Earth Science News
OIL AND GAS
New catalyst could dramatically cut methane pollution from millions of engines
Today's catalysts for removing unburnt methane from natural gas engine exhaust are either inefficient at low, start-up temperatures or break down at higher operating temperatures. A new single-atom catalyst developed by SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Washington State University solves both these problems and removes 90% of the methane. This illustration depicts individual palladium atoms (white) removing methane (white bubbles) at the surface of the catalyst.
New catalyst could dramatically cut methane pollution from millions of engines
by Staff Writers
Menlo Park CA (SPX) Jul 21, 2023

Individual palladium atoms attached to the surface of a catalyst can remove 90% of unburned methane from natural-gas engine exhaust at low temperatures, scientists reported in the journal Nature Catalysis.

While more research needs to be done, they said, the advance in single atom catalysis has the potential to lower exhaust emissions of methane, one of the worst greenhouse gases, which traps heat at about 25 times the rate of carbon dioxide.

Researchers from the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Washington State University showed that the catalyst removed methane from engine exhaust at both the lower temperatures where engines start up - and the higher temperatures where they operate most efficiently, but where catalysts often break down.

"It's almost a self-modulating process which miraculously overcomes the challenges that people have been fighting - low temperature inactivity and high temperature instability," said Yong Wang, Regents Professor in WSU's Gene and Linda Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering and one of four lead authors on the paper.

A growing source of methane pollution
Engines that run on natural gas power 30 million to 40 million vehicles worldwide and are popular in Europe and Asia. The natural gas industry also uses them to run compressors that pump gas to people's homes. They are generally considered cleaner than gasoline or diesel engines, creating less carbon and particulate pollution.

However, when natural-gas engines start up, they emit unburnt, heat-trapping methane because their catalytic converters don't work well at low temperatures. Today's catalysts for methane removal are either inefficient at lower exhaust temperatures or they severely degrade at higher temperatures.

"There's a big drive towards using natural gas, but when you use it for combustion engines, there will always be unburnt natural gas from the exhaust, and you have to find a way to remove that. If not, you cause more severe global warming," said co-author Frank Abild-Pedersen, a SLAC staff scientist and co-director of the lab's SUNCAT Center for Interface Science and Catalysis, which is run jointly with Stanford University. "If you can remove 90% of the methane from the exhaust and keep the reaction stable, that's tremendous."

A catalyst with single atoms of the chemically active metal dispersed on a support also uses every atom of the expensive and precious metal, Wang added.

"If you can make them more reactive," he said, "that's the icing on the cake."

Unexpected help from a fellow pollutant
In their work, the researchers showed that their catalyst made from single palladium atoms on a cerium oxide support efficiently removed methane from engine exhaust, even when the engine was just starting.

They also found that trace amounts of carbon monoxide that are always present in engine exhaust played a key role in dynamically forming active sites for the reaction at room temperature. The carbon monoxide helped the single atoms of palladium migrate to form two- or three-atom clusters that efficiently break apart the methane molecules at low temperatures.

Then, as the exhaust temperatures rose, the clusters broke up into single atoms and redispersed, so that the catalyst was thermally stable. This reversible process enabled the catalyst to work effectively and used every palladium atom the entire time the engine was running - including when it started cold.

"We were really able to find a way to keep the supported palladium catalyst stable and highly active and, because of the diverse expertise across the team, to understand why this was occurring," said SLAC staff scientist Christopher Tassone.

The researchers are working to further advance the catalyst technology. They would like to better understand why palladium behaves in one way while other precious metals such as platinum act differently.

The research has a way to go before it will be put inside a car, but the researchers are collaborating with industry partners as well as with DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to move the work closer to commercialization.

Research Report:Dynamic and reversible transformations of subnanometre-sized palladium on ceria for efficient methane removal

Related Links
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
All About Oil and Gas News at OilGasDaily.com

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
OIL AND GAS
Device makes hydrogen from sunlight with record efficiency
Houston TX (SPX) Jul 21, 2023
Rice University engineers can turn sunlight into hydrogen with record-breaking efficiency thanks to a device that combines next-generation halide perovskite semiconductors with electrocatalysts in a single, durable, cost-effective and scalable device. The new technology is a significant step forward for clean energy and could serve as a platform for a wide range of chemical reactions that use solar-harvested electricity to convert feedstocks into fuels. The lab of chemical and biomolecular e ... read more

OIL AND GAS
'Guardian angels': Rhodes locals help fire-stranded tourists

'Slow disaster': Indonesians in sinking village forced to adapt

India landslide toll jumps to 27, at least 50 missing

Turkey's Antioch rises from the ruins, stone by stone

OIL AND GAS
Billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving baby food containers

Groundbreaking 3D-Printed frictionless gear for space applications

Turning scrap wood into strong, sustainable materials for re-use

US regulator backs off Microsoft-Activision challenge

OIL AND GAS
Drought-hit N.Africa turns to purified sea and wastewater

Within sight of New York City, a despoiled river comes back to life

Macron tells New Caledonia separatists to accept pro-France votes

Florida and Mediterranean ocean temps at record highs

OIL AND GAS
Scientists warn Atlantic Ocean current could collapse by 2060

Greenland has greener history than previously thought

Greenland melted recently, says study that raises future sea level threat

Canada's Magdalen islands have 'front row' seat to climate change

OIL AND GAS
Ukraine alleges deliberate plan to tank grain pact; Record world harvests will blunt impact

NATO slams Russia's 'dangerous' Black Sea grain block

'Extreme' Indonesian market ends dog, cat meat trade

Erdogan still seeking to persuade Putin over Ukraine grain deal

OIL AND GAS
Magnitude 6.4 earthquake hits east of Vanuatu: USGS

Philippine death toll from typhoon Doksuri rises to six

One dead as typhoon Doksuri batters Philippines

Two children found dead in eastern Canada flooding

OIL AND GAS
China envoy calls Kenya economic ties a 'win-win'

Soldiers say they have detained Niger's president in apparent coup

US blacklists officials who helped Wagner Group enter Mali

Rights group says Mali army and foreign fighters executed civilians

OIL AND GAS
Vibrating vests translate music for deaf concertgoers

Gullah Geechee, descendants of enslaved, fight to protect US island

How larger body sizes helped the colonizers of New Zealand

How Tau tangles form in the brain

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.