle, the engine thereof burns fuel and converts chemical energy into mechanical energy. The burning process of fuel generates exhaust gases, including oxynitrides, carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), and particulate matters, smoke, non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC), and methane (CH4), which would form photochemical smog, deplete ozone, enhance the greenhouse effect, cause acid rain, damage the ecological environment and endanger human health.
Carbon monoxide comes from imperfect combustion. The capability of carbon monoxide to combine with hemoglobin to form carboxyhemoglobin (COHb) is 300 times higher than the capability of oxygen to combine with hemoglobin to form oxyhemoglobin (HbO2). Therefore, too high a concentration of carbon monoxide would degrade the capability of hemoglobin to transport oxygen. Oxynitrides are generated by the combination of nitrogen and oxygen and mainly in form of nitrogen monoxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Oxynitrides are also likely to combine with hemoglobin and would impair the breathing and circulating functions. Hydrocarbons can irritate the respiratory system even at a lower concentration and will affect the central nervous system at higher concentration.
Therefore, many nations, including EU, USA, Japan and Taiwan, have regulated stricter emission standards for oxynitrides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons (HCs), such as (BINS of USA and EURO 6 of EU), which not only regulate the emission of harmful exhaust gases but also encourage the manufacturers to develop, fabricate or use the newest pollution control technologies and apparatuses.
In the conventional exhaust gas emission control technology of oxygen-enriched combustion, none single device or converter can perform conversion of oxynitrides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons (HCs) simultaneously. Most of the catalytic converters of automobiles powered by oxygen-enriched combustion can only catalytically convert carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons (HCs). Oxynitrides (NOx) must be converted by another apparatus or system. For example, a catalytic oxidizing converter is installed in the exhaust pipe of a diesel engine vehicle to catalytically convert carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons (HCs), and an EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) system or a cylinder water-spray apparatus is used to eliminate oxynitrides (NOx). There is also a newer technology using an SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) system to reduce oxynitrides (NOx).
In the SCR system, ammonia (NH3) gas or an aqueous urea (CO(NH2)2) solution is used as a reactant. The aqueous urea solution is sprayed into the exhaust pipe via nozzles and decomposed into ammonia gas. Then, the ammonia gas reacts with oxynitrides (NOx) to generate products—nitrogen and water. However, ammonia gas is poisonous, hard to store and likely to leak. Further, incomplete reaction of ammonia will cause secondary pollution. Furthermore, the SCR system is bulky and has to cooperate with precision sensors.
A U.S. Pat. No. 5,401,372 disclosed an “Electrochemical Catalytic Reduction Cell for the Reduction of NOx in an O2-Containing Exhaust Emission”, which is dedicated to removing oxynitrides, wherein an electrocatalytic reducing reaction and a vanadium pentaoxide (V2O5) catalyst convert oxynitrides into nitrogen. However, the prior-art device must be operated in an encapsulated chamber and needs an electric source to power an electrochemical cell. Therefore, the prior-art device consumes more power but cannot eliminate other harmful gases simultaneously.
A U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/037,693 disclosed an “Electrochemical-Catalytic Converter for Exhaust Emission Control”, which can eliminate oxynitrides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), and particulate matters (PM) in exhaust gas, and which comprises a battery module, wherein oxynitrides are electrocatalytically decomposed into nitrogen and oxygen, and wherein carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and particulate matters are converted into water and carbon dioxide by an oxidizing catalyst. Therefore, the prior art can eliminates multiple harmful gases simultaneously.
However, the abovementioned “Electrochemical-Catalytic Converter” needs a reducing-gas system to generate electromotive force, which increases the fabrication cost. Further, the unit for heating the circulating reducing gas will expand and contract, which is likely to damage the structure of the anode. Besides, the
“Electrochemical-Catalytic Converter” is hard to fabricate into a compact structure for vehicle application. Therefore, the prior art still has room to improve.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe primary objective of the present invention is solve the problem that the conventional electrochemical-catalytic converter requires an additional reducing-gas system for generating electromotive force, which makes the fabrication cost increase, the structure likely to damage, and the volume hard to decrease.
To achieve the abovementioned objective, the present invention proposes a method for fabricating an exhaust gas decontamination reactor, which is an exhaust gas decontamination pipe or an exhaust gas decontamination honeycombed structure.
The method for fabricating an exhaust gas decontamination pipe comprises the following steps:
providing a pipe made of a solid-state oxide and including an internal channel, an inner wall surface surrounding the internal channel, and an outer wall surface far away from the inner wall surface;
coating a green cathode layer, which contains a cathode material, on the outer wall surface, and undertaking a first sintering process to convert the green cathode layer into a cathode layer on the outer wall surface;
coating a green anode layer, which contains an anode material, on the inner wall surface, and undertaking a second sintering process to convert the green anode layer into an anode layer on the inner wall surface; and
providing a reducing environment for the internal channel and enclosing the pipe to form a sealed reducing environment, whereby is completed an exhaust gas decontamination pipe with the surface of the cathode layer being a reaction site for exhaust gas decontamination.
