The proton exchange membrane fuel cell generates electricity from hydrogen and oxygen (from air) through electrocatalytic reactions in an electrochemical cell. The Pt/C catalyst, commonly used in PEM fuel cells, is very sensitive to impurities that can interact with the active catalyst sites and limit fuel cell performance. Unfortunately, most hydrogen is currently produced from fossil sources, and inevitably contains impurities. The subject of this thesis is the effect of hydrogen impurities on the operation of a PEM fuel cell using a Pt/C anode. The impurities studied are carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), and selected hydrocarbons. Particular focus is given to the interaction between the impurities studied and the anode catalyst. The main method used in the study involved performing cyclic voltammetry and mass spectrometry, simultaneously. Other electrochemical techniques are also employed. The results show that all the impurities studied adsorb to some extent on the Pt/C catalyst surface, and require potentials comparable to that of CO oxidation, i.e., about 0.6V, or higher to be removed by oxidation to CO2. For complete oxidation of propene, and toluene, potentials of above 0.8, and 1.0V, respectively, are required. The unsaturated hydrocarbons can be desorbed to some extent by reduction, but oxidation is required for complete removal. Adsorption of ethene, propene, and CO2 is dependent on the presence of adsorbed or gaseous hydrogen. Hydrogen inhibits ethene and propene adsorption, but facilitates CO2 adsorption. Adsorption of methane and propane is very limited and high concentrations of methane cause dilution effects only. The adlayer formed on the Pt/C anode catalyst in the presence of CO2, or moderate amounts of hydrocarbons, is found to be insffuciently complete to notably interfere with the hydrogen oxidation reaction. Higher concentrations of toluene do, however, limit the reaction. / Polymerelektrolytbränslecellen genererar elektricitet fran vätgas och syrgas (fran luft) genom elektrokatalytiska reaktioner i en elektrokemisk cell. Den platina-baserade katalysator som oftast används i dessa bränsleceller är känslig mot föroreningar, då dessa kan interagera med katalysatorns aktiva yta, och därmed begränsna bränslecellens prestanda. Tyvärr produceras dagens vätgas huvudsakligen fran fossila källor och innehåller därför oundvikligen föroreningar. Denna avhandling behandlar hur olika vätgasföroreningar påverkar katalysatorns aktivitet och bränslecellens drift. De föroreningar som studeras är kolmonoxid (CO) och koldioxid (CO2), samt ett antal mindre kolväten. Störst fokus ligger på hur dessa föroreningar interagerar med anodens Pt/C katalysator. Den metod som huvudsakligen används är cyklisk voltammetri kombinerat med masspektrometri, men flera elektrokemiska metoder har använts. Resultaten visar att alla undersökta föroreningar adsorberar på Pt/C katalysatorns yta i större eller mindre utstreckning. For att avlägsna det adsoberade skiktet genom oxidation till CO2 krävs potentialer jämförbara med CO oxidation, dvs ca 0,6V, eller högre. Fullständig oxidation av propen eller toluen kräver potentialer högre än 0,8V respektive 1,0V. De omättade kolvätena kan delvis avlägsnas genom reduktion, men fullständig avlägsning kräver oxidation. Närvaron av väte, i gasform eller adsorberat pa katalysatorn, hämmar adsorptionen av eten och propen, men främjar CO2 adsorption. Metan och propan adsorberar i mycket begränsad utstreckning på Pt/C katalysatorns yta. De prestandaförluster som uppstår av höga koncentrationer av metan förklaras av utspädning av vätgasen. Det adsorberade skiktet som bildas när Pt/C katalysatorn exponeras för CO2 eller måttliga koncentrationer av studerade kolväten, är inte tillräckligt heltäckande for att märkbart påverka vätgasreduktionen. Däremot kan höga koncentrationer av toluen begränsa reaktionen. / <p>QC 20161010</p>

Stickoxide (NOx) und Distickstoffoxid (N2O) entstehen bei der Verbrennung fossiler Brennstoffe in Gegenwart von Luft und gehören auf Grund ihrer toxischen bzw. klimaschädigenden Wirkung zu den Luftschadstoffen. In der Arbeit wird die simultane Reduktion von NOx und N2O an nickelbeladenen Zeolithen vom Typ H-ZSM-5 mit Propen als Reduktionsmittel untersucht. Die experimentellen Arbeiten wurden unter realitätsnahen Bedingungen mit einem Katalysatorbett durchgeführt. Der Einfluss des Nickelgehalts und der Acidität des zeolithischen Trägermaterials auf Umsatz und Selektivität der Reduktion werden diskutiert. Ausgehend von den gewonnenen Ergebnissen wird ein wahrscheinlicher Reduktionsmechanismus vorgeschlagen. / Nitric and nitrous oxides (NOx, N2O) are part of toxic and climate damaging airborne pollutants and will be produced by combustion of fossil fuels in present of air. In this work the simultaneous reduction of NOx and N2O with propene has been investigated using nickel impregnated zeolites of type H-ZSM-5 as catalytic active material. The experiments have been done using one catalyst bed and a synthetic gas mixture according to real existing environment conditions. The influence of nickel content as well as acidity of the support material on conversion and selectivity have been discussed. Using the experimental results a possible reaction mechanism has been submitted.

