While the Catalytic Converter does a supreme job in keeping the car emissions clean, its performance can still be improved a lot—through your knowledge and help.

Among the noted liabilities of a catalytic converter is that it only works at a fairly high temperature. When the car starts cold, the catalytic converter will have a hard time in trying to reduce the pollution in the exhaust. A solution for this is to move the catalytic converter closer to the engine. This means that hotter exhaust gases will be able to reach the catalytic converter, making it heat up faster, although this may also reduce the life of the catalytic converter because it is being exposed to extremely high temperatures. You should know that most carmakers have positioned their catalytic converters under the front passenger seat, making it far enough from the engine to keep the temperature down to levels that will not harm it.

Another bright idea for the enhancement of the catalytic converter is to preheat it. Preheating the catalytic converter is a convenient way to reduce emissions, and in this case, the use of electric resistance heaters is highly suggested. Unfortunately, the 12-volt electrical systems on most cars do not provide enough energy or power to heat the catalytic converter fast enough. Most people do not have the patience to wait several minutes for the catalytic converter to heat up before starting their car. Hybrid cars that have big, high-voltage battery packs can provide enough power to heat up the catalytic converter very quickly, which is probably why their catalytic converters are often in premium performance.

Hence, it is not enough for you to take good care of your catalytic converter, but it is vital that you know where it is located as well, and how fast does it work in which temperature.

Nissan Motor Company announced yesterday that it has developed a catalyst for gasoline cars that halves the use of precious metal components to clean tail-pipe emissions. The said catalyst promises big cost savings amid high commodity prices.

As Japan’s third-biggest automaker, Nissan, utilized nano-technology to prevent clustering of the fine metal particles present in catalysts under high temperature conditions, enabling the use of less material to clean exhaust emissions

Common automotive catalytic converters use catalysts that has a mix of platinum, rhodium and palladium to trigger a chemical reaction with polluting nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons to create non-toxic compounds.

Nissan released a statement that this new technology in the field of catalytic converters will be introduced in a new vehicle slated for launch in the second half of the business year ending in March 2009, and expanded into other models. Also, the said technology will be shared with French partner Renault SA.

Automakers have been hurt by rising commodity prices, booking bigger-than-expected raw material expenses for the latest quarter. In fact, the average platinum prices during April-June rose 9 per cent from a year-earlier, rhodium jumped 24 percent and palladium climbed 6 percent, as reported by Platinum Today.

Acura goes for a more environmental-friendly approach by equipping their vehicles with catalytic converters.

The Acura MDX has a very efficient exhaust system by utilizing two close-coupled primary catalytic converters with a secondary underfloor catalytic converter and a large diameter exhaust pipes. The catalytic converter is said to support MDX’s 3.5 liter, 24-valve, all-aluminum, VTEC(TM) V-6 engine. The high flow dual exhaust system helps to generate 253 horsepower and 250 lbs-ft of torque. Aside from the excellent fuel economy it gives the consumers, the MDX gives back to the environment via the said catalytic converter.

For one car critic, the “Acura MDX continues to be a leader in the luxury sport utility segment offering outstanding performance, upscale styling and an abundance of standard luxury features.”

“Each year, we make enhancements to keep the MDX fresh and ahead of the competition,” said Dick Colliver, executive vice president, auto sales. “We have made powertrain improvements, exterior styling changes, technology upgrades and safety enhancements over the last three years. This year we upgraded the interior to make the MDX even more refined and upscale.”

The MDX also features a more sporty style designed to reflect its high performance powertrain. The signature Acura family grille serves as the centerpiece for a smoothly tapered front fascia. The MDX also has a lean, angular headlight treatment encases projection-type headlights that enhance illumination while accenting the bold styling. The front bumper includes an integrated chin spoiler that moves air smoothly to the sides of the car for increased aerodynamics.

Why do catalytic converters fail? There are numerous reasons, one of them may be because of the fouled plugs that can cause unburned fuel to overheat the converter and melt the catalyst to a solid mass. When the oxygen sensor is not functioning properly, it can cause an excessively rich or excessively lean condition. If the mixture is too rich, the catalyst can melt down. If the mixture is too lean, the catalytic converter is unable to convert the hydrocarbons into safe elements.

Oil or antifreeze entering the exhaust system can block the air passages by creating heavy carbon soot that coats the catalyst. The carbon deposits can prevent the catalytic converter from reducing harmful emission in the exhaust flow. Also, the carbon deposits can clog the pores in the ceramic catalyst and block exhaust flow, increasing backpressure and causing heat and exhaust to back up into the engine compartment. Your engine may actually draw burnt exhaust gasses back into the combustion chamber and dilute the efficiency of the next burn cycle. The result is a loss of power and overheated engine components.

