APPLYING COPPER-ZINC METAL AS A CATALYTIC CONVERTER

BASED ON NON-NOBLE MATERIAL TO REDUCE EXHAUST EMISSIONS

OF CARBON MONOXIDE AND HYDROCARBON

Megawatia, Catur Rini Widyastutib, Khairatun Nisac, Ratnaningrumd

Chemical Engineering Department, Semarang State University, Semarang, Indonesia
a
megawati@mail.unnes.ac.id, bc.rini.widyastuti@gmail.com, ckhairatunnisa.unnes@gmail.com,
d
ratnaningrum46@gmail.com

Abstract. Exhaust emissions from vehicles is one of the main sources of air pollution. The most
effective technology to reduce emissions of Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Hydrocarbon (HC) is the
application of the catalytic converter in the exhaust system of the motorcycle muffler. Catalytic
oxidation of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon (HC) is one of methods to reduce the
emission at exhaust system of vehicle. In this study, Copper-Zinc (CuZn) metal has been selected as
catalyst based on non-noble material (low cost production, abundant materials, and low-temperature
oxidation). The purpose of this paper is to study the application of CuZn as a catalytic to convert
CO and HC emissions into harmless gases with various machine rotational speeds (2000 and 2500
rpm). Furthermore, the oxidation kinetics was approached using pseudo homogeneous model. The
results showed that CuZn catalyst was effective to decrease up to 47.71% at 2000 rpm and 55.34%
at 2500 rpm for CO and HC emissions, respectively. Therefore, CuZn metal can be considered as a
prospective catalyst to reduce CO and HC emissions. The kinetic constants can be expressed by
Arrhenius equation with the first and second order reaction for CO and HC, respectively.

Keywords: catalytic converter, exhaust emissions, kinetics, non-noble material, pseudo-

homogeneous model

A. INTRODUCTION
Exhaust emissions from vehicles is one of the main sources of air pollution. Data from the Ministry of
Environment shows that air pollution from motor vehicles, especially premium fuel (spark ignition engines)
is 70% of carbon monoxide (CO) and 60% of hydrocarbon (HC). Gas emissions of carbon monoxide and
hydrocarbon are toxic and harmful to the environment and human health.
The most effective technology to reduce emissions of Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Hydrocarbon (HC) is
the application of the catalytic converter in the exhaust system of the motorcycle muffler. The catalytic
converter is one of the alternative technologies to reduce the emission of pollutants from motor vehicles,
especially gasoline-fueled engine [1]. The function of a catalytic converter is oxidizing of carbon monoxide
and hydrocarbon emissions quickly. The aim of catalytic converter installation in the exhaust system of
motorcycle muffler is to convert harmful pollutants such as carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon into
harmless gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor (H2O) through a chemical reaction as shown
in equation 1 for carbon monoxide and equation 2 for hydrocarbon [2].
2 CO + O2 → 2 CO2 ......................................................... (1)
HC + O2 → 8 CO2 + H2O .................................... (2)
The commonly used catalysts are noble materials such as Palladium, Platinum, and Rhodium in the form
of a honeycomb monolith support frame which has a large specific surface area [3]. But, the price of the
noble material is relatively expensive, the availability is scarce, and it is operated at high temperature, so it
is necessary to study non-noble materials to overcome such limitations.
 Transition metal with a high abundance and relatively inexpensive price can be one of the alternatives as
the catalytic converter [4]. Copper-Zinc (CuZn) material has been selected as catalyst because it has high
activity in the exhaust system, low cost production, the availability is abundant, and operated at a lower
temperature than the noble material.
Research that study the influence of transition metal catalyst to reduce emissions of carbon monoxide
(CO) and hydrocarbons (HC) have been done, but not as much as study about reaction kinetics. Research on
the kinetics of metallic catalytic converter made of CuZn metal alloy to reduce emissions of CO and HC has
never been done, but the kinetics to reduce emission of CO and HC by using other types of catalyst have
been done. Several previous studies that have been done on the kinetics and mechanism of reaction in the
catalytic converter including a silver (Ag) catalyst [5], Copper (Cu) mordenite [6], Platinum (Pt) [7], and
Ir/FeOx [8], whereas the previous studies more specially discuss the value of activation energy of CO
oxidation reaction is the use of nickel (Ni) [9].
Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine of the reaction kinetics CuZn metal catalyst in
reducing CO and HC emissions from motorcycle muffler.

