- Catalyst types and car makes
- What to do with a used catalytic converter?
- How to estimate catalytic price?
- What materials are used in catalytic converters?
- How to get the exact scrap catalytic price?
- Where to find a buyer for a used catalytic converter?
- Conclusion
Catalytic converters are a mandatory part of a vehicle emissions control system. They reduce harmful exhaust that comes out from the engine and thus prevent natural environmental pollution. As time goes by, catalytic converter comes to failure at a certain mileage, which averages from 100,000 to 200,000 kilometers depending on the car's operation and the fuel used. And this is the first reason to change the cat converter.
Before the failure, you may notice catalytic converter symptoms of failure such as reduced engine performance along with ‘Check Engine’ light blinks as a clogged converter restricts the gas flow which makes it hard for the engine to work and leads to power loss.
Besides the obvious, if you ignore problems with the getting failed cat, you may get into issues such as not meeting local state emission standards if your catalyst is failing which in turn may lead to fines and other expenses. So the question arises, how much does the replacement cost? It depends on many factors, let us delve into this subject to see these dependencies and what should you do with a going bad catalytic converter after the service life ends.
Catalyst types and car makes
There are three general types of catalytic converters
- TWC: Three-Way Catalyst has the most use in gasoline-powered cars. The name comes from its operation to reduce three main elements: NOx, CO, and HC.
- DPF: Diesel Particulate Filter. Those are used for diesel engines and their main purpose is to capture relatively big particles that are produced by the diesel engines in specific. This type of catalyst is able to regenerate passively and actively via overheating.
- SCR: Selective Catalytic Reduction. They are also commonly used on diesel systems and mainly reduce NOx exhaust.
- LNT: Lean NOx Trap - has a use in both gas and diesel engines and also operates for NOx emissions mainly.
- DOC: Diesel Oxidation Catalyst. Designed specifically for diesel and reduce CO and HC.
These general types serve similar purposes across the car makes, but the design variation may take place in terms of materials used, size, and shape to follow specifics of your vehicle requirement.
This way you may notice that GM (General Motors) catalysts have short round shapes with an offset angled plate and some Toyotas have a heat shield on one side with perforation and 3 digit code on the other side. The best way to identify your catalyst is by having its serial number which you can then use to search the info on the AutoCatalystMarket website.
What to do with a used catalytic converter?
Before purchasing a new catalyst, you can actually save on replacement costs if you go for recycling your out-of-service converter. Scrap catalytic converters still maintain the value inside, but to understand this value we need to know what is this device and how it works because many people still think that a muffler is the device.
So, the converters are usually located in close proximity to the engine’s exhaust manifold, usually followed by the muffler on the other end. Muffler serves sound reduction purposes, while actual catalysts are meant to convert harmful exhaust emissions produced by the car’s engine. These pollutants are NOx, CO, and HC mainly. The core is made of a honeycomb shape coated by a layer of precious metals of platinum group (PMG) namely Platinum, Palladium, and Rhodium. A converter asserts redox reactions going under high temperatures via these elements being coated on the monolith surface to catalyze these reactions and turn harmful substances into harmless ones such as water, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide, which is how the device got its name by converting the emission and catalyzing redox reactions. These PMGs are the main value of even used catalysts, which is why recycling is so important, as these precious metals are hard to get, therefore it is better to be recycled.
How to estimate catalytic price?
Now, if catalyst repair does not exist, the question is how much do these elements cost? There are a lot of misconceptions on this subject as most people tend to think that the car make or engine power has an impact on the price. Vehicle concerns used to outsource catalyst manufacturing for third parties. There are of course direct fit converters that exist, but there is no OEM branding at most. That way, we have mostly an independent recycling market in terms of catalytic price. The best way to estimate the price is to write your cat converter’s serial down and put it into the search bar on the AutoCatalystMarket website. This way you are going to get information about the catalyst make, its type, the price calculated in accordance to precious metal exchange, and also buyer companies in your vicinity.
What materials are used in catalytic converters?
Besides the mentioned PGMs that serve the main role in purifying exhaust emissions, there are other materials and components used to craft the whole device. The top casing is metal, and the core monolith is usually made of either ceramics or metal as well, depending on the cat converter’s type and the engine-powered by gas or diesel. The casing and ceramic core stay out of commission as the main value lies in PGMs being hard to get and develop. Furthermore, Palladium is so rare, so it is getting replaced by Platinum more and this is why we need to know how much of each of these elements are in the spectrum to find out the exact price as each catalyst is different in these contains.
How to get the exact scrap catalytic price?
As we mentioned, each catalyst may vary in its contents and it is essential to find out PGM’s spectrum to get the exact price. Hence it is going through certain stages starting from scrapping and grinding to refining, so let us go in the order.
- We get rid of the metal casing to extract the honeycomb monolith and dry it out.
- Grind the core into powder and get the sample for future XRF analysis.
- We press the sample into a tablet and put it into a spectrometer to see the contents in percentage relation.
- Now we can estimate scrap catalytic price per kg of the raw material and send it to refining.
- Refining is a process of PGM extraction from raw material which includes blast furnace treatment, leaching, and electrolysis.
After going through these stages we get fine PGMs extracted from the raw material and now we look at the precious metal exchange to set the exact price in accordance. Platinum Palladium and Rhodium have a use in many crafts, especially in medicine, and of course in the make of new catalytic converters themselves. The good thing is that you do not have to do all of these comprehensive processes on your own and instead hand your worn-out catalytic converter to buyers who will carry this out.
Where to find a buyer for a used catalytic converter?
There are companies that are interested in buying catalysts which you can find on the AutoCatalystMarket website by inserting your serial number and selecting your region to find buyers near you. This comes in handy, as these companies would perform all the routine related to catalyst recycling and you just need to contact them using the site with all the relevant information presented. So it is a win-win situation, as you may save a lot on purchasing a new cat while doing recycling. Hence, this is a better way to utilize your old catalytic converter compared to casual disposal and you will not pollute the environment with that unnecessary and non-beneficial waste and all the materials are going to be recycled.
Conclusion
Take advantage of using such a convenient tool as the AutoCatalystMarket website, where all the necessary information is presented. Learn about your cat's make, its price and find buyers in your vicinity to recycle the gone-out-of-service catalyst while saving on purchasing a new one at the same time.