Catalytic converters can also have some physical damages The is a dense insulating mat protecting the catalyst inside the catalytic converter. His mat can break when the support hangers get broken. Rocks or other road debris can also hit the converter, causing the internal mat to break also. Off road vehicles often suffer this type of converter failure. Once this mat starts to break up, it will collect in the smaller passages and clog the converter.

Another safety reminder for all motorists is to never park your car over tall grass or piles of dry leaves. Your cars perfectly running catalytic converter gets very hot and is enough to start fires.

The catalytic converter is an integral part of the vehicle’s exhaust system. That is why proper care is needed to help maintain its performance.

According to one product manager of a catalytic converter maker,  “symptoms of a failing ‘cat’ include the infamous, rotten egg, smell lingering long after the engine has warmed up, difficulty in starting the car, sluggish acceleration, a loss of power from about 80 km/h, and higher petrol consumption. Problems with a catalytic converter can stem from a number of causes. It may have been physically damaged, perhaps by a speed bump or excessively rough terrain. It can be contaminated (usually if leaded fuel is used by mistake), or the monolith can literally melt down if it comes into contact with unburned fuel. This can occasionally happen when the car is run on empty, push or tow-started, or has a defect in the ignition or carburetor system. In addition, the lambda sensor may have failed, causing the catalytic converter to operate inefficiently”

Some advice he gave to in catalytic converter maintenance are:

* Never push or tow-starting the car
* Not running the car on empty
* Using unleaded fuel only
* Avoiding very short journeys - which result in exhaust gas condensation which corrodes the metal parts
* Slowing down when driving over speed bumps
* Carrying out a regular visual inspection for broken welds and air leakages in the manifold pipes into the cat
* Keeping the vehicle regularly serviced.

Fuel efficiency is now a major concern for motorists as gas prices rise. While a great deal of attention has been given to how changes in driver behavior and habits can improve gas mileage, there are also a number of automotive products and accessories that can help vehicles get better fuel efficiency.

For the vice president of communications and events at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA),  Peter MacGillivray said that automotive specialty-equipment products often do “double duty,” serving to improve fuel efficiency as well as improve the style, comfort, safety or performance of a vehicle.

“Most automotive products and accessories serve more than one purpose,” said MacGillivray. “While it’s the desire to personalize and individualize one’s vehicle that is driving the industry, automotive specialty-equipment products make driving more fun, comfortable or safe-and in many cases-even more fuel efficient.”

Drivers may want to get cat-back exhausts to really get a two-for-one deal.  The cat-back exhaust system refers to the components of a vehicle from the catalytic converter on back., which is the outlet of the catalytic converter to the final vent to open air. It includes the pipe from the converter to the muffler, the muffler and the final length of pipe to the open air. Aftermarket cat-back systems generally use a larger-diameter pipe than stock ones, thus reducing back pressure and enhancing performance.

“Replacing a factory-installed cat-back exhaust system with an aftermarket system can improve the efficiency of how air enters and exits the engine, thereby improving the vehicle’s horsepower and use of fuel,” said MacGillivray.

Car thieves are no longer getting that excellent stereo system, they now go under the vehicle and take a part of the exhaust system, the catalytic converter.

Catalytic converter theft is widespread in California and growing in Washington County. In June, Forest Grove police received reports of two thefts. Then, in the week after the Fourth of July holiday, a catalytic converter was stolen almost every day in Forest Grove and Cornelius.

Owners of repair shops in Hillsboro say that they’ve been targeted for months and have had to take steps to protect the used converters they’ve removed. According to auto parts dealers, the shady trade in stolen converters is growing, as the trading prices of the precious metals inside the parts continue to soar.

Tracking the criminals is difficult since witnesses are scarce, the parts don’t have serial numbers and the victims usually don’t notice the part is missing until they fire up the engine and hear the roar of an unmuffled engine.
Authorities hope to put a stop to the growing popularity of the trade.

Lt. Michael Rouches, a police spokesman said, “They’re more valuable than I thought and obviously there’s a ready market for it.”

According to those in the parts trade, thieves could get as much as $100 for a stolen converter. The metal mesh is what makes the part so valuable. The mesh is made of three metals: palladium, platinum and rhodium. All three trade for extraordinary amounts of money on the commodities market.

Artur Kowalczyk, who runs Catalytic Converters Recycler in Hillsboro, said that an ounce of rhodium can fetch up to $6,000.

Kowalczyk buys used catalytic converters from repair shops and wrecking yards after they’ve been pulled out for replacement. He said he sends the used parts back East to a refinery that melts the parts down and chemically isolates the valuable metals for recycling.

Since there are no serial number in the catalytic converter and it is hard to tell if a person selling them stole it, proved to be the difficulty on catching the thieves.

Federal law requires that every car manufactured after 1975 has a catalytic converter installed. The part, located near the center of the vehicle in the exhaust train, filters out pollutants before they reach the car’s muffler.

