A High-Throughput Screening Approach to Identify New Active and Long-Term Stable Catalysts for Total Oxidation of Methane from Gas-Fueled Lean-Burn Engines

A unique high-throughput approach to identify new catalysts for total oxidation of methane from the exhaust gas of biogas-operated lean-burn engines is presented. The approach consists of three steps: (1) A primary screening using emission-corrected Infrared Thermography (ecIRT). (2) Validation in a conventional plug flow gas phase reactor using a model exhaust gas containing CH4, O-2, CO, CO2, NO, NO2, N2O, SO2, H2O. (3) Ageing tests using a simplified exhaust gas (CH4, O-2, CO2, SO2, H2O). To demonstrate the efficiency of this approach, one selected dataset with a sol-gel-based catalysts is presented. Compositions are 3 at.% precious metals (Pt, Rh) combined with different amounts of Al, Mn, and Ce in the form of mixed oxides. To find new promising materials for the abatement of methane, about two thousand different compositions were synthesized and ranked using ecIRT, and several hundred were characterized using a plug flow reactor and their ageing behaviour was determined.