Exhaust After Treatment Solution for H2-ICE for selective NOx removal in the presence of high amount of water content

Alternate fuels, potential substitute for fossil fuels, found traction in recent times owing to global warming. Globally, especially the countries in NA and Europe are fast implementing alternate fuels to reduce carbon footprint and for creating sustainable environment. India too has promised to cut down emissions and become net neutrality by 2070. One of the alternate fuels which gained importance recently is Hydrogen fuel. With the announcement of National Hydrogen Mission by the Government of India in 2023, there has been an increased attention on the hydrogen fuel-based mobility. Technologies like H2-Fuel cell and internal combustion engine (H2-ICE) are finding wider acceptance depending on the application and both offer an opportunity to meet targets of reduced carbon footprint in India and reduce reliance on fuel imports. Key advantage of H2-ICE is with little modification on conventional ICE the transition can happen and move towards net zero emission neutrality. However, this approach has its own challenges as most are targeting diesel-like indicated efficiency through constant lean burn. H2-ICE during its operation emits NOx emissions along with high amount of water content. NOx can be removed through conventional Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR). Unlike diesel engines, where the water content is low (around 10%), H2-ICE may lead to 30% water content in its exhaust which can have pronounced effect on the after-treatment system either in terms of NOx conversion efficiency, NH3 storage, N2O selectivity, or durability. In this study, we evaluated state of the art BASF SCR technologies towards NOx control in the presence of varied amounts of water and H2. Studies were performed to understand the impact of water on SCR reaction selectivity, SCR reaction rate besides catalyst deactivation studies due to the different amounts of H2 in the feed. Results indicate that BASF’s SCR systems are capable of meeting NOx reduction targets in H2-ICE systems.