VARIABLE COMPRESSION RATIO (VCR) ENGINES

SUBMITTED BY : AMULYA SAINI (10-MEU-010)

SUBMITTED TO : Mr. MANOJ KUMAR GOPALIYA Mrs. AMRITA JHAWAR

HUDA Sector 23-A Gurgaon - 122017. Tel : + 91 124 2365811 to 13 Fax : + 91 124 2367488 Email :itmgur@vsnl.com

2013-2014

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Apart from the efforts by me, the success of the report largely depends on the encouragement and the guidelines by many others. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to people who have been instrumental in the success completion of the report. I would like to show my greatest appreciation to Mr. Manoj kumar gopaliya. I felt motivated and encouraged every time I met him. Without his encouragement and guideline, this project report would not have been completed. The guidelines and support received from my friends who contributed to this report was vital for the success of the report. I am grateful for their constant support and help.

SUPERVISIOR SIGNATURE

SUPERVISIOR SIGNATURE

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ABSTRACT The aim of this report is to discuss about the CATALYTIC CONVERTERS which are installed in the exhaust pipe of almost all the cars and other automobiles. The main purpose of their installation is to reduce the emissions of HC, CO, AND NOX . A brief description including their history, uses , types of catalytic converters, advantages, structure and their working is discussed in this report. The damage to the catalytic converters, their environmental effects are also discussed in this report.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

TEL- Tetraethyl lead DOC- Diesel Oxidation Catalyst HC- Hydrocarbon DEF- Diesel Emission Fluid DPF- Diesel Particulate Filter CI- Compression Ignition

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LIST OF FIGURES
S.NO FIGURE PAGE NO.

1 2

Catalytic converter used in cars Honeycomb structure inside catalytic converters

3 5

3 4 5 6

2- Way catalytic converter 3-Way catalytic converter Diesel oxidation catalyst Ceramic honeycomb catalyst structure

6 7 9 11

7 8

Efficiency vs. temperature plot Efficiency vs. equivalence ratio plot

12 13

Efficiency vs. lead contamination plot

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10 11

Location of catalytic converter Catalytic converter installed in a car

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LIST OF GRAPHS Efficiency vs. temperature ratio plot Efficiency vs. equivalence ratio plot Efficiency vs. lead contamination