B. MATERIAL AND METHODS

Measurements of exhaust emission were carried out at 2000 and 2500 rpm using gas analyzer. The
conversion efficiency of CO and HC emission was decreased in accordance with distance position of
catalytic converter from exhaust manifold [10]. Therefore, the catalytic converter was located about 45 cm
from exhaust manifold of motorcycle.

1. Preparation of Catalyst
Design innovation of Copper-Zinc (CuZn) metal as a catalyst was a cylindrical shape with 6,6 cm of
length; 2,4 cm of diameter and 10 tubes in the inner of the cylinder (Fig 1)

Fig 1. Design of catalyst

2. Preparation of Motorcycle Muffle

In this study, motorcycle muffler of Honda Supra Fit 2004 was an controlled object which its muffler
has been modified by adding copper-zinc and copper metal as a catalyst.

Fig 2. Scheme of standard motorcycle muffler

3. Calibration of Gas Analyzer

Calibration of gas analyzer was done when the engine on the working condition. The calibration was
automatically done by the gas analyzer. The gas analyzer is shown in figure 3.
 Fig 3. Gas analyzer

4. Emission Test
Emission test was conducted to determine the amount of exhaust emission from motorcycle muffler.
Measurements of exhaust emission were carried out at 2000 and 2500 rpm using gas analyzer.
According to test procedure as shown in figure 4.

Fig 4. Scheme of emission test process

5. Pseudo-homogeneous Model
Oxidation kinetics model of CO and HC was approximated by pseudo-homogeneous model. Model of
pseudo homogeneous reaction was used differential and integral method with the assumption that the mass
transfer of reactants in the solid (catalyst) was very fast, hence it could be ignored on the speed of the
reaction [11]. Another basic assumption of modelling pseudo-homogeneous in the reactor was only one
phase, but the real condition were two phases [12]. The schematic diagram of the experimental reactor setup
is shown in figure 5.

Figure 5. Schematic diagram of the experimental reactor setup

C. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The research results show that CuZn catalyst was effective to decrease CO emission up to 47,71% in
2000 rpm, while HC emission decreased up to 55,34% in 2500 rpm as shown in table 1.
Table 1. Result of percentage reduction CO and HC emissions on average using CuZn catalyst
 Based on the regulation from Ministry of Environment about exhaust emission standard of old motor
vehicle, the levels of CO and HC were allowed on 5,5% and 2400 rpm at idle condition, respectively.

Effect of Catalyst
CO Concentration
The speed of machine on the engine rotation depends on fuel combustion processes. Figure 6 shows that
speed of vehicle is slow at low engine speed (2000 rpm), hence the CO content in the ambient air has a low
concentration. The concentration of CO from the exhaust system used catalyst is lower than without the
catalyst. Therefore, applying CuZn catalyst as a catalytic converter can reduce the emission of CO from the
exhaust gas, so the levels of CO are below the quality standard of national regulation from Ministry of
Environment.

Fig 6. The effect of CuZn catalyst toward CO concentration

HC Concentration
Figure 7 shows a decrease of emissions in line with the increase in engine rotation. This happens because
the temperature of exhaust system rising, therefore the rate of oxidation reaction of hydrocarbon on the
catalytic converter become faster.

Fig 7. The effect of CuZn catalyst toward HC concentration

CO2 Concentration
The lowest speed of machine (2000 rpm) produces exhaust gas with the lowest CO2 level. On the
reaction of complete combustion, the CO2 will be formed along with water vapor. While the incomplete
combustion of CO gas will be formed thus reducing the concentration of CO2. The addition of the catalyst
will increase the concentration of CO2 as shown in figure 8.

