Development of a high-temperature durable catalyst for use in catalytic combustors for advanced automotive gas turbine engines

An experimental program was performed to develop durable catalytic reactors for advanced gas turbine engines. This program was performed as part of DOE's Gas Turbine Highway Vehicle Systems Project. Objectives of this program were to evaluate furnace aging as a cost-effective catalytic reactor screening test, measure reactor degradation as a function of furnace aging, demonstrate 1000 h of combustion durability, and define a catalytic reactor system with a high probability of successfful integration into an automotive gas turbine engine. In the first phase of this program, 14 different catalytic reactor concepts were evaluated, leading to the selection of one for a durability combustion test with diesel fuel at 1700 K combustion coditions. The durability reactor, a proprietary UOP noble metal catalyst, failed structurally after about 136 h and the catalyst was essentially inactive after about 226 h. In Phase II, eight additional catalytic reactors were evalated and one of these was sucessfully combustion-tested for 1000 h at 1700 K on propane fuel. This durability reactor used graded-cell honeycombs and a combination of noble metal and metal oxide catalysts. The reactor was catalytically active and structurally sound at the end of the durability test.