PAGE No. 12 13 13

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

S. No. CHAPTER-1 CHAPTER-2 CHAPTER-3 CHAPTER-4 CHAPTER-5

TITLE EMMISIONS CONCEPT OF CATALYTIC CONVERTER WORKING OF CATALYTIC CONVERTER

Page No. 1 3 10

PROBLEMS FACED BY CATALYTIC CONVERTERS 14 LOCATION AND SIGNIFICANCE OF CATALYTIC CONVERTERS

16 18

REFERENCES

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CHAPTER-1 EMISSIONS

1.1 EMISSIONS Emission is nothing but a substance which is discharged into the air particularly by an internal combustion engine. This emission is composed of gases like sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrous oxides and other compounds of sulphur and phosphorous. Due to continuously increasing vehicular emissions in todays world, there is a need of reducing these vehicular emissions and to keep our environment clean. Although, these emissions cannot be eliminated fully but efforts are being put into this field to keep the emissions at the minimum level. Lead is one of the main pollutant. Actually, lead in its compound called TEL(tetraethyl lead) is added to gasoline to increase octane number which allowed higher compression ratios and more efficient engines, however the result of using lead in gasoline is that it was the highly poisonous pollutant from the engine exhaust. During the first half of 1900s, due to lower number of automobiles and other engines, the atmosphere was able to absorb these emissions of lead without noticeable problems. As the population and automobile density increased, the awareness of air pollution and its danger also increased. The danger of lead emissions was recognized, and a phase-out occurred during the 1970s and 1980s. The use of lead could not be stopped immediately but had to be phased out over a number of years. First, low-lead gasoline was introduced, and then, years later no-lead gasoline. Lead was still the major additive to raise the octane number of gasoline, and alternate octane raisers had to be developed as lead was phased out. Millions of major high compression ratio engines could not use low-octane fuel. Metals used in engines also had to be changed as lead in gasoline was phased out. When leaded fuel is burned, it hardens the surfaces in the combustion chamber and on the valves and the valves seats. Engines designed to use leaded fuel had softer metal surfaces to start and relied on surface hardening effects that occurred in use. If these engines are used with unleaded fuels, surface hardening is not realized. Quick and serious wear problems were experienced. Catastrophic failures of valve seats or piston faces are common in a short period of time(ie. 10,00020,000km in an automobile). Hence, harder metals and added surface treatments are being employed for engines designed to use unleaded fuel. It was necessary to phase out leaded gasoline over a period of time as older automobiles wore out and were taken out of operation.
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Leaded gasoline contains about 0.15gm/litre of lead in the fuel. 10 to 50% of this gets exhausted out with the other combustion products. The remaining lead gets deposited on the walls of the engine and the exhaust system. The hardened combustion chamber surfaces which resulted from the burning of the leaded gasoline were quite impervious to the absorption of gases such as fuel vapour. HC emissions were also, therefore, slightly reduced in these engines.

1.2 NEED FOR REDUCING EMMISIONS Due to increased vehicular emissions, there has been a detrimental effect of these gases and the pollutants as these emissions pollute our environment. The gases like nitrogen oxides produce photochemical smog, acid rain, and nitrate particulates. They also result in the destruction of the stratospheric ozone. The gases like sulphur dioxide results in acid rain and it has also serious impact on the human health. The gases like carbon monoxide also has serious impacts on the human health. So, there is a need to reduce these vehicular emissions. Efforts are being put into this field to reduce the emissions and keep their level to the minimum extent.

1.3 EMMISION CONTROL TECHNIQUES There are many techniques of reducing the vehicular emissions such as 1) By the use of thermal converters 2) By the use of catalytic converters 3) By particulate trap methods 4) By exhaust gas recirculation 4) By positive crankcase ventilation techniques There are also many other techniques which are used to control the vehicular emissions but here the attention is focussed on the structure, types, working of the CATALYTIC CONVERTERS which is a very good technique for reducing these emissions and is mainly used in every automobile.

CHAPTER-2 CONCEPT OF CATALYTIC CONVERTER

2.1 CATALYTIC CONVERTERS A catalytic converter is a vehicle emission control device which converts toxic by products of combustion in the exhaust of the internal combustion engine to the less toxic substances by the means of catalysed chemical reactions. The specific reactions vary with the type of catalyst installed. Most present-day vehicles that run on gasoline are fitted with a three way catalytic converter, so named because it converts the three main pollutants in the automobile exhaust ie carbon monoxide, unburnt hydrocarbon and oxides of nitrogen. The first two undergo catalytic combustion and the last is reduced back to nitrogen.

Figure 1: Catalytic converters used in cars [1]

2.2 HISTORY OF CATALYTIC CONVERTERS The catalytic converter was invented by Eugene Houdry, a French mechanical engineer and expert in catalytic oil refining who lived in United States. Around 1950, when the results of early studies of smog in Los Angeles were published, Houdry became concerned about the role of automobile exhaust in air pollution and founded a special company, Oxy-Catalyst. Houdry developed catalytic converters for smoke stacks called cats for short. Then he developed catalytic converters for fork lifts that used low grade non-leaded gasoline. Then in the mid 1950s he began research to develop catalytic converters for gasoline engines used on cars. He was awarded United States Patent 2742437 for his work. Widespread adoption of catalytic converters didnt occur until more stringent emission control regulations forced the removal of the anti-knock agent, tetraethyllead, from most gasoline, because lead was a catalyst poison and would inactivate the converter by forming a coating on the catalysts surface, effectively disabling it. Catalytic converters were further developed by a series of engineers including John J. Mooney and Carl D. Keith at the Engelhard Corporation, creating the first production catalytic converter in 1973. Dr. William C. Pfefferle developed a catalytic combustor for gas turbines in the early 1970s, allowing combustion without significant formation of nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide. [2]