Fig 8. The effect of CuZn catalyst toward CO2 concentration

Order Reaction of Carbon Monoxide (CO)

The reaction is said to be first order reaction if the reaction rate is directly proportional to the
concentration of reactant. Figure 9 and figure 10 shows the fitting of order reaction for CO oxidation
reaction at 2000 and 2500 rpm.

Fig 9. The first order reaction of CO oxidation in 2000 rpm

 Fig 10. The first order reaction of CO oxidation in 2500 rpm

Assumption of first order reaction produces a graph fitting almost coincide toward experimental data
with the value of correlation coefficient (R2) is 0,9669 and 0,9177 at 2000 and 2500 rpm, respectively.
According to research of Westley 1980 [13], the order reaction of oxidation CO is a second order
reaction at 1500 – 3000 oK by the equation 3
CO + O2 → CO2 + O ...................................................... (3)
Therefore, the order reaction of oxidation CO at 336 – 338 oK is a first order reaction. The difference of the
first order and second order reaction is change of reactant concentration. The second order reaction is faster
than the first order reaction because the rate of change of second order reaction is increase faster become 4
times. Another factor influencing of order reaction is temperature because the kinetic energy of the
molecules will increase along with the temperature rise, hence it will increase the number of collisions per
unit time.

Order Reaction of Hydrocarbon (HC)

Figure 11 and figure 12 show the fitting of order reaction for HC oxidation reaction at 2000 and 2500
rpm.

Fig 11. The second order reaction of HC oxidation in 2000 rpm

 Fig 12. The second order reaction of HC oxidation in 2500 rpm

Assumption of second order reaction is produces a graph fitting almost coincide toward experimental data
with the value of correlation coefficient (R2) is 0,9672 and 0,7666 at 2000 and 2500 rpm, respectively.
According to research of Westley 1980 [13], the order reaction of oxidation HC is a second order
reaction at 298 – 650 oK by the equation 4
CH3(CH2)6CH3 + O → CH3(CH2)6CH2 + OH ............... (4)
Therefore, the order reaction of oxidation HC at 336 – 338 oK is a second order reaction (accordance with
the research of Westley).

Activation Energy of CO Oxidation

Generally, the temperatur change is affect the value of reaction rate constant (k) when the temperature
rise, the value of reaction rate constant (k) also increase. Factors influencing of activation energy are
temperature (T), pre-exponential factor (A), and a catalyst.
The value of activation energy (E) in this study is 132,54 kJ/mol. According to research of Delgado 2014
[9], the value of activation energy (E) to CO oxidation reaction using a nickel (Ni) catalyst at 373 – 1273 oK
is 123,60 kJ/mol. The value of E obtained in this study is higher than Delgado’s research because the
activation energy is getting smaller as the temperature rises. Figure 13 shows the effect of (ln k) and 1/T on
the second order reaction of CO oxidation.

Fig 13. (ln k) versus 1/T on the second order reaction of CO oxidation
Activation Energy of HC Oxidation
The value of activation energy (E) in this study is 37,55 kJ/mol. According to research of Westley 1980
[12], the value of activation energy (E) to HC oxidation reaction at 298 – 650 oK is 24,27 kJ/mol. The value
of E obtained in this study is higher than Westley’s research because the range of temperature from
Westley’s research is higher than this study, hence the activation energy is getting smaller as the
temperature rises. Figure 14 shows the effect of (ln k) and 1/T on the second order reaction of HC oxidation

Fig 14. (ln k) versus 1/T on the second order reaction of HC oxidation

D. CONCLUSIONS
In this study, applying catalytic converter based on non-noble material was tested for minimization of
engine emission. The emission test that we have conducted clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of CuZn
as a catalyst for the reduction of CO and HC emission. The activation energy of oxidation CO and HC are
132,54 kJ/mol and 37,55 kJ/mol, respectively. Therefore, CuZn based on non-noble material has been
considered as a prospective catalyst to reduce emission of CO and HC. The lowest of activation energy is
causing the less time needed to carry out chemical reaction.

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