We often read or hear the term “catalytic converter” whenever we are in an automotive forum, garage, car dealership or at auto shops. So have you wonder what’s this component is for?
Lets find out more in this short but precised post.
History of Catalytic Converters?
According to WikiPedia, catalytic converters were first designed and used in France at the end of the 19th century.
Back then, there are few thousand cars that run on oil and the first catalytic converters were made with platinum, iridium and palladium, and sealed into a double metallic cylinder.
And in 1930, Eugene Houdry, another French mechanical engineer that is expert in catalytic oil refining, patented the first catalytic converter in the United States.
So what triggers engineers to create catalytic converters? Well, because of the ever growing air pollution caused by car exhausts.
In 1950s, Houdry began his research to develop catalytic converters for gasoline engines.
And by 1973, engineers Carl Keith, John Mooney, Antonio Eleazar and Philip Messina, created the first production catalytic converters in automobiles.
The US law requires 75% decrease in emissions in all new model cars after 1975.
What are Catalytic Converters?
In Layman’s term, catalytic converter is a component that helps reduce harmful emissions from various types of vehicles, and not just cars.
It uses catalyst to convert three harmful compounds from vehicle exhausts into harmless compounds – hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides.
Catalytic converter helps convert around 98% of these harmful gasses from a car’s engine. It is commonly made of a metal cover with a honeycomb-like interior with layers of insulation.
Most of the time, people mistakenly identifies the muffler as the catalytic converter because they do look alike and is actually attached to the exhaust pipe.
If you are unaware about these gas compounds, carbon monoxide is quite deadly to us humans and animals alike. Nitrogen oxide triggers acid rain while hydrocarbons produces smog.
So How does Catalytic Converters Work?
So how does catalytic convert harmful gasses to harmless compounds?
Inside the catalytic converter, the said gasses flow through this honeycomb structure that is made from a ceramic and coated with the catalysts (redox reactions).
This interior structure means the gasses goes through a bigger area of catalyst at once. This makes the conversion much faster and efficient.
To reduce harmful emissions, catalysts in catalytic converters removes oxygen by breaking up nitrogen oxides into nitrogen and oxygen gasses. Both of which are harmless to humans. This is called reduction.
Another function of the catalyst is to add oxygen while converting carbon monoxide into carbon monoxide. This is called oxidation process.
Plus, those excess unburned hydrocarbons in the exhaust are converted into carbon dioxide and water.
So, these three effects make catalytic converters an effective device in reducing harmful emissions into the air.
Summary
You probably owned a vehicle with a modern engine under its hood. That means that your car has catalytic converter too, and that is good for you and for the environment.
If your car is either gasoline or diesel engines, it does have a catalytic converter. It just doesn’t work the same way but serves the same purpose.
So the next time you are in a car talk, you can now confidently join the discussion and talk about catalytic converters.