2.3 STRUCTURE OF CATALYTIC CONVERTER Catalytic converter is usually a stainless steel container mounted somewhere along the exhaust pipe of the engine. Inside the container, is a porous ceramic structure through which the exhaust gas flows. In most converters, the ceramic is a single honeycomb structure with many flow passages. Some converters use loose granular ceramic with the gas passing between the packed spheres. Volume of the ceramic structure of the converter is generally about half the displacement volume of the engine. This results in the volumetric flow rate of the exhaust gas such as there are 5 to 30 changeovers of gas each second, through the converter. The surface of the ceramic passage contains small embedded particles of catalytic material that promote the oxidation reactions in the exhaust gas as it passes. Aluminium oxide(alumina) is the base ceramic material used for most catalytic converters. Alumina is used mainly bacause of its properties like it can withstand the high temperatures, it remains chemically neutral and it has very low thermal expansion and it does not thermally degrade
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with age. The catalyst materials most used are platinum, palladium and rhodium. The main reason for using the honeycomb structure inside the catalytic converters is that it results in increase in surface area. Precious metal catalysts are expensive, and a thin coating over a large surface area is efficient. Also the honeycomb structure is preferable to reduce the pressure gradients and a honeycomb structure is compact.

Figure 2: Honeycomb structure inside the catalytic converters [3]

2.4 TYPES OF CATALYTIC CONVERTERS There are 3 types of catalytic converter as described below1) 2-WAY CATALYTIC CONVERTER- A 2-way or oxidation catalytic converter has 2 simultaneous functions to perform. First is the oxidation of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide and other is the oxidation of hydrocarbons (oxidation and partially burnt fuel) to carbon dioxide and water. 2CO + O2 2CO2 CxH2x+2 + [(3x+1)/2] O2 xCO2 + (x+1) H2O This type of catalytic converter is widely used on diesel engines to reduce carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions. They were also used on gasoline engines in American and Canadian market automobiles until 1981. Because of their inability to control the oxides of nitrogen, they were superseded by 3-way converters.

Figure 3: 2-way catalytic converter [4]

