Three-Way Catalytic Converter For Car Exhaust Pipe

Catalytic Converter And Mufflers Introduction

Three Way Catalytic Converter were first widely introduced in American production cars in 1975 due to EPA regulations on toxic emissions reductions. The United States Clean Air Act required a 75% decrease in emissions in all new model vehicles after 1975, a decrease to be carried out with the use of catalytic converters. Without catalytic converters, vehicles release hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxide. These gases are the largest source of ground level ozone, which causes smog and is harmful to plant life. Catalytic converters can also be found in generators, buses, trucks, and trains—almost everything with an internal combustion engine has a form of Catalytic Converter attached to its exhaust system.

A Exhaust Pipe Catalytic Converter is a simple device that uses basic redox reactions to reduce the pollutants a car makes. It converts around 98% of the harmful fumes produced by a car engine into less harmful gases. It is composed of a metal housing with a ceramic honeycomb-like interior with insulating layers. This honeycomb interior has thin wall channels that are coated with a "washcoat" of aluminum oxide. This coating is porous and increases the surface area, allowing more reactions to take place and containing precious metals such as platinum, rhodium, and palladium. No more than 4-9 grams of these precious metals are used in a single converter.