Abstract The characteristics of sulfated V2O5/TiO2 honeycomb catalyst from metatitanic acid (MTA) were studied in the practical conditions of pilot plant using high dust flue gas from coal fired utility boiler. The effects of reaction temperature, NH3/NO mole ratio, space velocity and operation time on the reduction of nitric oxide (NO) were mainly investigated for engineering application. The catalyst showed high NO reduction of about 90% at a space velocity of 4000 h−1, NH3/NO mole ratio of 1.0 and reaction temperature of 300–400 °C. The efficiency of this catalyst remained constant during the present experiment of 2400 h and the erosion by fly ash was lower than that of the commercial catalysts. These results clearly demonstrate the high potential for this catalyst to be applied commercially for the control of NOx emissions from coal fired utility boiler.