Catalytic oxidation of organic nitrogen containing compounds

Abstract

A method of treating a gaseous stream containing one or more volatile nitrogen containing organic compounds which comprises contacting the gaseous stream and an oxidizing agent with a catalyst at relatively low temperatures to cause oxidation of the volatile nitrogen-containing organic compounds. The catalyst employed promotes the oxidation reaction to selectively produce N.sub.2 O, N.sub.2, CO.sub.2 and H.sub.2 O without generating significant amounts of NO.sub.x to permit the reaction products to be vented directly into the atmosphere. The catalyst includes a selected amount of a noble or base metal deposited on a catalyst support comprising titania and zirconia. One or more of the elements molybdenum, tungsten or vanadium are added as promoters to the composition which minimizes the generation of NO.sub.x among the reaction products. Lanthanum may be added to provide better thermal stability and increase the selectivity for producing N.sub.2 among the reaction products. The process is effective when the gas stream also includes other non-nitrogen containing organic compounds or NO.sub.x mixed with the nitrogen organic compound being treated without generating significant amounts of NO.sub.x in the reaction products.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.