A catalytic converter is an exhaust emission control device which converts toxic gases and pollutants in exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine into less-toxic pollutants by catalyzing a redox reaction. Catalytic converters are usually used with internal combustion engines fueled by gasoline or diesel, including lean-burn engines, and sometimes on kerosene heaters and stoves.
Corning Incorporated is an American multinational technology company that specializes in specialty glass, ceramics, and related materials and technologies including advanced optics, primarily for industrial and scientific applications. The company was named Corning Glass Works until 1989. Corning divested its consumer product lines in 1998 by selling the Corning Consumer Products Company subsidiary to Borden.
Exhaust gas or flue gas is emitted as a result of the combustion of fuels such as natural gas, gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, fuel oil, biodiesel blends, or coal. According to the type of engine, it is discharged into the atmosphere through an exhaust pipe, flue gas stack, or propelling nozzle. It often disperses downwind in a pattern called an exhaust plume.
An oxygen sensor (or lambda sensor, where lambda refers to air–fuel equivalence ratio, usually denoted by λ) or probe or sond, is an electronic device that measures the proportion of oxygen (O2) in the gas or liquid being analyzed.
Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) means of converting nitrogen oxides, also referred to as NO
x with the aid of a catalyst into diatomic nitrogen, and water. A reductant, typically anhydrous ammonia, aqueous ammonia, or a urea solution, is added to a stream of flue or exhaust gas and is reacted onto a catalyst. As the reaction drives toward completion, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide, in the case of urea use, are produced.
In materials science, a metal foam is a material or structure consisting of a solid metal with gas-filled pores comprising a large portion of the volume. The pores can be sealed or interconnected. The defining characteristic of metal foams is a high porosity: typically only 5–25% of the volume is the base metal. The strength of the material is due to the square–cube law.
Edward Nicholas Cole was an American inventor, automotive engineer and executive, widely known for leading critical projects for General Motors, including development of the Chevrolet Corvair and Chevrolet Vega; developing GM's Small Block V8 and its rotary engine, championing the catalytic converter to migrate cars from leaded gasoline, and advocating for air bags. He was President of General Motors from 1967 through 1974.
Stanley Donald Stookey was an American inventor. He had 60 patents in his name related to glass and ceramics, some patents solely his and others shared as joint patents with other inventors. His discoveries and inventions have contributed to the development of ceramics, eyeglasses, sunglasses, cookware, defense systems, and electronics.
Ceramic foam is a tough foam made from ceramics. Manufacturing techniques include impregnating open-cell polymer foams internally with ceramic slurry and then firing in a kiln, leaving only ceramic material. The foams may consist of several ceramic materials such as aluminium oxide, a common high-temperature ceramic, and gets insulating properties from the many tiny air-filled voids within the material.
Honeycomb structures are natural or man-made structures that have the geometry of a honeycomb to allow the minimization of the amount of used material to reach minimal weight and minimal material cost. The geometry of honeycomb structures can vary widely but the common feature of all such structures is an array of hollow cells formed between thin vertical walls. The cells are often columnar and hexagonal in shape. A honeycomb-shaped structure provides a material with minimal density and relative high out-of-plane compression properties and out-of-plane shear properties.
Irwin M. Lachman, is an American engineer, and is a co-inventor of the catalytic converter.
Microlith is a brand of catalytic reactor invented by engineer William C. Pfefferle.
Vladimir Haensel was an American chemical engineer who invented the platforming process - a platinum catalytic process for reforming petroleum hydrocarbons into gasoline. In addition, he was influential in the creation of catalytic converters for automobiles.
Carl Donald Keith was a chemist who was inventor of the three-way catalytic converter, which has played a dramatic role in reducing pollution from motor vehicles since their introduction in the mid-1970s.
John Joseph Mooney was an American chemical engineer who was co-inventor of the three-way catalytic converter, which has played a dramatic role in reducing pollution from motor vehicles since their introduction in the mid-1970s.
Haren S. Gandhi was an American inventor and engineer, a recipient of the U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation, noted for his research and inventions in the field of automotive exhaust catalysts. Gandhi was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1999 "for contributions to the research and development of automotive catalysts". Gandhi held 61 U.S. patents. He was also the director of chemical engineering and a Henry Ford Technical Fellow at the Ford Motor Company. President George W. Bush presented Gandhi with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation at the White House in 2003. The National Academy of Engineering called Gandhi "one of the world's foremost authorities in the area of automotive emissions control".
Monolithic catalyst supports are extruded structures that are the core of many catalytic converters, most diesel particulate filters, and some catalytic reactors. Most catalytic converters are used for vehicle emissions control. Stationary catalytic converters can reduce air pollution from fossil fuel power stations.
Robocasting is an additive manufacturing technique analogous to Direct Ink Writing and other extrusion-based 3D-printing techniques in which a filament of a paste-like material is extruded from a small nozzle while the nozzle is moved across a platform. The object is thus built by printing the required shape layer by layer. The technique was first developed in the United States in 1996 as a method to allow geometrically complex ceramic green bodies to be produced by additive manufacturing. In robocasting, a 3D CAD model is divided up into layers in a similar manner to other additive manufacturing techniques. The material is then extruded through a small nozzle as the nozzle's position is controlled, drawing out the shape of each layer of the CAD model. The material exits the nozzle in a liquid-like state but retains its shape immediately, exploiting the rheological property of shear thinning. It is distinct from fused deposition modelling as it does not rely on the solidification or drying to retain its shape after extrusion.
Sivanandi Rajadurai aka Mylaudy Dr. S. Rajadurai is a scientist in the field of catalysis, physical chemistry, and emission control, focused on protection of the global environment and is a corporate executive. He is chairman of the Rajadurai Foundation.