2) 3-WAY CATALYTIC CONVERTER- A 3-way catalytic converters has the additional advantage of controlling the emission of nitrogen oxides, in particular nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas over 300 times more potent than carbon monoxide, a precursor to acid rain and currently the most ozone depleting substance. Technological improvements including three-way catalytic converters have led to motor vehicle nitrous oxide emissions in the US falling to 8.2% of anthropogenic nitrous oxide emissions in 2008, from a high of 17.77% in 1998. Since 1981, "three-way" (oxidation-reduction) catalytic converters have been used in vehicle emission control systems in the United States and Canada; many other countries have also adopted stringent vehicle emission regulations that in effect require three-way converters on gasoline-powered vehicles. The reduction and oxidation catalysts are typically contained in a common housing, however in some instances they may be housed separately. A threeway catalytic converter has three simultaneous tasks. The first one is the reduction of nitrogen oxides to nitrogen and oxygen. The second one is the oxidation of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. The third is the oxidation of the unburnt hydrocarbons to carbon dioxide and water. 2NOx xO2 + N2 2CO + O2 2CO2 CxH2x+2 + [(3x+1)/2]O2 xCO2 + (x+1)H2O These three reactions occur most efficiently when the catalytic converter receives exhaust from an engine running slightly above the stoitiometric point. This point is between 14.6 and 14.8 parts air to 1 part fuel, by weight, for gasoline. The ratio for Autogas (or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)), natural gas and ethanol fuels is each slightly different, requiring modified fuel system settings when using those fuels. In general, engines fitted with 3-way
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catalytic converters are equipped with a computerized closed loop feedback fuel injection system system using one or more oxygen sensors, though early in the deployment of threeway converters, carburettors equipped for feedback mixture control were used. Three-way catalysts are effective when the engine is operated within a narrow band of air-fuel ratios near stoichiometry, such that the exhaust gas oscillates between rich (excess fuel) and lean (excess oxygen) conditions. However, conversion efficiency falls very rapidly when the engine is operated outside of that band of air-fuel ratios. Under lean engine operation, there is excess oxygen and the reduction of NOx is not favoured. Under rich conditions, the excess fuel consumes all of the available oxygen prior to the catalyst, thus only stored oxygen is available for the oxidation function. Closed-loop control systems are necessary because of the conflicting requirements for effective NOx reduction and HC oxidation. The control system must prevent the NOx reduction catalyst from becoming fully oxidized, yet replenish the oxygen storage material to maintain its function as an oxidation catalyst. Three way catalytic converters can store oxygen from the exhaust gas stream usually when the air fuel ratio goes lean. When sufficient oxygen is not available from the exhaust stream, the stored oxygen is released and consumed. A lack of sufficient oxygen occurs either when oxygen derived from nitrogen oxides reduction is unavailable or when certain maneuvers such as hard acceleration enrich the mixture beyond the ability of the converter to supply oxygen. Unwanted reactions can occur in the three-way catalyst, such as the formation of odoriferous hydrogen sulphide and ammonia. Formation of each can be limited by modifications to the wash coat and precious metals used. It is difficult to eliminate these by-products entirely. Sulphur-free or low-sulphur fuels eliminate or reduce hydrogen sulphide. For example, when control of hydrogen-sulphide emissions is desired, nickel or manganese is added to the wash coat. Both substances act to block the absorption of sulphur by the wash coat. Hydrogen sulphide is formed when the wash coat has absorbed sulphur during a low-temperature part of the operating cycle, which is then released during the high-temperature part of the cycle and the sulphur combines with HC.

Figure 4: 3-Way catalytic converter [5]

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3) THREE WAY+AIR CATALYTIC CONVERTER-The three-way + air converter performs the same functions as the three-way converter but has secondary air pumped into the middle of the converter between two separate catalyst coated ceramic substrates. The addition of air improves the oxidation capabilities of the converter.

4) DIESEL OXIDATION CATALYST- For compression-ignition (i.e.,diesel engines), the most commonly used catalytic converter is the Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC). This catalyst uses O2 (oxygen) in the exhaust gas stream to convert CO (carbon monoxide) to CO2 (carbon dioxide) and HC (hydrocarbons) to H2O (water) and CO2. These converters often operate at 90 percent efficiency, virtually eliminating diesel odour and helping to reduce visible particulates (soots). These catalysts are not active for NOx reduction because any reductant present would react first with the high concentration of O2 in diesel exhaust gas. Reduction in NOx emissions from compression-ignition engines has previously been addressed by the addition of exhaust gas to incoming air charge, known as exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) . In 2010, most light-duty diesel manufacturers in the U.S. added catalytic systems to their vehicles to meet new federal emissions requirements. There are two techniques that have been developed for the catalytic reduction of NOx emissions under lean exhaust conditions selective catalytic reduction (SCR) and the lean NOx trap or nitrogen oxides absorber. Instead of precious metal-containing NOx adsorbers, most manufacturers selected base-metal SCR systems that use a reagent such as ammonia to reduce the NOx into nitrogen. Ammonia is supplied to the catalyst system by the injection of urea into the exhaust, which then undergoes thermal decomposition and hydrolysis into ammonia. One trademark product of urea solution, also referred to as Diesel Emission Fluid (DEF), is adblue. Diesel exhaust contains relatively high levels of particulate matter (soot), consisting in large part of elemental carbon. Catalytic converters cannot clean up elemental carbon, though they do remove up to 90 percent of the soluble organic fraction, so particulates are cleaned up by a soot trap diesel particulate filter (DPF). Historically, a DPF consists of a Cordierite or Silicon Carbide substrate with a geometry that forces the exhaust flow through the substrate walls, leaving behind trapped soot particles. Contemporary DPFs can be manufactured from a variety of rare metals that provide superior performance ( at a greater expense). As the amount of soot trapped on the DPF increases, so does the back pressure in the exhaust system. Periodic regenerations (high temperature excursions) are required to initiate combustion of the trapped soot and thereby reducing the exhaust back pressure. The amount
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of soot loaded on the DPF prior to regeneration may also be limited to prevent extreme exotherms from damaging the trap during regeneration. In the U.S., all on-road light, medium and heavy-duty vehicles powered by diesel and built after 1 January 2007, must meet diesel particulate emission limits that means they effectively have to be equipped with a 2-Way catalytic converter and a diesel particulate filter. Note that this applies only to the diesel engine used in the vehicle. As long as the engine was manufactured before1 January 2007, the vehicle is not required to have the DPF system. This led to an inventory run up by engine manufacturers in late 2006 so they could continue selling pre-DPF vehicles well into 2007.

