As energy
consumption increases, air pollution caused by gases emitted during the
combustion of fossil fuels is becoming a serious social issue. Representative
pollutants are nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), carbon monoxide
(CO), and unburned hydrocarbons (HC). Nitrogen oxides are known to cause damage
to the human body as a cause of photochemical smog, or to cause corrosion of
buildings and acidification of soil and plants as a cause of acid rain.
In this issue, we’d like to confirm the direction and current position of nitrogen oxide reduction technology through the overall flow of the technological content and patent trend of nitrogen oxide pre/post treatment technology, as well as cases and solutions by source of nitrogen oxide pollution.
1. Nitrogen oxide and damage
There exist stable N2O,
NO, N2O3, NO2, N2O5 and unstable NO3 in nitrogen oxides, and those that exist
enough to cause problems in the air environment are NO and NO2, and these
substances are usually called nitrogen oxides (NOx) in terms of air pollution.
Representative examples of damage include acidification of soil, plants and
crops caused by acid rain, photochemical smog, and diseases caused by fine dust
inhaled through respiratory tract, and the damage is increasing day by day.
2. Major Nitrogen Oxide Reduction Pre/Post Treatment Technology
Among the pre- and post-treatment
technologies for reducing nitrogen oxides, two of the most representative
technologies were selected, so we introduce here briefly.
① Low NOx Burner (LNB)
A method that reduces the combustion
intensity by controlling the mixed characteristics of fuel and air, and controls
the flame temperature and oxygen concentration in the initial combustion region
to suppress the generation of thermal NOx and fuel NOx.
② Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR)
A technology that lowers the combustion chamber
temperature by recirculating a portion of the exhaust gas burned in the engine
back to the engine, thereby suppressing NOx emission.
◎ Post-treatment technology to reduce nitrogen oxides
A. Selective
Catalytic Reduction (SCR)
As a technology for converting harmless N2
and H2O using ammonia as a reducer, is the most representative technology for
reducing NOx among the technologies developed so far because of its high denitrification
efficiency and ease of operation and maintenance.
It’s a way that a reducer containing nitrogen,
such as ammonia and urea, is sprayed at a temperature of about 870 to 1150°C,
and the sprayed reducer is ionized and reacts with nitrogen oxides in an oxygen
environment to finally decompose into N2, CO2 and H2O.
3. Patent trend of nitrogen oxide reducing technology
<▼Detailed classification of nitrogen oxide reducing technology>
◎ Application trends by year / country
▲Trends in the number of applications by year / country
▲Trends in the
number of application counties by year based on main categoryA tendency to repeat the trend of increase → decrease → increase is observed, and the results of applications in Korea and China show a continuous upward trend (↗). In addition, it is observed that post-processing technology is concentrated in an absolute ratio compared to pre-processing technology, and the market is also expected to be ubiquitous.
◎ Application Trends by All Applicants
▲Top Applicant's Nitrogen Oxide Reduction Pre/Post processing Technology Status
The applicant with the largest number of applications is TOYOTA MOTOR, followed by Hyundai Motor Co., Ltd., HSD Engine Co., Ltd., and GM GLOBALTECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS in that order. It tends to focus on post-processing technology.
◎ NOx reduction pre-processing technology application trend
▲Application Trends by Nitrogen Oxide Reduction Pre-processing Technology
▲Top
applicant for nitrogen oxide reduction pre-processing technology
Among the nitrogen oxide reduction technologies, the pre-processing technology is confirmed in the order of exhaust gas recirculation (A4) > low NOx burner (A6) > water (or steam) addition (A10), etc.
Top applicants related to pre-processing technology among nitrogen oxide reduction technologies were confirmed in the order of UNIV SHANGHAI JIAOTONG (CN), 上海华之邦科技股份有限公司 (Shanghai Huazhibang Technology) (CN), Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (KR), Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KR).
In addition, out of a total of 389 nitrogen oxide pre-processing technologies are concentrated in A4 (about 39%) and A6 (about 38%) subcategories, and it is judged that the result is due to the reduction efficiency as a characteristic of this technical field. .
▲Application Trends by Nitrogen Oxide Reduction Post Treatment Technology
▲Top applicant for nitrogen oxide reduction post-processing technology
Top applicants are listed in the order of TOYOTA MOTOR, HSD Engine and Hyundai Motor.
Among a total of 2,882 post-processing technologies, patent filing was focused on B1 (about 63%) sub-class, and it is inferred that demand and applications are active because its high efficiency is good enough for international environmental regulations.
The nitrogen oxide problem is directly related to our industrial activities, and it is a pollutant that has a very high cost in strengthening regulations and applying abatement technology to prevent it. Therefore, basic data such as recent domestic and overseas development of NOx reduction technology and cost analysis for each application are closely required. In addition, policy preparation is also required to be carried out concurrently through changes in social beliefs and related legislation.
※ References
- Automotive fine
dust and nitrogen oxide reduction technology and market trends (2016, KEITI)
- Catalytic
chemistry technology for reducing nitrogen oxides, a mobile pollutant (2020,
New Material Economy)
- Status of
denitrification technology for power generation facilities (2009,
instrumentation technology)
- Trend of nitrogen
oxide reduction technology in cement industry (2020, resource recycling)
- Ultra-low NOx
burner (2016, KISTI Market Report)
- Technology trend
of Hybrid SNCR/SCR (2006, Connectic Report)
- 2020 vision and
strategy for high-performance environmental equipment (2007, KIET)
😄Report by JunKyu PARK, powe0519@wips.co.kr
IP Strategy 3 Team l Manager
JunKyu PARK specializes in patent trend analysis and patent big data processing using AI, focusing on major industries such as displays, batteries and polymers.
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