In this study, the fundamental experiments were performed for catalytic oxidation of NO (50 ppm) on MnO2 in the presence of ozone. The experiments were carried out at various catalytic temperatures (30-120℃) and ozone concentrations (50-150 ppm) to investigate the behavior of NO oxidation. The honeycomb type MnO2 catalyst was rectangular with a cell density of 300 cells per squuare inch. Due to O3 injection, NO reacted with O3 to form NO2, which was adsorbed at the MnO2 surface. The excessive ozone was decomposed to O* onto the MnO2 catalyst bed, and then that O* was reacted with NO2 to form NO3-. It was found that the optimal O3/NO ratio for catalytic oxidation of NO on MnO2 was 2.0, and the NO removal efficiency on MnO2 was 83% at 30℃. As a result, NO was converted mainly to NO3-.

This is a study on the volatile organic compounds(VOCs) concentrator with zeolite adsorptive honey rotor and catalytic combustion system for abating VOCs emitted from printing industry. VOCs emitted from the printing industry is mainly caused by organic solvent of printing ink. The content of organic solvents in printing ink varies from 40% to 75% and its content in the gravure ink is higher than that in any other ink. The average concentrations of each VOCs are 139 ppm for toluene, 152.1 ppm for MEK, 256.9 ppm for methanol and 42.9 ppm for isopropyl alcohol. We used zeolite honeycomb for absorbent of VOCs concentrator and palladium for catalyst combustion system. This system abated over 96% of emitted total VOCs, 98% of toluene, 100% of MEK, 92% of methanol and 100% of isopropyl alcohol. It is concluded that the low-leveled high-volume VOCs emitted from printing process were removed almost by concentrator with zeolite adsorptive honey rotor and catalytic combustion system.

Characteristics of the transesterification reaction between triglycerides in soy bean oil and methanol were investigated in the presence of acid catalysts. such as sulfuric acid and PTS (p-toluene sulfonic acid). Concentrations of diglyceride and monoglyceride which were intermediates in the reaction mixtures, were far below 10% of triglyceride under any reaction conditions. Thus, conversion of the reaction could be determined from the concentration of triglyceride. Dried PTS had more superior catalytic power than sulfuric acid for transesterification reaction between soy bean oil and methanol. When transesterification reaction of soy bean oil was catalyzed by 1 wt% of PTS at methanol stoichiometric mole ratio of 2 and 65℃, final conversion reached 95% within 48 hours. If FAME (fatty acid methyl ester) was added into reaction mixture of soy bean oil, methanol and PTS catalyst, it converted reaction mixture into homogeneous phase, and substantially increased reaction rate. When reaction mixture was freely boiling which had equal volumetric amount of FAME to soy bean oil, methanol stoichiometric mole ratio of 2 and 1 wt% of PTS, final conversion achieved value of 94% and temperature approached to 110℃ within 2 hours.

Fabrication and oxidants production of 3 or 4 components metal oxide electrode, which is known to be so effective to destruct non-biodegradable organics in wastewater, were studied. Five electrode materials (Ru as main component and Pt, Sn, Sb and Gd as minor components) were used for the 3 or 4 components electrode. The metal oxide electrode was prepared by coating the electrode material on the surface of the titanium mesh and then thermal oxidation at 500℃ for 1 h. The removed RhB per 2 min and unit W of 3 components electrode was in the order: Ru:Sn:Sb=9:1:1 > Ru:Pt:Gd=5:5:1 > Ru:Sn=9:1 > Ru:Sn:Gd=9:1:1 > Ru:Sb:Gd=9:1:1. Although RhB decolorization of Ru:Sn:Sb:Gd electrode was the highest among the 4 components electrode, the RhB decolorization and oxidants formation of the Ru:Sn:Sb=9:1:1 electrode was higher than that of the 3 and 4 components electrode. Electrogenerated oxidants (free Cl and ClO2) of chlorine type in 3 and 4 components electrode were higher than other oxidants such as H2O2 and O3. It was assumed that electrode with high RhB decolorization showed high oxidant generation and COD removal efficiency. OH radical which is electrogenerated by the direct electrolysis was not generated the entire 3 and 4 components electrode, therefore main mechanism of RhB degradation by metal oxide electrode based Ru was considered indirect electrolysis using electrogenerated oxidants.

Fabrication and oxidants formation of 1 and 2 component metal oxide electrode, which is known to be so effective to destruct non-biodegradable organics in wastewater, were studied. Five electrode materials (Ru, Pt, Sn, Sb and Gd) were used for the 1 and 2 component electrode. The metal oxide electrode was prepared by coating the electrode material on the surface of the titanium mesh and then thermal oxidation at 500℃ for 1 h. The removed RhB per 2 min and unit W for one component electrode decreased in the following sequences: Ru/Ti > Sb/Ti > Pt/Ti > Gd/Ti > Sn/Ti. The concentration of oxidants generated in 1 and 2 component electrodes was in the order of: ClO2 > free Cl > H2O2 > O3. OH radical was not generated from in entire one and two component electrodes. RhB degradation rate and generated oxidants of the Ru-Sn=9:1 electrode was higher than that of the two component electrode. The exact relationship between the removal of RhB and the generated oxidants concentration was not obvious. However, it was assumed that electrode with high RhB decolorization had high oxidant concentration.