The method for fabricating a honeycombed structure comprises the following steps:
providing a honeycombed structure made of a solid-state oxide and including a plurality of tubes and a plurality of separation walls between the tubes;
defining in the tubes a plurality of first passages allowing exhaust gas to pass and a plurality of unsealed second passages, wherein the second passages surround the first passages;
coating green cathode layers, which contain a cathode material, on first inner wall surfaces of the first passages, and undertaking a first sintering process to convert the green cathode layers into cathode layers on the first inner wall surfaces;
coating green anode layers; which contain an anode material, on second inner wall surfaces of the second passages, and undertaking a second sintering process to convert the green anode layers into anode layers on the second inner wall surfaces, whereby the separation walls are between the anode layers and the cathode layers; and
providing reducing environments for the second passages, and enclosing the second passages to form sealed reducing environments, whereby is completed an exhaust gas decontamination honeycombed structure with the cathode layers on the first inner wall surfaces of the first passages being reaction sites for exhaust gas decontamination.
The exhaust gas decontamination pipe and exhaust gas decontamination honeycombed structure fabricated according to the present invention have the following advantages:
1. The exhaust gas decontamination reactor fabricated according to the present invention can merely use the cathode layers to decontaminate exhaust gas without using any additional reducing-gas system. Therefore, the method of the present invention is able to reduce the fabrication cost, and the exhaust gas decontamination reactor fabricated by the present invention is less likely to be damaged.
2. The present invention needn't arrange a reducing-gas system in the exhaust gas decontamination reactor and thus can obviously decrease the volume of the exhaust gas decontamination reactor. Therefore, the exhaust gas decontamination reactor fabricated according to the present invention can be arranged inside the exhaust pipe of a vehicle engine to decontaminate the harmful matters generated by oxygen-enriched combustion and reduce the air pollution.
The technical contents of the present invention are described in detail in cooperation with drawings below.
The present invention provides a method for fabricating an exhaust gas decontamination reactor, which is an exhaust gas decontamination pipe or an exhaust gas decontamination honeycombed structure. Below, a first embodiment and a second embodiment are respectively used to demonstrate a method for fabricating an exhaust gas decontamination pipe and a method for fabricating an exhaust gas decontamination honeycombed structure.
Refer to
In Step 1, provide a pipe 10 made of a solid-state oxide, as shown in
In Step 2, coat a green cathode layer, which contains a cathode material, on the outer wall surface 13, and undertake a first sintering process to form a cathode layer 20 on the outer wall surface 13, as shown in
In the first embodiment, the green cathode layer is exemplified by one containing a combination of a lanthanum strontium manganese copper oxide and a gadolinia-doped ceria. Firstly, enclose the first opening 14 and the second opening 15 with adhesive tapes. Next, coat a fluorite gadolinia-doped ceria on the outer wall surface 12 with a dipping method. Next, take off the adhesive tapes, and dry the pipe 10 in an oven at a temperature of 50° C. for 6 hours. Next, heat the pipe 10 at a temperature rising speed of 5° C./min to a temperature of 600° C., and soak the pipe 10 at 600° C. for 2 hours. The following heating processes and cooling processes will be undertaken at the speed of 5° C./min also. Next, heat the pipe 10 to a temperature of 900° C., and soak the pipe 10 at 900° C. for 2 hours. Next, heat the pipe 10 to a temperature of 1200° C., and soak the pipe 10 at 1200° C. for 4 hours. Next, cool the pipe 10 at the same speed through the same lengths of soaking time to an ambient temperature. Next, enclose the first opening 14 and the second opening 15 with adhesive tapes again. Next, coat a lanthanum strontium manganese copper oxide on the outer wall surface 12 with a dipping method. Next, take off the adhesive tapes, and dry the pipe 10 in an oven at a temperature of 50° C. for 6 hours. Next, heat the pipe 10 at a temperature rising speed of 5° C./min to a temperature of 300° C., and soak the pipe 10 at 300° C. for 2 hours. Next, heat the pipe 10 to a temperature of 600° C., and soak the pipe 10 at 600° C. for 2 hours. Next, heat the pipe 10 to a temperature of 900° C., and soak the pipe 10 at 900° C. for 4 hours. Next, cool the pipe 10 at the same speed through the same lengths of soaking time to an ambient temperature. Then is formed the cathode layer 20.
