More Info on Catalytic Converters

By: Jennifer Dylan

Nowadays, as the world gets busier, more vehicles are taking drifts on the road. This implies that with more cars, the more pollution we could get. Cities around the world especially here in the U.S. are doing numerous campaigns and other projects in order to save the environment from pollution caused by the toxic emissions of motor vehicles and other smoke-generating industries. Maybe we could not completely get rid of the pollution caused by vehicles but we could lessen the harmful effects that we and our environment suffer from. Moreover, laws on minimizing toxic emissions produced by vehicles are strictly imposed.

Most vehicle manufacturers of today have their own way of reducing these harmful effects. They now included additional components on the car's engine and fuel system to do this. One of the devices developed by auto manufacturers that control the emission of pollutant in the internal combustion engine is the catalytic converter. A catalytic converter reduces the toxicity produced. It is located between the fuel system and the exhaust system of conventional vehicles.

Most modern cars that you can find out in the market today are already equipped with a catalytic converter that contains three-way system. The three-way system performs three different processes. The first process of the three-way catalytic converter is the reduction catalyst. In the reduction catalyst stage, it reduces the amount of nitrous oxide produced by the engine and converts it to much safer chemicals, like nitrogen and oxygen.

Next process is the oxidation catalyst that performs oxidation of carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide. The third and last process is the control system. Control system performs the last and the most significant task of a catalytic converter which is the oxidation of unburned hydrocarbons and then turns it into carbon dioxide and water.

The three processes performed by a catalytic converter occur before the actual emission of the exhaust. Catalytic converters contain several parts. The core, which is found in modern catalytic converters, is a ceramic or stainless steel honeycomb that supports the catalyst in performing oxidation. Another component is the washcoat. The washcoat is a mixture of silicon and aluminum, which is added to the core and forms a hard, rough surface. The washcoat was developed by car manufacturers to make the catalytic converter more efficient.

There are bunches of different catalytic converter brands you can find today like the Nissan Sentra catalytic converters, Ford catalytic converters, and other .

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