Integration of oxidative honeycomb catalysts in firewood stoves - Performance analysis, safety aspects and long term durability

Batch-wise operated wood stoves for room heating purposes are popular and widespread in Europe. Besides economic and ecological reasons they are also very important for reaching the European CO2 emission targets. However, since they contribute significantly to harmful gaseous as well as particulate emissions, they have to be optimized towards clear emission reduction, especially in real life operation. It is claimed that catalysts integrated in firewood stoves can significantly contribute to reach this target. Therefore this study investigated the catalytic conversion rates of integrated ceramic and metallic honeycomb catalysts regarding carbon monoxide (CO), organic gaseous compounds (OGC) and particulate matter (PM) emissions. Further the applicability under critical operating conditions as well as the long term durability regarding the catalytic conversion rate was assessed for both types of catalysts. The results showed a catalytic emission conversion potential of around 30 % to 99 %. Thereby, the highest reduction potential was identified for CO emissions (conversion rate 70 % to 99 %), followed by reduction of OGC emissions (conversion rate 40 % to 60 %) and reduction of PM emissions of around 30 % to 50 %. Long term tests and safety tests led to the conclusion that integrated catalysts have to be cleaned regularly in order to prevent blocking and to guarantee an optimal catalytic conversion performance.