In Step 3, coat a green anode layer, which contains an anode material, on the inner wall surface 12, and undertake a second sintering process to form an anode layer 30 on the inner wall surface 12, as shown in
In the first embodiment, the green anode layer is exemplified by one containing Ni—YSZ cermet. Firstly, pour a slurry made of the anode material into the pipe 10 along the inner wall surface 12, and let the residual slurry slip away spontaneously, and then air-dry the slurry. Next, undertake a second sintering process. Beforehand, dry the pipe 10 in an oven at a temperature of 50° C. for 6 hours. Then, undertake heat treatments at a temperate rising speed of 5° C./min. Heat the pipe 10 to a temperature of 300° C., and soak the pipe 10 at 300° C. for 2 hours. Next, heat the pipe 10 to a temperature of 600° C., and soak the pipe 10 at 600° C. for 2 hours. Next, heat the pipe 10 to a temperature of 900° C., and soak the pipe 10 at 900° C. for 4 hours. Next, cool the pipe 10 at the same speed through the same lengths of soaking time to an ambient temperature. The objective of the second sintering process is the same as that of the first sintering process and will not repeat herein. As a combination of nickel oxide and the Ni—YSZ cermet is used as the anode material, the second sintering process is different from the first sintering process in that nickel oxide needs to be reduced into nickel metal. Therefore, the green anode layer together with the pipe 10 is placed in a quartz tube for a reducing heat treatment. The quartz tube is filled with hydrogen, heated at a temperature-rising speed of 5° C./min to a temperature of 400° C., and soaked at the temperature of 400° C. for 8 hours to reduce the combination of nickel oxide and the Ni—YSZ cermet into nickel metal and the Ni—YSZ cermet. Thereby is completed the anode layer 30.
In Step 4, provide a reducing environment 111 for the internal channel 11, and seal the pipe 10 to enclose the reducing environment 111 and complete the exhaust gas decontamination pipe, as shown in
Refer to
In Step A, provide a honeycombed structure 50 made of a solid-state oxide. The honeycombed structure 50 includes a plurality of tubes 51 and a plurality of separation walls 52 between each two tubes 51, as shown in
In Step B, define in the tubes 51 a plurality of first passages 511 allowing an exhaust gas 80 (shown in
In Step C, coat a green cathode layer containing a cathode material on a first inner wall surface 512 of each first passage 511, and undertake a first sintering process to convert the green cathode layer into a cathode layer 60 on the first inner wall surface 512, as shown in
In Step D, coat a green anode layer containing an anode material on a second inner wall surface 514 of the second passage 513, and undertake a second sintering process to convert the green anode layer into an anode layer 70 on the second inner wall surface 514, as shown in
In Step E, provide reducing environments 515 for the second passages 513, and seal the second passages 513 to enclose the reducing environments 515 and complete the exhaust gas decontamination honeycombed structure. The reducing agents 516, the sealing elements 517 and the method to form the reducing environments 515 are similar to those used in Step 4. However, Step E is different from Step 4 in that the reducing environments 515 are formed in the second passages 513, and that the exhaust gas 80 flows through the first passages 511, and that the separation walls 512 are formed between the first passages 511 and the second passages 513. Thus, the reducing environment 515, the anode layer 70, the separation wall 52 and the cathode layer 60 are sequentially formed from the second passage 513 to the first passage 511. Then, the surfaces of the cathode layers 60 function as reaction sites to undertake a catalytic decomposition reaction of oxynitrides and decontaminate the exhaust gas 80.
In conclusion, the exhaust gas decontamination pipe and honeycombed structure fabricated according to the present invention can merely use the cathode layers to decontaminate exhaust gas without using any additional reducing-gas system. Therefore, the method of the present invention is able to reduce the fabrication cost, and the exhaust gas decontamination reactor fabricated by the present invention is less likely to be damaged. As the present invention needn't arrange a reducing-gas system in the exhaust gas decontamination reactor, the present invention can obviously decrease the volume of the exhaust gas decontamination reactor. Therefore, the exhaust gas decontamination reactor fabricated according to the present invention can be arranged inside the exhaust pipe of a vehicle engine to decontaminate the harmful matters generated by oxygen-enriched combustion and reduce the air pollution.
The present invention possesses utility, novelty and non-obviousness and meets the condition for a patent. Thus, the Inventors file the application for a patent. It is appreciated if the patent is approved fast.
The embodiments described are only to exemplify the present invention but not to limit the scope of the present invention. Any equivalent modification or variation according to the spirit of the present invention is to be also included within the scope of the present invention.
