Design and Development of a promising Biochar-based Copper Catalyst

As about 70 percent of the air pollution comes from vehicles, automotive companies have always been seeking novel catalytic converters to reduce engine emissions. However, so far, a comprehensive research on the impact of copper catalytic converters on biochar has not been conducted. This research aims to study the effect of biochar-based catalytic converter on the amount of exhaust emissions in an XU7 engine. Two thicknesses of the biochar-based catalysts, 7 and 14 cm and Cu (No3)2 in two densities of 1 and 2 mmol were applied for the experiments. Five types of contaminants (i.e., CO, CO2, HC, O2 and NOx) were measured for the evaluation of exhaust emissions. In this study, the XU7 engine, which was produced in 2011, was used to perform the tests. The results showed that the levels of exhaust gases from combustion of the XU7 engine were low and acceptable in all treatments in comparison to the environmental standard In addition, the catalyst used in the XU7 engine had a significant impact on the absorption of exhaust gas from the engine, especially for CO and the level of its concentration was significantly different in comparison with a new catalyst, biochar-based catalysts and control and also, for HC the levels of concentration were shifted applying biochar-based catalysts comparing to the new catalyst and control. Based on the results, it was observed that applying the proposed approach can be an effective step in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from combustion and increasing the life span of engines. (C) 2021 Jordan Journal of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. All rights reserved