Quote:
Originally Posted by SergioK
No, not all the metal in a cat is platinum. If it were, then it would be worth several millions of dollars, considering that 1 ounce of the stuff is about U$D1000. They bond minute amounts of platinum to other metals, but I'm not sure what kinds.
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Traditional automotive cats are honeycomb ceramic based units that have a cerium oxide coating as the primary catalytic material with sprinkles of platinum and palladium thrown in for good measure. (Sergio, you were surrounded by cerium when you picked up the SN Memorial cowl at Mountain Pass. The ore we mine contains cerium as well as the rest of the rare earth elements, so not to worry, ya aint gonna keel over  )
I hear that the motorcycle cats are not ceramic based because of the severe vibration from a typical MC engine (go figure) so the honeycomb is made of nickel (as seen in RoLoo's photos). Not sure of the catalyst mix but would guess they have figured a way to plasma spray cerium oxide with parts per million levels of Pt and Pd on the surfaces to act in the same way an auto unit would......
Brock
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I sure do feel a lot more like I do now than when I first got here......
2016 S1000XR,2001 R1100 SA: Wunderlich Seat, Staintunes, Wilbers F/R
2004 MV Agusta Brutale S
1973 BMW 2002 Touring tii, '12 LR4, 86 Mondial 3.2 QV, 02 996 Turbo
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