Figure 5: Diesel oxidation catalyst [6]

CHAPTER-3 WORKING OF CATALYTIC CONVERTER

3.1 WORKING OF CATALYTIC CONVERTER There are millions of cars on the road in the United States, and each one is a source of air pollution. Especially in large cities, the amount of pollution that all the cars produce together can create big problems. To solve those problems, cities, states and the federal government create clean-air laws that restrict the amount of pollution that cars can produce. Over the years, automakers have made many refinements to car engines and fuel systems to keep up with these laws. One of these changes came about in 1975 with an interesting device called a CATALYTIC CONVERTER. The job of the catalytic converter is to convert harmful pollutants into less harmful emissions before they ever leave the car's exhaust system. In order to reduce emissions, modern car engines carefully control the amount of fuel they burn. They try to keep the air-to-fuel ratio very close to the stoitiometric point, which is the ideal ratio of air to fuel. Theoretically, at this ratio, all of the fuel will be burned using all of the oxygen in the air. For gasoline, the stoichiometric ratio is about 14.7:1, meaning that for each pound of gasoline, 14.7 pounds of air will be burned. The fuel mixture actually varies from the ideal ratio quite a bit during driving. Sometimes the mixture can be lean (an air-to-fuel ratio higher than 14.7), and other times the mixture can be rich (an air-to-fuel ratio lower than 14.7). The main emissions of a car engine are nitrogen, carbon-dioxide and water vapour. These emissions are mostly begin, although carbon dioxide emissions are believed to contribute to global warming. Because of the combustion process is never perfect, some smaller amounts of more harmful emissions are also produced in car engines. Catalytic converters are designed to reduce carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons or volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides. In chemistry, a catalyst is a substance that causes or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being affected. Catalysts participate in the reactions, but are neither reactants nor products of the reaction they catalyze. In the human body, enzymes are naturally occurring catalysts responsible for many essential biochemical reactions. In the catalytic converter, there are two different types of catalyst at work, a reduction catalyst and an oxidation catalyst. Both types consist of a ceramic structure coated with a metal catalyst, usually platinum, rhodium and/or palladium. The idea is to create a structure that exposes the maximum surface area of catalyst to the exhaust stream,
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while also minimizing the amount of catalyst required, as the materials are extremely expensive. Some of the newest converters have even started to use gold mixed with the more traditional catalysts. Gold is cheaper than the other materials and could increase oxidation, the chemical reaction that reduces pollutants, by up to 40 percent. Most modern cars are equipped with three way catalytic converter. This refers to the three regulated emissions it helps to reduce. The reduction catalyst is the first stage of the catalytic converter. It uses platinum and rhodium to help reduce the NOx emissions. When an NO or NO2 molecule contacts the catalyst, the catalyst rips the nitrogen atom out of the molecule and holds on to it, freeing the oxygen in the form of O2. The nitrogen atoms bond with other nitrogen atoms that are also stuck to the catalyst, forming N2. 2NO => N2 + O2 or 2NO2 => N2 + 2O2 2NO => N2 + O2 or 2NO2 => N2 + 2O2

The oxidation catalyst is the second stage of the catalytic converter. It reduces the unburned hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide by burning (oxidizing) them over a platinum and palladium catalyst. This catalyst aids the reaction of the CO and hydrocarbons with the remaining oxygen in the exhaust gas. For example: 2CO + O2 => 2CO2 There are two main types of structures used in catalytic converters --

honeycomb and ceramic beads. Most cars today use a honeycomb structure.

