Synthesis of La₀.₈Sr₀.₂Co₀.₉Fe₀.₁O₃‑δ Perovskite Oxide Catalyst and Geometric Modification of Catalytic Converter for Hydrocarbon and Carbon Monoxide Emission Reduction

Kuldip Patel^1,2*Dattatraya Subhedar^1*Femina Patel^3*Gaurav Patel⁴

• ¹Charotar University of Science and Technology, Changa, India
• ²CVM University, Vallabh Vidyanagar, India
• ³Gujarat Technological University, Ahmedabad, India
• ⁴Vadodara District, Vadodara, India

ABSTRACT Increasing environmental concerns caused by vehicular emissions have intensified the search for the design and development of non-noble metal catalysts for catalytic converter devices as potential replacements for conventional Pt, Pd, and Rh based noble metal catalysts. This research highlights the development and evaluation of alternative to conventional catalysts through the synthesis of non-noble metal perovskite based catalysts and the design modification of the catalytic converter. A non-noble metal catalyst La₀.₈Sr₀.₂Co₀.₈Fe₀.₂O₃ (LSCF) synthesized by the co-precipitation technique, coated onto a ceramic monolith of a catalytic converter, and examined for effectiveness under petrol fuel laboratory test setup. The synthesized catalyst was also analysed using SEM, XRD, and EDX to study surface morphology and confirm the crystal structure. The catalytic converter housing assembly was modified by integrating design modifications and analysed through computational simulations to investigate the velocity profile, pressure distribution, and reaction behaviour. Among the three catalytic converter design configurations with diffuser cone angles of 8°, 10°, and 14°, the 8° diffuser angle was selected as it showed a favourable gas flow pattern, pressure distribution and velocity profile. The entire module was then evaluated experimentally on a petrol-fuel laboratory test setup to assess emission performance under varying loads and speeds. Experimental emission tests revealed a significant reduction in hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions compared to engines without a catalytic converter. The results demonstrate that the synthesized La₀.₈Sr₀.₂Co₀.₉Fe₀.₁O₃‑δ non-noble metal catalyst, combined with the modified catalytic converter design, effectively reduces vehicular emissions and providing a alternative and practical approach to noble metal catalysts. A noticeable reduction in CO and HC exhaust emissions was achieved using the LSCF catalyst for automotive catalytic converter.