Catalysis Gains from Auto Emission Work

Abstract

The effects of auto exhaust catalysts are often overlooked amid various environmental concerns. However, since their introduction in 1975, catalytic converters have contributed remarkably to decreasing the pollution caused by auto emissions. They also have contributed a great deal to the knowledge of noble-metal catalysis. According to Kathleen C. Taylor, head of the physical chemistry department at General Motors Research Laboratories, Warren, Mich., catalytic converters can eliminate 96% of the exhaust hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide and 76% of the nitrogen oxides emissions in exhausts. She presented this analysis at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society last month in Dallas. Even considering the increased numbers of vehicles each year and the rather slow replacement of older vehicles, Taylor says, carbon monoxide emissions have decreased from 48% to 35%, hydrocarbon emissions from 31% to 16%, and nitrogen oxides from 22% to 14%. Even if emission controls were not improved, the downward t...