The use of catalystsBy: Alexis Rodríguez

Do you know …..

• That Saltillo and Torreón are the most polluted cities in Coahuila, this is because these two cities have more companies and citizens

What can we do to help?• Well my idea is to raise awareness about the

importance of car’s verification and the catalyst.We need to take care of ours cars, change the oil,

change the spark plugs, change the air and oil filters

Why do we have a verification for the cars?

It was created to have a better control of the pollution generated by the cars. It was established in Saltillo in the year 1992, but it is a nationwide program, even though some states do not enforce this application

Lambda Value• The lambda value is calculated with:

Air-fuel value14.7

• The ideal air-fuel ratio is 14,7 gr Lambda > 1 === We have enoug air in fuel-air mixture.

Lambda = 1 === We have a perfect combustion Lambda < 1 === We have not enoug air in fuel-air

mixture.

The importance of catalyst• Do you know what is a catalyst? This unit catalyzes the gases generated by

combustion cars It is very important because it accelerates the

transformation of gases, but much people don’t know this.

Parameters of gasesWith catalyst Whitout catalyst

Gases % Gases %

CO 1.85 % CO 3.70%

CO2 11.97% CO2 7.77%

O2 1.38% O2 4.62%

NO2 “X” NO2 ”3X”

HC < 400 ppm HC < 900ppm

Without catalyst.3 way Catalystopen cycle.3 way Catalystclosed cycle.

Advantages of using the catalyst

• We can reduce the polluting gases but we should know that a new catalyst has a life span of around 80,000 km, so if your car has more than 80,000 km, you must change your catalyst.

Now, how can I know when my catalyst is not working?

• It is very easy if you have had the car since it was new, you will notice a little change in the machine, the power could be less strong, and the rpm might also be less responsive

Cost• A new catalyst is around $ 1200 and a used

one is around $ 250. The true is: we need this machine because a perfect combustion is very very difficult and without a perfect combustion, the car produces pollution gases.

Used New

What happen with the old catalyst?• Well we visited around 24 Auto parts business and

we asked there: What they usually do with the catalyst? And how many catalysts did they have?

Just four business have more than ten, the other 20 business have less than 5 or no one.

“Romo”“Del norte”

“Rodríguez” “El muñeco”

El muñeco

Arellano

Romo

Rodríguez

Del Norte

0

10

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40

50

60

70

80

HaveRecycleSell again

• And they usually sell the catalysts because it have silver and platinum that can be reused.

So if your catalyst is clogged or is old, you can sell it, earn $ 250, and buy another one, if you do it, you will help to protect the environment.