Figure 6: Ceramic honeycomb catalyst structure [7]

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The third stage of the conversion process is the control system that monitors the exhaust stream and uses this information to control the fuel injection system. Actually, there is oxygen sensor which is mounted to the catalytic converter and it is closer to the engine than the converter. This sensor plays a very significant role that it tells the engine computer how much oxygen is in the exhaust. The engine computer can decrease or increase the oxygen amount by adjusting the air fuel ratio in the exhaust. This control system allows the engine computer to make sure that the engine is running close to the stoichiometric point and it also ensures that there is enough oxygen in the exhaust to allow the oxidation of Carmon monoxide and unburnt hydrocarbons.[8]

3.2 FACTORS AFFECTING CATALYTIC CONVERTER EFFICIENCY Some of the factors which affect the catalytic converter efficiency are explained as follows1) TEMPERATURE- As we can see from figure-7 ie. The efficiency of the catalytic converter is very much dependent on the temperature. When the converter in good working order is operating at a fully warmed temperature of 400C or above, it will remove 98-99% of CO, 95% of NOX and more than 95% of HC from exhaust flow emissions.[9]. But it is to be noted that the catalytic converter should be operated hot but not to a great extent. It can lead to overheating of the converters which will damage the catalytic materials present inside the catalytic converter. It will also lead t less efficient catalytic converters. So the catalytic converters should be heated not to a great extent but to a considerable level so as it will be more efficient and work more towards the oxidation of CO and HC and in the reduction of NOX.

Figure 7: Efficiency vs. Temperature plot [10]

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2) EQUIVALENCE RATIO- Fig-8 shows that it is necessary to be operating at the proper equivalence ratio to get high converter efficiency. Effective control of HC and CO occurs when the mixture is lean and the effective control of NOX occurs when the mixture is near to stoichiometric.

Figure 8: Efficiency vs. Equavalence ratio [11] 3) LEAD CONTAMINATION- It can be seen from Fig-9 that how just a small amount of lead on a catalyst site can reduce HC emission reduction by a factor of two or three. Small amounts of lead impurities are found in some fuels, and 10 to 30% of this ends up on the catalytic converter. Actually the leaded gasoline cannot be used in engines equipped with catalytic converters. Use of leaded gasoline filled two times would completely poison a converter and make it totally useless.[12]

Figure 9: Efficiency vs. Lead contamination [13]

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CHAPTER-4 PROBLEMS FACED BY CATALYTIC CONVERTERS

4.1 COLD START UPS As seen from Fig-7 that catalytic converters are not very efficient when they are cold. When the engine is started after not being operated for several hours, actually it takes a several minutes for the converter to reach an efficient temperature and the temperature at which the catalytic converter becomes 50% efficient is known as light off temperature, which is in the range of 250-300C and the large amount of the car travel is for shorter distances where the catalytic converter never reaches the efficient operating temperature and which results in higher emissions. A major reduction in these emissions is possible if the catalytic converters could be preheated, at least to the light off temperature, before engine start up. Methods of catalytic converter preheating include the following1) By locating the converter close to the engine. 2) By providing super insulation. 3) By employing electric preheating. 4) By using flame heating. 5) Incorporating thermal batteries.

