2. Catalytic devices for waste gas treatment

The main forms of energy (electricity, heat, transport) are produced mainly by combustion of carbonaceous materials (fractions from oil, coal, gas, wood) in power plants, boilers and transport engines. Combustion gases regularly contain pollutants, the most important of which are unburned hydrocarbons (HC), partial oxidation products (alcohols, aldehydes, acids) known as "volatile organic compounds" (VOC), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon-rich particles, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur oxides (SOx).

Generally speaking, flue gas treatment aims to convert polluting molecules into harmless/neutral products, through reduction and oxidation reactions. For example, nitrogen oxides are reduced to dinitrogen, while carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and carbonaceous particles are oxidized to carbon dioxide. The treatment methods applied...