# Do these have any PGM



## sena (Sep 10, 2013)

Hi good day every one , I was told these are mufflers , when i cut into half i was able to see the core to be maggnetic , my doubt is wheather these
do have any PGMs , 

Thanks


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## Geo (Sep 10, 2013)

those pictured are a part of the exhaust system called "catalytic converters" and the substrate you see inside is referred to as "honeycomb" or "foils". the honeycomb and foils contains PGM's values. Rusty has some very good post about reclaiming values from "cats" as they are referred to on the forum.

they are not true "mufflers" in the strictest sense as they are normally before the muffler in the exhaust system.


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## rusty (Sep 11, 2013)

sena said:


> Hi good day every one , I was told these are mufflers , when i cut into half i was able to see the core to be maggnetic , my doubt is wheather these
> do have any PGMs ,
> 
> Thanks



The cat you've cut open looks like it's a foil - primarily made from nickel. Dilute sulphuric acid will dissolve the foil. I've given it some thought of using a cell to remove the foil via electrolysis. But figure I'm better off selling the foil type cats as is rather than deal with the nickel solution even though most would be plated over to the cathode.

9/11/2013 todays spot for nickel is $6.19 lb.


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## sena (Sep 12, 2013)

Thanks geo and rusty for the input , what would be the minimum yield in that cat ?


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## bswartzwelder (Sep 12, 2013)

Catalytic converter used to have much more platinum in them than they have now. Thieves would go to a dark parking lot at night with a battery operated sawzall, crawl under a car, and cut them off to steal them. Now, if you try to turn in a catalytic converter, you have to provide photo ID before the scrapyard will buy it. As far as the amount in the converters pictured, you can't really tell too much. Different makes and different models use differing amounts of platinum. Like gold, it always has some value, but it would take an awful lot of study to determine how much each one contains.


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## sena (Sep 18, 2013)

found this info while googling , to remove wash coat 
http://osdir.com/patents/Cleaning-solids/Process-decoating-washcoat-catalyst-substrate-06929701.html


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## Geo (Sep 19, 2013)

this looks like a process to refinish the substrate for re-use. the biggest set back is the time and material consumed because the entire process works under the idea of re-using the substrate. in reclaiming the PGM's, i think the state of the substrate would be in a milled condition. if you mill the honeycomb or foils before treatment, you will be pretty assured of at least dissolving all of the metals. its a good concept if you want the honeycomb to remain whole. as expensive as catalytic converters are, rebuilding would seem to be a good way to cut down on overall maintenance cost. if you could somehow break into the rebuilding niche (if one is available) it would serve you twice, once when you strip the old honeycomb and once when you sell the rebuilt unit.


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## sena (Sep 27, 2013)

some pictures i found while googling .. and the type of cats under the hood


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## Bjl84 (Oct 17, 2013)

i was always told to be careful with the honeycomb when knocking it out of the cats because they contain things such as arsnic and other posinous substances, not sure if its true but its something to study up on if you intend to recver from them


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