Catalytic Converters

1. Blog4: Globalrefininggroup.com Catalytic Converters Catalytic converters gained widespread attention when the U.S. Environment Protection Agency mandated their installation in all automobiles that ran on gasoline. The reason was simple – emissions control. With some of the most polluted cities of the world concentrated in America, the government was bound to take some stringent decisions regarding environment protection and laws. This device has many components that help achieve the objective of air quality conservation to the maximum extent possible. Majorly, it consists of a honeycomb structure to hold the catalyst, a medium that spreads the catalyst, a medium to hold oxygen and the catalyst itself. These four components are housed in a shell which is then fitted into automobiles. There are basically two types of catalytic converters. The first is the Two-way (oxidation) catalytic converter. This type of converter has two simultaneous tasks – first is the oxidation of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide, and second is the oxidation of hydrocarbons to carbon dioxide and water. The automobiles that run on diesel engines have this type of catalytic converter fitted into them. Second type is the Three-way catalytic converter. This device brings on an added advantage of reducing oxides of nitrogen to harmless compounds. Nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide are extremely harmful to the environment and humans alike, as they cause acid rains and smog. Three-way catalytic converter also performs the oxidation functions the same as a two-way converter. The catalyst that is used in these converters never gets fully used up. Recycling catalytic converters generates large amounts of unused platinum group metals which are again sold to converter manufacturing companies.