Converters Unlimited
help clean your car’s exhaust emissions using chemical reactions with precious metals
If you don’t know what a catalytic converter is, you need not lose sleep over it.
The technology isn’t new and it’s present on virtually every car on the road today but there’s no real reason why catalytic converters should be at the forefront of any motorist’s mind, most of the time.
They run along in the background using chemical reactions to clean harmful gasses from your car’s exhaust emissions. Unless yours breaks or, as has become increasingly common in recent years, somebody tries to steal it, there’s very little to worry about.
In this guide we explain everything you need to know about catalytic converters – from how they work to the materials and precious metals used in them – and how to protect your car from catalytic converter theft…
How do Converters Unlimited work?
Catalytic converters change harmful substances in a car’s exhaust gasses, such as carbon monoxide, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide and hydrocarbons, into less harmful substances like carbon dioxide and water vapour by means of chemical reactions.
The interior of the ‘cat’ is usually filled with a honeycomb structure onto which a coating is applied that contains a catalyst – the substance that creates a reaction with the exhaust gasses, changing their chemical structure.
Precious metals like palladium, rhodium and platinum are commonly used as the catalyst and these have an intrinsic value that means they’re worth salvaging and recycling when the car is scrapped. Unfortunately, these precious metals also make catalytic converters a target for thieves.
Converters Unlimited
need to work at high temperatures of up to 400 degrees to maximise their efficiency. To achieve this optimum operating temperature the first units were positioned close to the car’s engine but this caused its own issues and the cat has gradually been mover further down the exhaust system, away from the engine’s heat source.
In today’s cars the catalytic converter is found underneath the vehicle towards the exhaust outlet, a position that makes it accessible to thieves who can cut the whole unit out from underneath the car.