• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.47-53
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• 2000

To overcome the shortage of conventional TWC that is activated at high temperature, higher than 25$0^{\circ}C$, photocatalyst is considered as an new technology. Because the photocatalytic reaction of photocatalyst is not a thermo mechanical reaction, it is necessary to heat the system to start the reaction. It can be activated just by ultra violet light that includes wavelengths shorter than 400 nanometers even at ambient temperature. In this study photocatalytic reduction of hydrocarbon was investigated with a model gas test. To understand the effects of co-existence gases on the hydrocarbon reduction by photoreaction, CO and NO, $O_2, H_2O$ gases those are components of exhaust gases of gasoline engine are supplied with C3H8/N2 to a photoreactor. The photoreactor contains $TiO_2$ photocatalyst powders and a UV bulb. The results show that oxygen is the most important factor to reduce HC emission with photocatalyst. Photocatalyst seems to have a good probability for automotive application to reduce cold start HC emissions.