The Kyoto Protocol, that had been in force from February 16, 2005, requires significant reduction in CO₂emissions for all anthropogenic sources containing transportation, industrial, commercial, and residential fields, etc, and automotive emission standards for air pollutants such as particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) become more and more tight for improving ambient air quality. This paper has briefly reviewed homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion technology offering dramatic reduction in CO₂, NOx and PM emissions, compared to conventional gasoline and diesel engine vehicles, in an effort of automotive industries and their related academic activities to comply with future fuel economy legislation, e.g., CO₂emission standards and corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) in the respective European Union (EU) and United States of America (USA), and to meet very stringent future automotive emission standards, e.g., Tier 2 program in USA and EURO V in EU. In addition, major challenges to the widespread use of HCCI engines in road applications are discussed in aspects of new catalytic emissions controls to remove high CO and unburned hydrocarbons from such engine-equipped vehicles.

This study examined the catalytic destruction of 1,2-dichlorobenzene on V2O5/TiO2 nanoparticles. The V2O5/TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized by the thermal decomposition of vanadium oxytripropoxide and titanium. The effects of the synthesis conditions, such as the synthesis temperature and precursor heating temperature, were investigated. The specific surface areas of V2O5/TiO2 nanoparticles increased with increasing synthesis temperature and decreasing precursor heating temperature. In addition, the removal efficiency of 1,2-dichlorobenzene was promoted by a decrease in heating temperature. However, the removal efficiency of 1, 2-dichlorobenzene was decreased by an anatase to rutile phase transformation at temperatures 1,300℃.

The feasibility study of the application of the photoelectrocatalytic and electrolytic/UV decolorization of Rhodamine B (RhB) was investigated in the photoelectrocatalytic and electrolytic/UV process with TiO₂ photoelectrode and DSA (dimensionally stable anode) electrode. Three types of TiO₂ photoelectrode were used. Thermal oxidation electrode (Th-TiO₂) was made by oxidation of titanium metal sheet; sol-gel electrode (SG-TiO₂) and powder electrode (P-TiO₂) were made by coating and then heating a layer of titania sol-gel and slurry TiO₂ on titanium sheet. DSA electrodes were Ti and Ru/Ti electrode. The relative performance for RhB decolorization of each of the photoelectrodes and DSA electrodes is: Ru/Ti > Ti > SG-TiO₂ > Th-TiO₂. It was observed that photoelectrocatalytic decolorization of RhB is similar to the sum of the photocatalytic and electrolytic decolorization. Therefore the synergetic effect was not showed in pthotoelectrocatalytic reaction. Na₂SO₄ and NaCl showed different decolirization effect between pthotoelectrocatalytic and electrolytic/UV reaction. In the presence of the NaCl, RhB decolorization of Ru/Ti DSA electrode was higher than that of the other photoelectrode and Ti electrode. Optimum current, NaCl dosage and UV lamp power of the electrolytic/UV process (using Ru/Ti electrode) were 0.75 A, 0.5 g/L and 16 W, respectively.

The formation of ConTiOn+₂ compounds, i.e., CoTiO₃ and Co2TiO₄, in a 5 wt% CoOx/TiO2 catalyst after calcination at different temperatures has been characterized via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements to verify our earlier model associated with Co3O4 nanoparticles present in the catalyst, and laboratory-synthesized ConTiOn+₂ chemicals have been employed to directly measure their activity profiles for CO oxidation at 100˚C. SEM measurements with the synthetic CoTiO₃ and Co2TiO₄ gave the respective tetragonal and rhombohedral morphology structures, in good agreement with the earlier XRD results. Weak Raman peaks at 239, 267 and 336 cm-1 appeared on 5 wt% CoOx/TiO₂ after calcination at 570oC but not on the catalyst calcined at 450˚C, and these peaks were observed for the ConTiOn+₂ compounds, particularly CoTiO3. All samples of the two cobalt titanate possessed O 1s XPS spectra comprised of strong peaks at 530.0±0.1 eV with a shoulder at a 532.2-eV binding energy. The O 1s structure at binding energies near 530.0 eV was shown for a sample of 5 wt% CoOx/TiO₂, irrespective to calcination temperature. The noticeable difference between the catalyst calcined at 450 and 570˚C is the 532.2 eV shoulder which was indicative of the formation of the ConTiOn+₂ compounds in the catalyst. No long-life activity maintenance of the synthetic ConTiOn+₂ compounds for CO oxidation at 100˚C was a good vehicle to strongly support the reason why the supported CoOx catalyst after calcination at 570˚C had been practically inactive for the oxidation reaction in our previous study; consequently, the earlier proposed model for the Co₃O₄ nanoparticles existing with the catalyst following calcination at different temperatures is very consistent with the characterization results and activity measurements with the cobalt titanates.

This study was investigated experimental condition which is able to evaluate photocatalytic activity of various commercial TiO₂. The experiments were performed for three representative substances (ethanol, phenol and methylene blue) and four kinds of commercial TiO₂, under the experimental conditions such as pH, reactant concentration, amount of TiO₂, reaction time and UV intensity. The optimum experimental conditions to evaluate photocatalytic activity were as follows : for ethanol, the initial concentration 1000 ppm, initial pH 8, TiO₂ loadings 0.1 wt%, and reaction time 90 minutes: for phenol, the initial concentration 200 ppm, initial pH 8, TiO₂loadings 1 wt%, and reaction time 60 minutes: for methylene blue, the initial concentration 200 ppm, initial pH 4, TiO₂ loadings 0.5 wt%, and reaction time 30 minutes.