Ethanol was used as reducing agent to remove $NO_x$ exhaust from the stationary source. Pre-treatment with sulfuric acid over $Ag/Al_2O_3$ catalyst was dedicated to overcome the $SO_2$ poisoning effect. The $NO_x$ reduction experiment was performed under the simulated condition of power plant The increased surface area with higher CPSI devoted to increase de-$NO_x$ yield. De-$NO_x$ yield of the $NO_x$ exhaust containing 20 ppm of $SO_2$ increased after acid treatment with 0.7% $H_2SO_4$ over 4.0% $Ag/Al_2O_3$, where the increased dispersion of Ag found from the results of XRD and XPS was the dominant factor for the increased de-$NO_x$ yield. However, the reason for the decreased de-$NO_x$ yield with the acid treatment of higher concentration (1.0% and 2.0%) of $H_2SO_4$ was found to be due to the formation of $Ag_2SO_4$ crystallites found from XRD result. Acid-treated $Ag/Al_2O_3$ catalyst showed maximum de-$NO_x$ yield at higher temperature than non-treated $Ag/Al_2O_3$ catalyst did.