In operando Detection of Three-Way Catalyst Aging by a Microwave-Based Method: Initial Studies

Initial studies on aging detection of three way catalysts with a microwave cavity perturbation method were conducted. Two physico-chemical effects correlate with the aging state. At high temperatures, the resonance frequencies for oxidized catalysts (lambda = 1.02) are not influenced by aging, but are significantly affected by aging in the reduced case (lambda = 0.98). The catalyst aging state can therefore potentially be inferred from the resonance frequency differences between reduced and oxidized states or from the resonance frequency amplitudes during lambda oscillations. Secondly, adsorbed water at low temperatures strongly affects the resonance frequencies. Light-off experiment studies showed that the resonance frequency depends on the aging state at temperatures below the oxygen storage light-off. These differences were attributed to different water sorption capabilities of differently aged samples due to a surface area decrease with proceeding aging. In addition to the aging state, the water content in the feed gas and the temperature affect the amount of adsorbed water, leading to different integral electrical material properties of the catalyst and changing the resonance properties of the catalyst-filled canning. The classical aging-related properties of the catalyst (oxygen storage capacity, oxygen storage light-off, surface area), agreed very well with data obtained by the microwave-based method.