The ins and outs of coating monolithic structures

Abstract

The enactment of the 1974 Clean Air Act created a new, high-volume, industrial market for automotive catalytic converters. In addition to the obvious role in reducing air pollution emitted from automotive exhaust, catalytic coverters have also contributed to the relative improved fuel economy of unleaded vehicles by allowing engines to operate closer to a minimum fuel consumption. Automotive catalysts are currently the largest single catalyst application and account for the chief use of noble metals. This article highlights the coating of monolithic structures for which the catalyst support material is deposited on the walls of millimeter size, straight square channels. This promising technology is based on work at the University of Tulsa and Allied Signal Inc., where chemical engineers are associated in research destined to improve the understanding of existing processes and to develop new coating processes.