fiatboy some of the OEM's for the exotic cars had a lot of high value pmg's in them. While they all work in a cat,some are more efficient than others. Now enter the poofter insecuremobile IIx. they are trying to cram a lot of work (catalystwise) into a small sporty package, there is not a lot of room for a big lunker of a cat, and with a beefcaked up engine, now we have a bunch of airflow we need to deal with and do it very well.... enter the way exotics into the cat converters.
Then there are the corvettes which some have an exhaust system on each side of the car and each side has 2 cats in series for 4 total... now that's a sweet harvest there!!
The actual content of the cat depends on several factors, besides what the manufacturer originally put in them.
The statement is correct, newer ones have more pmg's in them than older ones, thats because over time, the pmg's tend to get blown out of them. In fact there was a study done at one time to see how much precious metals of the plat metal group was at intersections on major streets, because all the cars sitting there at the stoplights, idling, and the pmg's being blown out of the pipes and basically depositing on the asphalt. anyways...... Newer ones are probably still working like they are supposed to, hence you wont see to many in the junkyard, save a wreck happening and totaling the car.
The difference is not too significant. Much more loss comes from loss of substrate. The pmg's are deposited on basically ceramic beads or a honeycomb structure, and over time that can bust up, crumble and leave the converter. So instead of having say 5 pounds of substrate in a converter, it might only have 1 1/2 pounds rattling around.
Do know that arsenic which is in gasoline at times, in trace amounts, is not only a deadly poison to humans, but is a cat killer as well. Given this, if you are going to recycle these as a primary, ie do your own processing.. do know that not only do you have exposure to the acids you are working with to leech the pmg's out but potentially other very nasty substances as well.
If you do start selling cats, do NOT take them out of the steel casings. See the thing is, honeycomb all looks alike, and if you give the recycler a box of honey comb he won't have a clue what it came from, and therefore, what's in it. BUT if you leave it in the steel container, he will know exactly what it came from, and therefore, what is in it and if he is honest, pay you what they are worth.
Aaron
