Every modern car now comes with a catalytic converter. Few car owners think about them until, of course, there is a problem and a repair has to be made. In this article, we take a look at what your catalytic converter actually does.
The internal combustion engine is a mechanism that propels the car by burning fuel combined with air. The spark from the spark plug sets the small explosion off and the process is repeated literally millions of times during the life of your car. Of course, each little combustion event produces gases. These are sent down the exhaust system and out the back of the vehicle.
The gases expelled by your car are not good for the environment. Anyone driving into a city in the 1980s knew that gathering pollutant was known as smog. Smog is extremely unhealthy to both the environment and people. Los Angeles had such a bad smog problem that a study once revealed driving in rush hour traffic for an hour with the window down was the equivalent of smoking two packs of cigarettes!
The catalytic converter on your car is designed to deal with these gases. It is usually found just behind the exhaust manifold on the engine. As the gases come out of the engine proper, they pass through the converter before heading out the back of the vehicle. As they pass through, the gases are treated in a manner that effectively renders them much less damaging to the environment.
There treatment process actually isn’t what one would think. The catalytic converter has materials in it, specifically palladium, mixed with other chemicals. As the polluted gas passes over the chemicals, it is separated into inert components that are found in nature. For instance, carbon monoxide is a nasty gas found in the exhaust. Running it through the catalytic converter converts it into carbon dioxide and water, two elements that aren’t dangerous.
Most people don’t think about their catalytic converter unless there is a problem. There is nothing wrong with that, but just keep in mind what a difference it has made when you drive around your city and can actually see long distances.
Dirk Gibson is with DCJAutoParts.com - where you can find the lowest prices on high performance
auto parts and accessories.
