Every gasoline vehicle on the road has one. Inside is a honeycomb coated with platinum, palladium, and rhodium. Three of the most valuable metals on earth. Here's how it works, and what happens to it after the car is done.
Transforms harmful gases (CO, NOx, HCs) into less harmful emissions through a chemical reaction using precious metals (Platinum, Palladium, Rhodium).
Where combustion happens. Exhaust gases leave the engine carrying CO, NOx, and unburned hydrocarbons.
Collects exhaust from each cylinder and channels it toward the converter.
Honeycomb coated with Pt, Pd, and Rh. Converts harmful gases into less harmful emissions.
Reduces noise. Sits between the converter and the tailpipe.
Final exit. Clean(er) exhaust leaves the vehicle here.
Three metals do almost all the work inside a converter. Each plays a different chemical role, and each trades on a separate global market.
Oxidation catalyst. Converts CO and unburned hydrocarbons into CO₂ and water. Workhorse of diesel-style converters.
Oxidation catalyst optimized for gasoline. Took the dominant share of converter loadings during the 2010s.
Reduction catalyst. Converts nitrogen oxides (NOx) into N₂. Tiny loadings, outsized value per ounce.
Every spent converter has a second life. Here's the path it travels through RCS, and the audit trail you get back.
Converter is removed from the vehicle at the dismantler or salvage yard.
At Hebron, the substrate is decanned, milled, sieved, and homogenized. ICP analysis measures Pt, Pd, and Rh content.
The hedge desk locks your price the day you ask, against the live PGM market.
Hedged settlement against the day's price. Funds release after refinery settlement. The sample stays on the shelf for the audit trail.