Turning Toxic Factory Exhaust Gases into Harmless Components in Viet Nam
Exhaust gases, while unavoidable in industrial processes, are detrimental to the environment. A Vietnamese researcher invented an affordable catalytic converter to treat exhaust gases and turn them into harmless components.
Dr. Le Minh Thang is a professor at the Department of Organic and Petrochemical Technology at Hanoi University of Science and Technology. She studied petro chemistry engineering at Hanoi University of Science and Technology and obtained her chemistry Ph.D. at Ghent University, Belgium.
Born to a scientist mother, Dr. Le also wanted to become a scientist, and her family encouraged her to pursue scientific studies. She said she chose petrochemistry because the field was broad, involved many chemicals, and concerned large factories.
Dr. Le focused her research on catalysis in wastewater treatment processes and the catalyst for the treatment of exhaust gases from the burning process of fuels, including carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, nitric oxide, and nitrogen dioxide.
How does Dr. Le’s catalytic converter work
One of her inventions is a catalytic converter to treat exhaust gas. It is a piece of ceramic coated with mixed transition metallic oxide. The converter transforms harmful gases into harmless CO2 and water.
The item is inserted in the chimney or exhaust pipes of factories and will be efficient for any factory that burns fuel. The catalytic converter has to be replaced every two to three years.
According to Dr. Le, the catalytic converter can reduce over 90 percent of harmful exhaust gases, and its price is about twice lower than that of a catalytic converter made from noble metal. The converter, she said, is affordable for most companies, even small ones.
Production of catalytic converters for exhaust emission control
The system has also been tailored to fit into the exhaust pipes of motorbikes. She is currently working with exhaust pipe manufacturers to see how to include the filter in production lines.
Her “laboratory of environmentally friendly materials and technology” manufactures the converter on demand for interested companies. Five factories already installed the system in Hai Duong, Hai Phong, and Hanoi.
The commercialization of the catalytic converter is yet to start as Dr. Le is seeking a commercial partner or investors to bring her product to the market and contribute to a reduction in polluting emissions.
Carbon Monoxide Filter Mask
Dr. Le, who participated in WIPO Innovation and Entrepreneurship Clinics for Vietnamese Women in 2022, has two registered patents in Viet Nam, one for her catalytic converter to treat exhaust gases of internal engines (Patent No 20257, 27/11/2018) and the other one for a mask filtering carbon monoxide (Vietnam Patent No 20771, 12/03/2019).
The mask is meant for people exposed to carbon monoxide, such as firefighters and workers in coal mines. It contains mixed metal oxide impregnated into suitable absorbents, such as activated carbon.
In the next five years, she hopes to have transferred her technologies to a commercial partner and that both inventions will be widely available nationally and internationally.
