Most technological advances tend to simplify processes while adding layers of technology for comfort or a better user experience. For example, the phone in your hand has far more processing power than the computers of your parents’ time at a more favorable price point (although current events may throw what is considered a “favorable” price point into question). In this example, cars tend to become increasingly complex as well. Cars are not only vehicles, but also have had aspects of computing piled onto it over the years. However, one piece of technology stands out: the catalytic converter, something present in all cars, yet not something most people think about. Why is it important, and how has it made an impact on advancing automobile technology today?
Catalytic converters were invented to stem the tide of pollutants in our air. It is an exhaust emission control device that converts more toxic gases and pollutants in the exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine into less harmful pollutants by catalyzing redox reactions. Redox reactions are reactions in which the oxidation states of the reactants change. The science behind catalytic converters is complex, and they are often prized by criminals in various countries for the materials required to make them. Some materials, per ounce, are more valuable than gold; they are also rather easy to steal from cars.
The first catalytic converter was invented in France near the end of the 19th century, when few oil-powered cars were on the road. The first catalytic converters had inert clay-based materials coated with platinum, rhodium, and palladium sealed into a double metallic cylinder. Eugene Houdry (1892-1962), a French mechanical engineer, patented a catalytic converter. What made Houdry so important was that he was an expert in catalytic oil refining and invented the catalytic cracking process, on which all modern oil refining is based. He emigrated to the United States in 1930 to further develop the process. Houdry, concerned about the air pollution caused by smokestacks and cars, founded the Oxy-Catalyst company to develop catalytic converters for gasoline engines under United States Patent 2,742,437 in the 1950s.
While Houdry laid down the foundation for the modern catalytic converter, several engineers, namely Carl D. Keith, John J. Mooney, Antonio Eleazar, and Philip Messina at the Englehard Corporation, created the first production catalytic converter in 1973. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), formed in 1970 in the United States, had exhaust emissions regulations requiring most cars manufactured after 1975 to have catalytic converters.
The first catalytic converter was a “two-way” converter that combined oxygen with carbon monoxide (CO) and unburned hydrocarbons to produce the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide and water. These regulations also necessitated phasing out tetraethyl lead from automotive gasoline. The “three-way” converter, in use since 1981, controlled the emission of nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide, two precursors to acid rain and smog. Leaded gasoline was banned entirely in the United States in 1996, while it was completely phased out worldwide by 2021, marking a victory for the catalytic converter in its quest to reduce air pollution.
However, it has also been shown that catalytic converter production is ironically a factor in air pollution due to the use of precious metals and how they are used. Three-way converters, for example, must operate at the stoichiometric point (defined as the ideal air-to-fuel ratio in an internal combustion engine) and thus might increase carbon dioxide emissions. In addition, palladium and platinum are considered highly toxic. Most of it is produced near Norilsk, Russia, often considered one of the most polluted places in the world. While some efforts have been made to make catalytic converters more environmentally friendly, such as recycling them, they remain the best option for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
As previously mentioned, catalytic converters are also targets for criminals due to the materials they contain. In the early 2000s, commodity prices soared, and along with that, the materials in a catalytic converter were worth more per ounce than gold. Thefts surged during the period before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching a high of over 153,000 in the United States by 2022. Some cars, such as hybrids, have very valuable catalytic converters—for example, ones found in older models of a Toyota Prius can fetch as much as US$2,000 on the black market.
The catalytic converter has been one of the most essential parts of your car for the better part of 50 years, and has greatly curtailed air pollution. However, as with all things, this can be improved on. Electric vehicles require no catalytic converters, and the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will produce water vapor instead of the still-polluting carbon dioxide. It is important to acknowledge that the catalytic converter averted what could easily have become a long-term environmental disaster, and that is a victory for car owners and environmentalists out there.
Words by Jose Alvarez
Also published in GADGETS MAGAZINE Volume 26 Issue No. 11
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