Catalytic converters play a vital part in halting the expansion of global warming on our planet. Today we will be discussing what does a catalytic converter do for a car.
Catalytic converters convert harmful gases into less toxic gases. Certainly, it will have less impact on our earth. Most importantly, it is used in all of the production vehicles present today. Thanks to advanced technology, we can say we are reducing the impacts of global warming on our planet.
What is a catalytic converter?
A catalytic converter has a catalyst inside it. Inside car exhaust, the catalyst is platinum or rhodium. The catalyst reacts with harmful gases. And it changes the harmful into less toxic gases without changing their physical state. That’s why catalysts are a vital part, and all thanks to all the chemists for inventing this compound.
The first catalytic converter was introduced to the world in 1950 by French engineer Eugene Houdry. Although the usage was not until 1975. Maybe due to technological advancement or lack of innovation.
Exhaust gases toxic emissions, is it harmful?
Pollutants such as unburnt hydrocarbon ( which is the reason you see soot ), Nitrogen monoxide (.NO), and carbon monoxide (CO) are emitted from the combustion chamber of your vehicle.
They reduce the emission from the byproducts of the internal combustion engine of our car. Moreover, Inside the vehicle, not enough oxygen (O₂) is available to have complete combustion. Hence incomplete combustion leads to the production of carbon mono oxide (CO).
A high amount of carbon monoxide impacts pregnant women. Instead of oxygen, the mother’s body takes carbon monoxide, which eventually combines with hemoglobin. Moreover, Those hemoglobins are transported to the fetus. As a result, the fetus gets carbon monoxide instead of oxygen. The consequences? Dwarf height, abnormal growth, and much more.
Furthermore, you can imagine how hot it gets inside the car engine when combustion is happening! The temperature gets so high that the unreactive gases even start to react. We all know Nitrogen. Nitrogen is present in our earth, about 72%. Nitrogen is an inert gas. Due to the high temperature, Nitrogen reacts with oxygen to form nitrogen monoxide, which is also very harmful.
How does the catalytic converter reduce air pollution?
This part is an important part you should know. It does a redox reaction to minimize the pollutants. Most importantly, it converts around 98% of the harmful gases emitted. It has a honeycomb design inside to increase the surface area to volume ratio. Moreover, Both oxidation and reduction reaction takes place inside the catalytic converter.
It is made using some precious metals that capture noxious gases. For this reason, catalytic converter theft is rising. Here three precious metals rhodium, platinum, and palladium are used. They help to reduce toxic gases.
Types of the catalytic converter
Three types of reaction take place inside the catalytic converter, which are:
1 ) Reduction
The first and most important reaction is this one—converting nitrogen oxide to nitrogen and oxygen by the reduction process. Moreover, Nitrogen is not harmful, and neither is oxygen harmful.
2 ) Oxidation
In this reaction, the carbon monoxide, which is due to incomplete combustion, is oxidized to carbon dioxide gas which is less harmful.
3 ) Again Oxidation
Remember soot? So what the converter does is convert the unburnt hydrocarbon into carbon dioxide and water with the oxidation reaction.
Pros and Cons of removing a Catalytic converter
Pros
- Removing a catalytic converter boosts the horsepower of a car.
- The removal of the catalytic converter improves the fuel economy of any car. This is because the vehicle will give less effort to achieve the same energy it used to with the converter.
- The sound of the exhaust improves dramatically without the converter.
- Eliminating the converter will enable you to use high-performance fuel for your car.
Cons
- Most of the countries declared the removal of the catalytic converter to be illegal due to environmental hazards.
- Removing it might bump up the fault code of your vehicle.
- Removal will lead to leakages of hazardous gases.
- Experience a Loss in low-end torque.
How to Clean Catalytic Converter?
It is very important to clean your converter. Because it removes various pollutants from your car engine and gets dirty and gets clogged. That is why you need to keep it clean. There is various catalytic converter cleaner on the market. So, buy the right one for your engine and make it clean.
Can a clogged catalytic converter cause a misfire? Yes! It happens. It restricts the free flow of gas through the exhaust system. For this reason, smoke could come out and make a misfire. That is why cleaning is so much important.
To know more visit here: Clean a Catalytic Converter.
Conclusion
Now you know what does a catalytic converter does in a car and the pros and cons of removing it. So the question is, will you remove it? No doubt, if you are an environmentally concerned citizen, you won’t. Because removing it will not only increase global warming. but will trigger the melting of ice caps of the mountain, which will eventually lead to rising sea levels. Thus the ultimate consequence will be flooding. Apart from it, it has some negative aspects. It increases fuel costs and decreases vehicle performance, especially in older type vehicles.
Hopefully, we were able to answer your question. Good Luck!
Expand Your Knowledge:
Leave a Reply