This thesis describes the investigation of three aspects of the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA): * Aerosol formation from mixed precursors * Global modelling of SOA formation * Modelling of dynamics of SOA formation based on empirical data collected from smog chamber experiments. The formation and growth processes of secondary organic aerosol were investigated using smog chamber experimentation and modelling techniques to gain a better understanding of the application of SOA yield values in modelling both SOA mass and dynamics. Published SOA yields from a range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are used to model SOA mass on a local, regional or global scale, based on the assumption that the SOA yield of a mixture is the sum of the yields of the components. Experimental investigations into SOA yield from mixtures of VOC revealed potential uncertainties that would result from applying these yields to systems containing multiple VOCs. SOA formation in systems of toluene or m-xylene, compared with systems of these VOCs and propene, have shown that the introduction of propene (which has a zero SOA yield) to smog chamber photo-oxidations of toluene or m-xylene delays the formation and suppresses the overall yield of SOA from 450 to 90 µg m-3 ppm-1 for the toluene system and from 325 to 125 µg m-3 ppm-1 for the mvxylene system compared with systems of individual species without propene. The SOA partitioning yield data also indicates that partitioning of species to existing aerosol is suppressed in the mixed systems. Gas-phase modelling of these experiments showed that potential SOA species were expected to be formed sooner due to the increased system reactivity provided by propene. The observed delay in SOA nucleation, similar consumption rates of toluene and m-xylene in both the single and mixed systems and the gas-phase modelling results suggest that the addition of propene to hydrocarbon SOA systems modifies the gas-phase chemistry leading to the formation of potential SOA species from toluene and m-xylene. This result calls into question the bulk and partitioning yield values that have been published for pure substances as well as the validity of applying individual VOC yields to VOC mixture. Application of SOA yields to the global scale provides estimates of annual global SOA formation, global contributions from various VOCs and regional SOA distributions. Two SOA modules, using bulk and partitioning yield methods, were added to a global atmospheric chemical transport model, MOZART-2. The bulk yield method, representing the maximum possible global SOA burden, gave an annual production of 24.5 Tg of SOA, which is slightly lower than previous estimates (30 - 270 Tg yr-1). The partitioning method, which gives a more realistic estimate of SOA formation, produced 15.3 Tg yr-1; the biogenic fraction (13.6 Tg yr-1) compares to a previous estimate of biogenic SOA of 18.5 Tg yr-1 and 2.5 to 44 Tg yr- 1 using the partitioning method. Anthropogenic SOA contributions of 1.1 Tg yr-1 from MOZART-2 compared to recent estimates of 0.05 -2.62 Tg yr-1. SOA production was found to be dependent on oxidant availability and VOC emissions in South America and Asia. The partitioning method produced significantly less SOA due to limited availability of OC. Thepartitioning method also produced a peak SOA concentration of 10 µg m-3 over South America in September and showed that SOA is at maximum production for most of the year in Asia and Europe. The two SOA formation methods also provides data to analyse the restrictions to SOA formation in particular regions, based on the maximum amount of SOA able to form (bulk yield method) and the more realistic partitioning estimate from the same region. Limitations to SOA formation in a particular region can be attributed to deficiencies in OC availability or VOC oxidant concentrations. Comparisons to limited observational and modelled data suggest that the MOZART-2 SOA model provides a good representation of global averaged SOA. SOA mass concentrations, predicted by models such as MOZART-2, can be used in part to model the dynamics of an SOA population (e.g. size of particles, number concentrations etc.). Aerosol properties such as size and number concentration can then be used to estimate their effect on climate and health. The explicit representation of the processes that affect aerosol dynamics, such as nucleation, condensation, evaporation and coagulation can be complex and use significant computational resources. Simplification of the discrete coagulation equation and empirical coagulation coefficients for continuum and non-continuum regime diffusion kinetics provided