Catalytic oxidation of HCN over a 0.5% Pt/Al2O3 catalyst

The adsorption of HCN on, its catalytic oxidation with 6% O2 over 0.5% Pt/Al2O3, and the subsequent oxidation of strongly bound chemisorbed species upon heating were investigated. The observed N-containing products were N2O, NO and NO2, and some residual adsorbed N-containing species were oxidized to NO and NO2 during subsequent temperature programmed oxidation. Because N-atom balance could not be obtained after accounting for the quantities of each of these product species, we propose that N2 and was formed. Both the HCN conversion and the selectivity towards different N-containing products depend strongly on the reaction temperature and the composition of the reactant gas mixture. In particular, total HCN conversion reaches 95% above 250 °C. Furthermore, the temperature of maximum HCN conversion to N2O is located between 200 and 250 °C, while raising the reaction temperature increases the proportion of NOx in the products. The co-feeding of H2O and C3H6 had little, if any effect on the total HCN conversion, but C3H6 addition did increase the conversion to NO and decrease the conversion to NO2, perhaps due to the competing presence of adsorbed fragments of reductive C3H6. Evidence is also presented that introduction of NO and NO2 into the reactant gas mixture resulted in additional reaction pathways between these NOx species and HCN that provide for lean-NOx reduction coincident with HCN oxidation.