High Temperature Catalytically Assisted Combustion.

Results of research on a two dimensional, transient catalytic combustion model and on a high temperature perovskite catalyst are presented. A recently developed two dimensional, transient model has been used to study the ignition of carbon monoxideair mixtures in a platinum coated catalytic honeycomb. Comparisons between calculated and measured steady state substrate temperature profiles and exhaust gas compositions show good agreement. A platinum doped perovskite catalyst has been proposed which will exhibit low temperature light off and high temperature stability. Preliminary tests using a perovskite powder with one percent by weight platinium are encouraging, showing very little change in surface activity when used with propane fuel. Variations in catalytic activity from sample to sample have also been found and after extensive testing the cause of these variations have not been identified. However, preliminary tests using Fourier transform infrared photoacoustic spectroscopy do indicate differences in the various catalyst samples that may be related to the difference in catalytic activity. The use of bench top oven and differential scanning calorimetry techniques for screening catalysts in terms of relative activity and aging characteristics has also been demonstrated. Originator-supplied keywords include Catalytic combustion, and Perovskite catalysts.