Catalytic Converter

cars · pollution · chemistry

Turns toxic gas safe. Catalytic converters take harmful gases from your car's engine and turn them into less dangerous ones through a special chemical reaction. It's like a pollution magician hiding inside your car's exhaust pipe.

Uses chemical magic. Inside the converter is a special material that causes a chemical transformation called a redox reaction. This reaction breaks apart the bad stuff in exhaust gas and rearranges it into less harmful forms.

Cleans the air we breathe. Without catalytic converters, cars would release really toxic gases like carbon monoxide into the air. Millions of these devices working together have made the air in cities much cleaner than it was fifty years ago.

Works on many fuels. Catalytic converters don't just work on regular gasoline cars. They also clean exhaust from diesel engines, and even from some heaters and stoves that burn fuel for heat.