catalytic converter on '88 16V

[aaron at brixtonhill.demon.co.uk (Aaron)]

On 31 Mar 2004, at 17:15, Jeff Toomasson wrote:

> Well - I'm glad you got the answer you needed because it didn't seem 
> like
> you had a complete grasp of the concept. In your original email, you 
> said:
>
> "the element that reacts with the exhaust gets used up."

No system is perfect. Catalyst oxidises, and/or gets covered with crap, 
container vessel corrodes, natural entropy - everything f**ks up 
eventually...

Aaron in London


>
> By definition, in a chemical reaction, a catalyst does not get "used 
> up".
> Depending on what you're referring to when you say "element", the
> interpretation could change...If you're referring to the chemical 
> elements
> (Pt, Pd, Rh), then it's definitely incorrect. If you're referring to 
> the
> element as the matrix that is coated by the catalyst(s), then your 
> point has
> some merit though I have not heard it referred to as that before (nor 
> is it
> identified as such in the article you cited).
>
> JT