4.2 PROBLEMS FACED WITH CI ENGINES Catalytic converters are being tried with CI engines but are not efficient in reducing NOX due to their overall lean operation. HC and CO can be adequately reduced, although there is greater difficulty because of the cooler exhaust gases of a CI engine because of the larger expansion ratio. This is counterbalanced by the fact that less HC and CO are generated in the lean burn of the CI engine. NOX is reduced in the CI engine by the use of EGR, which keeps the maximum temperature down. The EGR technology is becoming really common in case of CI engines as it plays a significant role in reducing the nitrogen oxides emissions. This EGR also keeps the maximum temperature down. However, it has been found out that the increase in the use of EGR and thereby lower combustion temperatures contribute toward the increase in the solid soot. Also, diesel fuel contains sulphur impurities which leads to the poisoning of
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the catalytic material. This problem is getting minimized to a great extent as the legal levels of the sulphur in diesel fuels continue to be lowered.

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CHAPTER-5 LOCATION AND SIGNIFICANCE OF CATALYTIC CONVERTERS

5.1 COMMONLY USED CATALYSTS The catalyst used in the converter is mostly a precious metal such as platinum, palladium and rhodium. Platinum is used as a reduction catalyst and as an oxidation catalyst. Although platinum is a very active catalyst and widely used, it is very expensive and not suitable for all applications. Rhodium is used as a reduction catalyst, while palladium is used as an oxidation catalyst. In some cases, cerium, iron, manganese and nickel are also used. However, some companies forbid the use of some of these.

5.2 CATALYTIC CONVERTER LOCATION

Figure 10: Location of catalytic converter [14] Catalytic converter is usually installed directly below the front passenger seat of the vehicle.

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Figure 11: Catalytic converter installed in car [15]

5.3 DAMAGE TO CATALYTIC CONVERTERS Catalyst poisoning occurs when the catalytic converter is exposed to exhaust containing substances that coat the working surfaces, encapsulating the catalyst so that it cannot contact and treat the exhaust. The most notable contaminant is lead. Any condition that causes abnormally high levels of unburnt hydrocarbons whether it is raw or partially burnt fuel to reach the converter will tend to significantly elevate its temperature, bringing the risk of a meltdown of the substrate and resultant catalytic deactivation and severe exhaust restriction.

5.4 NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF CATALYTIC CONVERTERS Some early converter designs created a great deal of restriction to the flow of exhaust which negatively affected vehicle performance, drivability and fuel economy. It has been stated that catalytic converters are known in a lot of cases to have an excessively long warm up time period, in a great deal of cases ranging upto 30 minutes. [16]

5.5 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF CATALYTIC CONVERTERS It Reduces fuel economy of cars resulting in greater use of the fossil fuels. Although catalytic converters are effective at removing hydrocarbons and other harmful emissions, most of the exhaust gas leaving the engine through the catalytic converter is mainly carbon dioxide which is responsible for the greenhouse effect.

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REFERENCES

[1]- catalytic converters used in automobiles (westerman.com) [2]- history of catalytic converters (wikipedia.com) [3]- honeycomb structure inside the catalytic converter (bikechatforums.com) [4]- James D Halderman. (2010); automotive engine performance; 2-way catalytic converter [5]- 3-way catalytic converter (performanceexhaustplus.com) [6]- diesel oxidation catalyst (catalystproducts.com) [7]- ceramic honeycomb catalyst structure (howstuffworks.com) [8]- K Nice, C. W. Bryant. how catalytic converters work (howstuffworks.com) [9]- V. Ganesan; catalytic converters; engine emissions and their control. [10]- V. Ganesan; conversion efficiency of catalytic converters as a function of converter temperature; engine emissions and their control. [11]- V. Ganesan; conversion efficiency of catalytic converters as a function of fuel equivalence ratio; engine emissions and their control [12]- V. Ganesan; catalytic converters; engine emissions and their control. [13]- V. Ganesan; reduction of catalytic converter efficiency due to contamination by lead; engine emissions and their control. [14]- location of catalytic convertor (davisconverters.com) [15]- catalytic converter installed in car (autorepairschaumburgil.com) [16]- Donga Ravi. negative aspects of catalytic converters; presentation on catalytic converters.

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