Used converters can be sold, but only after they are tested and guaranteed to comply with federal anti-pollution laws. The tight regulations surrounding the devices means most shops don’t install used converters.

In 2008, Audi will be introducing the cleanest diesel technology in the world into series production, together with a new engine and improved catalytic converters. The new TDI engines with their ultra-low emission system combine the spontaneous performance and superior pulling power of today’s TDI power units with outstanding fuel consumption figures and incomparably low emissions.

The new technology will take takes the TDI principle of diesel direct injection with turbocharging that has been proven a million times over and launches it into a whole new dimension. To do this, the diesel-engine development engineers at Audi have incorporated a whole raft of innovative measures into the latest TDI generation: the new piezoelectric common-rail system with an injection pressure of 29,000 psi, the extremely efficient exhaust gas recirculation and optimized turbocharging bring about a dramatic cut in untreated engine emissions. One of the highlights are the combustion chamber sensors that enable even more precise regulation of the combustion processes in the engine – this is the first time that such sensors have been fitted on any engine in the world, marking yet another Audi innovation.

Clean-running and high-tech diesel is what the new engine is all about and aiming to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 90 percent. The ultra-low emission system runs on a biodegradable additive in the form of a solution called AdBlue. Tiny doses of this solution are injected upstream from the DeNOx catalytic converter. The ultra-low emission system as a whole comprises the catalytic converter, the metering module, the AdBlue tank and heated lines, as well as an extensive system of sensors. The comprehensive emission control system is rounded off by the separate two-way catalytic converter and the highly efficient, electronically controlled diesel particulate filter.

A Dutch researcher takes a closer look on the new type of catalytic converter found in cars. The NOx Storage Reduction (NSR) catalytic converter the fuel is alternately combusted in the engine under oxygen-rich (lean) and fuel-rich (rich) conditions. Such diesel engines and ‘lean-burn’ petrol engines are more economical than conventional engines.

Vehicles with diesel and lean-burn petrol engines produce exhaust fumes that are particularly rich in oxygen and therefore the conventional three-way catalytic converter is not suitable for converting the generated NOx into nitrogen. The current trend is therefore to add specific components such as barium to the catalytic converter to store the NOx formed.

In this new type of NOx Storage Reduction (NSR) catalytic converter the diesel or petrol combustion in the engine takes place alternately over long oxygen-rich and short fuel-rich periods. During a long oxygen-rich period the generated NOx is stored in the barium component. When this component becomes saturated the catalyst is regenerated. This happens during the short fuel-rich period when an oxygen-poor emission gas is produced. The NOx stored is released and subsequently reduced to nitrogen over a precious metal such as platinum.

The researcher carried out experiments in a laboratory reactor containing the NSR catalyst. She studied the behavior of the catalyst, like the effect of the various forms in which barium occurs in the catalytic converter, the effect of the presence of carbon dioxide and water in the exhaust gas, and the effect of the various reducing agents, such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and ethylene on the NOx storage and reduction. The research has yielded important new insights with respect to the function of various components in the catalytic converter.

It will be better to fully understand first what really happens inside a catalytic converter before knowing the latest updates on catalytic converters. Automakers describe them as devices that help lessen the toxicity of the vehicle’s exhaust before they are released to the atmosphere.

Car engines today need to control the amount of fuel they burn so they can reduce emissions.   They try to keep the air-to-fuel ratio very close to the calculated ideal ratio, or  the stoichiometric point. Once the ratio has been reached,  all of the fuel will be burned using all of the oxygen in the air.

A catalytic converter is tasked to reduce these elements:

Carbon monoxide (CO) - a poisonous gas that is colorless and odorless

Hydrocarbons or volatile organic compounds (VOCs) - produced mostly from unburned fuel that evaporates

Nitrogen oxides (NO and NO2, together called NOx) - contributes to smog and acid rain, and also causes irritation to human mucus membranes.

Most cars today use a three-way catalytic converter. “Three-way” refers to the three regulated emissions it helps to reduce the elements previously stated. The converter uses two different types of catalysts, a reduction catalyst and an oxidation catalyst. Both types consist of a ceramic structure coated with a metal catalyst, usually platinum, rhodium and palladium. The idea is to create a structure that exposes the maximum surface area of catalyst to the exhaust stream, while also minimizing the amount of catalyst required.

The reduction catalyst is the first stage of the catalytic converter. It uses platinum and rhodium to help reduce the NOx emission. The oxidation catalyst is the second stage of the catalytic converter. It reduces the unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide by burning them over a platinum and palladium catalyst. The last stage is a control system that monitors the exhaust stream, and uses this information to control the fuel injection system. An oxygen sensor is  mounted upstream of the catalytic converter, that tells he engine computer how much oxygen is in the exhaust. In turn, the engine computer can increase or decrease the amount of oxygen in the exhaust by adjusting the air-to-fuel ratio.