a simplified method of coagulation capable of predicting the evolution of inert sodium chloride aerosol in chamber experiments. A variable coagulation coefficient (linked to the mean particle number concentration of each experiment) was developed. This method is an empirical surrogate for the standard coefficient corrections applied to Brownian based diffusion in the continuum regime to account for the different kinetic effects within the transition and free molecular diffusion regimes. This method removes the need for calculating individual coefficients for each particle interaction. Estimates of modeluncertainty show that within uncertainty limits the model provides a good representation of experimental data. Correlation and index of agreement (IOA) calculations revealed good statistical agreement between modelled and experimental. Some experiments showed degrees of coagulation under prediction using the variable coefficient technique. Investigations into the effect of aerosol type and size, temperature and humidity may be necessary to refine the variable coefficient calculation technique. The model showed little sensitivity to model time step and is capable of high resolution representation of the aerosol. Mass concentration is conserved within the model whereas some error due to numerical diffusion within the number concentrations results from the bin sectioning technique used. The simplicity of this sectioning method over other methods and the minimal effect of numerical diffusion establishes a simplified method of modelling relative to the high resolution of the aerosol distribution the model achieves. It is suggested that the efficiency improvements introduced by the approaches used in developing this model provide an efficient ultra-fine coagulation modelling for atmospheric models. A semi-empirical model for SOA dynamics (SPLAT) incorporating coagulation, nucleation, condensation and evaporation was developed. The aim of the model and the development process was to predict, with high resolution and minimal computational expense, the formation and growth of SOA given a SOA mass input as a function of time. The average size distribution profile from chamber experimental data was used as part of the nucleation module. This technique provided an alternative method of representing the particle distribution compared to those models that assume a single diameter of nucleated particle or a fixed log-normal mode for the entire evolution of SOA. All SPLAT simulations assume organic nucleation events within the experiments modelled, although it is stilluncertain whether they occur in the atmosphere. The modelled nucleation events have produced a single nucleation burst, a result of immediate domination of condensation as soon as nucleation occurs. This deficiency is likely to be a result of the assumption of free molecular diffusion for condensation. The rate of condensation, calculated at every time step, is based on the aerosol size distributed surface area and the particle-size-dependent saturation mass concentrations. The SPLAT coagulation module was a version of the model developed in Chapter 6. Comparisons between experimental and modelled data showed good agreement. These comparisons revealed the shortcomings in the nucleation module while a statistical analysis of the modelled and experimental data has shown SPLAT to be effective in modelling a range of SOA systems. The complexity introduced in modelling aerosol dynamics in high resolution is offset in SPLAT by efficiency improvements due to the insensitivity of the model to time step size and simplified methods of bin sectioning, nucleation, coagulation, condensation and evaporation. Published SOA yields can be applied to predict SOA mass at local, regional or global scales. Although previously unreported uncertainties in these yields have been shown to exist, the MOZART-2 global chemical transport model has shown that SOA mass concentration can be predicted with reasonable quality, considering the scale of the model and limited observational data. These global scale SOA mass predictions can be used purely for global burden and occurrence, or as the input for modelling the dynamics of an aerosol population, which is significant for estimating an aerosol population's effect on climate change and health. SOA mass concentrations from chamber experiments were used as input to a SOA dynamics model. This model (SPLAT) then predicted the evolution of particle number concentrations and size within these experiments based on this mass input. Application of the dynamics model to the output of the MOZART-2 model could then provide a comprehensive global scale SOA modelling package.

