Catalytic Converters: How Much Platinum Do They Contain?
Arthur T Knackerbracket has processed the following story:
Platinum, a metal that helps craft aesthetically pleasing jewelry, also finds use in a car's exhaust for entirely non-aesthetic reasons. The catalytic converter is required on nearly every cartoremove harmful gases, such as nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide, from your exhaust. Platinum and other heavy metals such as palladium and rhodium in the catalytic converter act a catalyst in detoxifying these gases.
However, the presence of such precious metals and catalytic converters' easy accessibility makes converters a sought-after target for thieves known as "cutters."Catalytic converter theft witnessed an exponential rise during the pandemic, peaking in 2022, when State Farm alone saw 45,000 claims for stolen converters. Cutters often sell the stolen converters to scrap recyclers, who then extract the pure platinum and palladium.
So how much platinum and palladium does your catalytic converter contain? Also, why exactly does the mostly inert platinum find its use in a catalytic converter?
[...] The major reason why catalytic converter theft skyrocketed after the pandemic was the sudden price rise of the catalyst, especially platinum and palladium. During their peak, platinum sold for $1,289 per ounce and palladium sold for $3,307 per ounce, making a typical catalytic converter worth at least $128 of platinum and $231 of palladium. With metal prices settling since the pandemic, a typical catalytic converter now contains upward of $90 worth of platinum and $68 worth of palladium. The massive drop in prices and government efforts to end catalytic converter thefthave been a key reason they'vedeclinedin recent times.
[...] While numerous other metals such as copper, nickel, manganese, cerium, and iron can all behave as catalysts for the these reactions, they often lack the stability and heat tolerance needed to withstand the high temperatures and elemental exposure in a car's exhaust. As a result, metals like platinum, palladium, and rhodium become the perfect fit for catalytic converters, helping reduce harmful exhausts that can have detrimental environmental effects such as acid rain and formation of ground-level ozone.
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