What Is A Catalytic Converter And Why Do You Need One?

The US government enforced a law in 1970 and since then every car manufacturer is using Catalytic Converter which reduces toxic gases and pollutants in exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine into less-toxic pollutants by catalyzing a redox reaction.

If your current Catalytic Converter is not working then you should replace it or you can hire a mechanic to repair it.  Catalytic converter repair cost can vary but if you have chance to save some bucks then better to chose which one best.

As per an estimate, Repairing or replacing a catalytic converter can cost close to $2,000. This will also include the Catalytic Converter cleaner cost and the labor charges which is around $70 to $120/hour.

There are three main emissions produced by car engines: nitrogen gas (N2), carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapour (H2O). The catalytic converter however is mostly used to tackle the smaller, more-harmful products that are produced due to the naturally-imperfect combustion process of the IC engine. These are carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides. Most cats these days are therefore called three-way catalytic converters due to the three main types of emission that they manage to tackle.

These gadgets are much simpler than they sound. A catalyst is simply a chemical that makes a chemical reaction go faster without itself changing in the process. It’s a bit like an athletics coach who stands by the side of the track and shouts at the runners to go faster.

The coach doesn’t run anywhere; he just stands there, waves his arms about, and makes the runners speed up. In a catalytic converter, the catalyst’s job is to speed up the removal of pollution. The catalyst is made from platinum or a similar, platinum-like metal such as palladium or rhodium.

As per the recent data of year 2019, the theft cases of Catalytic Converter from parked cars rose by 600%. Your petrol car is at risk! Thefts of catalytic converters from parked vehicles increased six-fold last year with the scrap metal more valuable than GOLD.

What Is A Catalytic Converter?

A catalytic converter is a large metal box, bolted to the underside of your car, that has two pipes coming out of it. One of them (the converter’s “input”) is connected to the engine and brings in hot, polluted fumes from the engine’s cylinders (where the fuel burns and produces power).

The second pipe (the converter’s “output”) is connected to the tailpipe (exhaust). As the gases from the engine fumes blow over the catalyst, chemical reactions take place on its surface, breaking apart the pollutant gases and converting them into other gases that are safe enough to blow harmlessly out into the air.

One very important thing to note about catalytic converters is that they require you to use unleaded fuel, because the lead in conventional fuel “poisons” the catalyst and prevents it from taking up the pollutants in exhaust gases.

Why Do You Need One?

Well its answer is simple, To Reduce the Pollution!

Catalytic converters are mainly designed to reduce immediate, local air pollution—dirty air where you’re driving—and this chart certainly seems to suggest that they’re effective. Even so, people sometimes question whether they’re really as green as they seem. It’s important to remember that they reduce emissions rather than eliminate them completely.

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