L’objectif de ce travail était de démontrer la possibilité de coupler sur un même catalyseur, la fonction de stockage et réduction des NOx (sur le baryum) avec un effet électrochimique reposant sur un système micropile. Ce système micropile est composé de nanoparticules catalytiques (Pt et Rh) déposés sur conducteur ionique par les ions O2- (YSZ) en contact avec un support conducteur électronique (SiC dopé) de façon à pouvoir générer, sous mélanges réactionnels, une force électromotrice capable de réduire électrochimiquement une partie des NOx sur le Pt et d’oxyder le CO, les hydrocarbures imbrûlés et H2 sur le Rh. L’effet micropile a été observé sur un catalyseur Pt/Ba (matériau de stockage)/YSZ/Rh enduit dans les canaux d’un filtre à particule en carbure de silicium dopé, en condition essence pauvre à 400°C et en condition Diesel à plus basse température (300°C). Une augmentation de la conversion des NOx d’environ 10% a été observé sur les catalyseurs micropile. L’effet électrochimique a été détecté par une surproduction de CO2, en milieu riche (très peu ou pas de O2) provenant de la réaction d’oxydation électrochimique du CO (produit par vaporeformage) en réagissant avec les ions O2- provenant de YSZ. De plus, des tests catalytiques ont montré que YSZ peut être utilisée comme matériau de stockage des NOx. En effet, un traitement réducteur préalable augmente fortement sa capacité de stockage des NOx / The main objective of this study was to demonstrate the coupling between NOx storage/reduction process on barium, with an electrochemical reduction of NOx (micro fuel cell effect) on the same catalyst. The micro fuel cell effect is ensured by a an electromotive force (potential) which is created between catalytic nanoparticules (Pt and Rh) in contact with an ionic conductor (YSZ) and an electronic conductor (doped SiC). The micro fuel cell effect was observed, during the regeneration phase of the catalysts (rich period), on a Pt/Ba/doped α-SiC-YSZ/Rh monolithic system under lean-burn gasoline conditions at 400°C with an enhancement of about 10 % of the NOx conversion over a complete cycle lean/rich. This electrochemical effect was characterized by the electrochemical oxidation of CO (produced by steam reforming) into CO2 by using O2- ions coming from YSZ. Under Diesel conditions, the micro fuel cell system was found to work at low temperature especially at 300°C. In the second part of the work, a new generation of NOx Storage and reduction catalyst was developed consisting only of noble metals (Pt and/or Rh) deposited on YSZ support (Ba free catalyst). The catalytic measurements revealed that YSZ can be used as a NOx storage material in lean burn conditions (Gasoline and Diesel) especially when it was previously reduced under hydrogen. The storage mechanism would take place on the oxygen vacancies created by the removal of O-2 ions from the YSZ structure

Stickoxide (NOx) und Distickstoffoxid (N2O) entstehen bei der Verbrennung fossiler Brennstoffe in Gegenwart von Luft und gehören auf Grund ihrer toxischen bzw. klimaschädigenden Wirkung zu den Luftschadstoffen. In der Arbeit wird die simultane Reduktion von NOx und N2O an nickelbeladenen Zeolithen vom Typ H-ZSM-5 mit Propen als Reduktionsmittel untersucht. Die experimentellen Arbeiten wurden unter realitätsnahen Bedingungen mit einem Katalysatorbett durchgeführt. Der Einfluss des Nickelgehalts und der Acidität des zeolithischen Trägermaterials auf Umsatz und Selektivität der Reduktion werden diskutiert. Ausgehend von den gewonnenen Ergebnissen wird ein wahrscheinlicher Reduktionsmechanismus vorgeschlagen. / Nitric and nitrous oxides (NOx, N2O) are part of toxic and climate damaging airborne pollutants and will be produced by combustion of fossil fuels in present of air. In this work the simultaneous reduction of NOx and N2O with propene has been investigated using nickel impregnated zeolites of type H-ZSM-5 as catalytic active material. The experiments have been done using one catalyst bed and a synthetic gas mixture according to real existing environment conditions. The influence of nickel content as well as acidity of the support material on conversion and selectivity have been discussed. Using the experimental results a possible reaction mechanism has been submitted.

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