Claims
1. A method for fabricating an exhaust gas decontamination pipe, comprising steps:
- providing a pipe made of a solid-state oxide and including an internal channel, an inner wall surface surrounding the internal channel, and an outer wall surface far away from the inner wall surface;
- coating a green cathode layer, which contains a cathode material, on the outer wall surface, and undertaking a first sintering process to convert the green cathode layer into a cathode layer on the outer wall surface;
- coating a green anode layer, which contains an anode material, on the inner wall surface, and undertaking a second sintering process to convert the green anode layer into an anode layer on the inner wall surface; and
- forming a reducing environment for the internal channel, and sealing the pipe to enclose the reducing environment and obtain an exhaust gas decontamination pipe, wherein a surface of the cathode layer functions as a reaction site for decontaminating an exhaust gas.
2. The method for fabricating an exhaust gas decontamination pipe according to claim 1, wherein forming the reducing environment comprises steps:
- filling a reducing agent into the internal channel; and
- sealing the pipe via sealing elements to enclose the reducing agent inside the internal channel to form the reducing environment.
3. The method for fabricating an exhaust gas decontamination pipe according to claim 2, wherein the reducing agent is selected form a group consisting of solid-state reducing materials, liquid reducing materials, and gaseous reducing materials.
4. The method for fabricating an exhaust gas decontamination pipe according to claim 1, wherein forming the reducing environment comprises steps:
- forming a air pressure lower than 1 atm inside the internal channel; and
- sealing the pipe via sealing elements to form the reducing environment inside the internal channel.
5. The method for fabricating an exhaust gas decontamination pipe according to claim 1, wherein the solid-state oxide is selected from a group consisting of fluoride metal oxides, perovskite metal oxides, and combinations thereof.
6. The method for fabricating an exhaust gas decontamination pipe according to claim 1, wherein the cathode material is selected from a group consisting of perovskite metal oxides, fluorite metal oxides, metal-containing perovskite metal oxides, metal-containing fluorite metal oxides, and combinations thereof.
7. The method for fabricating an exhaust gas decontamination pipe according to claim 1, wherein the anode material is selected from a group consisting of fluorite metal oxides, perovskite metal oxides, metal-containing fluorite metal oxides, metal-containing perovskite metal oxides, cermets containing metals and fluorite metal oxides, and combinations thereof.
8. A method for fabricating an exhaust gas decontamination honeycombed structure, comprising steps:
- providing a honeycombed structure made of a solid-state oxide and including a plurality of tubes and a plurality of separation walls between the tubes;
- defining in the tubes a plurality of first passages allowing a exhaust gas to pass and a plurality of unsealed second passages, wherein the second passages surround the first passages;
- coating a green cathode layer containing a cathode material on a first inner wall surface of each first passage, and undertaking a first sintering process to convert the green cathode layer into a cathode layer on the first inner wall surface;
- coating a green anode layer containing an anode material on a second inner wall surface of each second passage, and undertaking a second sintering process to convert the green anode layer into an anode layer on the second inner wall surface; and
- forming reducing environments for the second passages and sealing the second passages to enclose the reducing environments to obtain an exhaust gas decontamination honeycombed structure, wherein surfaces of the cathode layers facing the first passages function as reaction sites to decontaminate the exhaust gas.
9. The method for fabricating an exhaust gas decontamination honeycombed structure according to claim 8, wherein forming the reducing environment comprises steps:
- filling a reducing agent into each second passage; and
- sealing the second passage via sealing elements and enclose the reducing agent inside the second passage to form the reducing environments.
10. The method for fabricating an exhaust gas decontamination honeycombed structure according to claim 9, wherein the reducing agent is selected form a group consisting of solid-state reducing materials, liquid reducing materials, and gaseous reducing materials.
11. The method for fabricating an exhaust gas decontamination honeycombed structure according to claim 8, wherein forming the reducing environment comprises steps:
- forming a air pressure lower than 1 atm inside each second passage; and
- sealing the second passage via sealing elements to form the reducing environments inside the second passage.
12. The method for fabricating an exhaust gas decontamination honeycombed structure according to claim 8, wherein the solid-state oxide is selected from a group consisting of fluoride metal oxides, perovskite metal oxides, and combinations thereof.
13. The method for fabricating an exhaust gas decontamination honeycombed structure according to claim 8, wherein the cathode material is selected from a group consisting of perovskite metal oxides, fluorite metal oxides, metal-containing perovskite metal oxides, metal-containing fluorite metal oxides, and combinations thereof.
14. The method for fabricating an exhaust gas decontamination honeycombed structure according to claim 8, wherein the anode material is selected from a group consisting of fluorite metal oxides, perovskite metal oxides, metal-containing fluorite metal oxides, metal-containing perovskite metal oxides, cermets containing metals and fluorite metal oxides, and combinations thereof.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 27, 2013
Publication Date: Jun 19, 2014
Applicant: National Tsing Hua University (Hsinchu City)
Inventors: Shang-Hsiao WONG (Hsinchu City), Sheng-Shian WU (Hsinchu City)
Application Number: 14/092,543
International Classification: F01N 3/00 (20060101);