• The catalytic converter was invented by Eugene Houdry, a
French mechanical engineer and expert in catalytic oil refining who lived in the U.S. around 1950. When the results of early studies of smog in Los Angeles were published, Houdry became concerned about the role of smoke stack exhaust and automobile exhaust in air pollution and founded a company, Oxy-Catalyst. Houdry first developed catalytic converters for smoke stacks called cats for short. Then he developed catalytic converters for warehouse fork lifts that used low grade non-leaded gasoline. Then in the mid 1950s he began research to develop catalytic converters for gasoline engines used on cars. He was awarded United States Patent 2742437 for his work. • Catalytic converters were further developed by a series of engineers including John J. Mooney and Carl D. Keith at the Engelhard Corporation, creating the first production catalytic converter in 1973. • What is catalytic converter • Catalytic converters are one of the major components found in modern exhaust systems. They are installed inline with the exhaust manifold, muffler, and connecting pipes, and perform an important function in relation to emission controls. These components function by catalyzing various chemical reactions in order to convert some of the more harmful or hazardous byproducts of internal combustion into more innocuous compounds. The three primary compounds that are dealt with by catalytic converters are CO (carbon monoxide), UHCs (unburned hydrocarbons), and NOx (nitrogen monoxide and nitrogen dioxide). • A catalytic converter is a large metal box, bolted to the underside of your car, that has two pipes coming out of it. One of them (the converter's "input") is connected to the engine and brings in hot, polluted fumes from the engine's cylinders (where the fuel burns and produces power). The second pipe (the converter's "output") is connected to the tailpipe (exhaust). As the gases from the engine fumes blow over the catalyst, chemical reactions take place on its surface, breaking apart the pollutant gases and converting them into other gases that are safe enough to blow harmlessly out into the air. • in automobiles, a component of emission control systems used to reduce the discharge of noxious and polluting gases from the internal-combustion engine. The catalytic converter consists of an insulated chamber containing a honeycomb structure or pellets coated withcatalyst through which the exhaust gases are passed. Hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide in the exhaust are oxidized to water vapour and carbon dioxide, and nitrogen oxides are reduced tonitrogen and oxygen. Theory • To solve those problems, cities, states and the federal government create clean-air laws that restrict the amount of pollution that cars can produce. Over the years, automakers have made many refinements to car engines and fuel systems to keep up with these laws. One of these changes came about in 1975 with an interesting device called a catalytic converter. The job of the catalytic converter is to convert harmful pollutants into less harmful emissions before they ever leave the car’s exhaust system. • A catalyst is simply a chemical that makes a chemical reaction go faster without itself changing in the process. It's a bit like an athletics coach who stands by the side of the track and shouts at the runners to go faster. The coach doesn't run anywhere; he just stands there, waves his arms about, and makes the runners speed up. In a catalytic converter, the catalyst's job is to speed up the removal of pollution. The catalyst is made from platinumor a similar, platinum-like metal such as palladium or rhodium. • One very important thing to note about catalytic converters is that they require you to use unleaded fuel, because the lead in conventional fuel "poisons" the catalyst and prevents it from taking up the pollutants in exhaust gases. • Parts of CatCon • Types of catalytic converter • Two-way • A two-way (or “oxidation”) catalytic converter has two simultaneous tasks: • Oxidation of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide: 2CO + O2 → 2CO2 • Oxidation of hydrocarbons (unburnt and partially burnt fuel) to carbon dioxide and water: H2O (a combustion reaction) • This type of catalytic converter is widely used on diesel engines to reduce hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions. They were also used on gasoline engines in American- and Canadian-market automobiles until 1981. Because of their inability to control oxides of nitrogen, they were superseded by three-way converters. • Three-way • Since 1981, “three-way” (oxidation-reduction) catalytic converters have been used in vehicle emission control systems in the United States and Canada; many other countries have also adopted stringent vehicle emission regulations that in effect require three-way converters on gasoline-powered vehicles. The reduction and oxidation catalysts are typically contained in a common housing, however in some instances they may be housed separately. A three-way catalytic converter has three simultaneous tasks: • Reduction of nitrogen oxides to nitrogen and oxygen: 2NOx → xO2 + N2 • Oxidation of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide: 2CO + O2 → 2CO2 • Oxidation of unburnt hydrocarbons (HC) to carbon dioxide and water:H2O. • The three harmful compounds are:
• Hydrocarbons (in the form of unburned
gasoline) • Carbon monoxide (formed by the combustion of gasoline) • Nitrogen oxides (created when the heat in the engine forces nitrogen in the air to combine with oxygen)