Effectiveness of catalytic converters on older cars on New Zealand roads

Abstract

RESEARCH RATIONALE  Road transport is one of the major contributors to the environmental pollution.  There are many sources and types of substances emitted by road transport, but for the vehicles with the internal combustion engine the main source of pollution is the tail-pipe exhaust emissions.  A catalytic converter is the most common and efficient method to mitigate exhaust tail-pipe emissions.  The efficiency of a catalytic converter can deteriorate with time and car’s mileage.  In the countries with aging car fleets, without a compulsory, periodic and metered in-service emissions testing (like NZ), such deterioration can further increase the environmental pollution.  This short presentation discusses the results of a pilot test performed at Unitec to evaluate the efficiency of catalytic converters on older cars in New Zealand.