Cloth catalysts in water denitrification: I. Pd on glass fibers

Fiber catalysts are easy to handle and free of mass-transfer resistance. This report is the first application of cloth catalysts to water denitrification. In this work, cloths woven from glass fibers (GF) of 7–10 mm in diameter, impregnated with Pd, were tested in a semi-batch reactor to evaluate their effectiveness in the catalytic liquid phase hydrogenation of nitrites and nitrates. The catalytic properties of Pd-GF cloths were evaluated as a function of Pd loading as well of chemical composition of the glass, specific surface area and weaving mode of the fibrous support. Investigated catalysts showed the same level of specific activity (per g Pd) as conventional powdered catalysts for liquid-phase hydrogenation of nitrites but their activity for nitrates was about one order of magnitude lower. The nitrite and nitrate removal activities were independent of the catalyst structure; the formation of ammonium ions was highly sensitive to reactant concentration. The stability of Pd-GF cloths is discussed.