Low temperature complete combustion of dilute propane over Mn-doped ZrO2 (cubic) catalysts

Combustion of dilute propane (0.9 mol%) over Mn-doped ZrO₂ catalysts prepared using different precipitating agents (viz. TMAOH, TEAOH, TPAOH, TBAOH and NH₄OH), having different Mn/Zr ratios (0.05—0.67) and calcined at different temperatures (500—800°C), has been thoroughly investigated at different temperatures (300—500°C) and space velocities (25,000–100,000 cm³ g⁻¹ h⁻¹) for controlling propane emissions from LPG-fuelled vehicles. Mn-doped ZrO₂ catalyst shows high propane combustion activity, particularly when its ZrO₂ is in the cubic form, when its Mn/Zr ratio is close to 0.2 and when it is prepared using TMAOH as a precipitating agent and calcined at 500—600°C. Pulse reaction of propane in the absence of free-O₂ over Mn-doped ZrO₂ (cubic) and Mn-impregnated ZrO₂ (monoclinic) catalysts has also been investigated for studying the relative reactivity and mobility of the lattice oxygen of the two catalysts. Both reactivity and mobility of the lattice oxygen of Mn-doped ZrO₂ are found to be much higher than that of Mnimpregnated ZrO₂. Propane combustion over Mn-doped ZrO₂ catalyst involves a redox mechanism