# Cat converter set-up



## Safely dangerous (Sep 21, 2015)

Hey new member here. So I work an a oil refinery (PT & RE & Alum) . So I bought my own stuff for me to start doing thing on my own . Cat convetor (Chevy s10) %20 h202 %32 HCL solder tin/lead ( stannous chloride) . I heared to get sodium chlorite I need to cook the bleach but how you tell if it ready ? Also would need anything else before I get started ?


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## jimdoc (Sep 21, 2015)

Safely dangerous said:


> Also would need anything else before I get started ?




Study a whole lot, maybe a year or two.


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## g_axelsson (Sep 21, 2015)

I agree, study more. I have collected some interesting links at the end of this page.
http://goldrefiningwiki.com/mediawiki/index.php/Catalytic_converter

Over 700 hits on the forum itself.
http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/search.php?keywords=catalytic+converter&terms=all&author=&sv=0&sc=1&sf=all&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

Göran


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## jeneje (Sep 21, 2015)

Welcome to the forum. First, as jimdoc has said you need to do a lot of studying. Second, refining the PGM's out of Cats is not as easy as one would think. However, there are plenty of threads here to help you learn what is needed. 



> I heared to get sodium chlorite


The correct name is "Sodium Chlorate" it is used for the Palladium. 



> I need to cook the bleach but how you tell if it ready ?


You don't cook anything in refining. You either heat the solution or boil the solution.

You need to start with the safety section first and move on to the library section here. Then use the search function and search for "PGM's - Cat refining - Palladium - Platinum" This will give you some great information on what you are trying to do.

A word of CAUTION here: Make sure you know the dangers of the chemicals you have listed in your thread. Read the MSDS sheets on all chemicals you use. It is always better to be safe then sorry - not knowing the danger(s) can KILL you. 

If you do your part here there is always someone here to help when you get stuck.

Ken


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## Safely dangerous (Sep 22, 2015)

jeneje said:


> Welcome to the forum. First, as jimdoc has said you need to do a lot of studying. Second, refining the PGM's out of Cats is not as easy as one would think. However, there are plenty of threads here to help you learn what is needed.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks Ken,

Here is my Step For PT/PD and of course MSDS caution.

1) With a cardboard crush the Honeycomb with the hammer then put the crush honeycomb in a coffee Pot.
2) Add 300 Ml of %32 HCL and 30 Ml of %20 H2O2 and add H20 enough to be fill but NOT all the way to the TOP!
3) Use a Heat burner or Hotplate and Heat the the coffee pot (good 3 HOURS ) until it turn MAROON to DEEP RED then let it cool. 
4) Grab another empty coffee pot and a coffee filter 
5) add ONLY solution (NOT THE ACTUAL HONEYCOMB) to the empty coffee pot with coffee filter .
6) use a spoon and take a small sample of the solution and give a stannous chloride test. 
7) color looking for is orange PT, green PD or even pink RE.
8 ) Add sodium chlorate crystal (ONE AT A TIME) to the solution 
9) you see the the crystal falling down the coffee pot that is PT and PD oxide.
10) heat the PT and PD oxide with glass frying pan.

This a quick summary of my CAT setup. Their more detail in the steps and explanation that I was given.

FEEL FREE Add suggestion or correction . wanna Get this right. thanks for your time


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## jason_recliner (Sep 22, 2015)

Put away your checklist. And your material. If you follow a checklist blindly without understanding it, you could end up hurt or dead.

You need to understand each process, know why each step is required, and what to expect at every point. You won't learn that in one day.


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## jeneje (Sep 22, 2015)

Safely dangerous said:


> jeneje said:
> 
> 
> > Welcome to the forum. First, as jimdoc has said you need to do a lot of studying. Second, refining the PGM's out of Cats is not as easy as one would think. However, there are plenty of threads here to help you learn what is needed.
> ...


I don't know who gave you the step-by-step but, you need to do a lot more research. This over view you have given here is NOWHERE close. Do some research here before you go trying to process the material. -- DON"T crush the honeycombs. 

Ken


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## kurtak (Sep 22, 2015)

Safely dangerous said:


> 1) With a cardboard crush the Honeycomb with the hammer then put the crush honeycomb in a coffee Pot.



Do not Crush :!: --- you will have a filtering nightmare :!:

Are you planning to do this on a large scale ? --- or do you just have a couple CATs you want to play with ?

Take it from someone that has tried leaching (processing) CATs on a large scale - you are better off selling them out right - you will be lucky to get the value out of them that you can sell them out right for

the reason for this is that some of the PGMs are "tied up" in the wash coat & the leach can't get to them to dissolve all of it - & the Rh does not leach well in the first place

the "Big Boys" do it by smelting them with a collector metal (NOT by leaching them)

if you are doing this with just a couple CATs to get some PGMs to play with is one thing --- if you are planning to do this for making a profit - forget it :!: not going to happen :!:

If you just want to play - I can help you (hope you did not already crush them) 

Kurt


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## Safely dangerous (Sep 22, 2015)

kurtak said:


> Safely dangerous said:
> 
> 
> > 1) With a cardboard crush the Honeycomb with the hammer then put the crush honeycomb in a coffee Pot.
> ...


catalytic converters, 

I haven't crush them yet . Whats your advice way?


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## MarcoP (Sep 22, 2015)

I'd say to start with a good rinse to remove most carbon and dirt, that's as far I can go. I've got a Mercedes honey comb ready as a source of PGMs to exercise with, who's not ready it's me.

Marco


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## kurtak (Sep 23, 2015)

You did not answer my questions - so I will ask again


Are you planning to do this on a large scale ? --- or do you just have a couple CATs you want to play with ?

Kurt


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## Safely dangerous (Sep 29, 2015)

kurtak said:


> You did not answer my questions - so I will ask again
> 
> 
> Are you planning to do this on a large scale ? --- or do you just have a couple CATs you want to play with ?
> ...



Hey kurt,
I am starting with one.


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## kurtak (Sep 30, 2015)

Safely dangerous said:


> kurtak said:
> 
> 
> > You did not answer my questions - so I will ask again
> ...



If you are thinking about doing this because you can leach the PGMs out of a CAT (or CATs) & make more money then by just selling it as is - forget it & sell the CAT as a whole CAT

There is NO WAY that you can leach all of the PGMs out of a CAT --- some CATs leach better then others but even the ones you get the best leach results from will still not give up all of there PGMs

CATs only have a few (very few) grams of PGMs in them compared to the large size of the ceramic CAT comb - so it takes a lot of chem just to cover the ceramic CAT comb material - so by the time you figure the chem cost, time & the waste created (which you have to also deal with) you are going to loose money even if you are lucky enough to pull "a few" dollars more of PGMs out then what you would get selling it as a whole CAT

If you "just" want to get some PGMs to learn about PGM refining with - that is another story - and (I could be wrong) but I don't think you are ready for that

FIRST you NEED to do a GREAT deal of research about PGMs 

PGM refining is "nothing" like gold or silver refining - its a whole different ball game & there are not many that can actually do it :!: 

If you have a burning desire telling you this is something you "must do" - then leach it as a whole CAT comb using HCl/Cl for your leach (DANGER - this creates TOXIC chlorine gas) then cement your PGMs (along with "some" other metals) from the leach with zinc --- then you can work on "refining" the Pd, the Pt & the Rh from the "recovered" (cemented) metals

With CAT leaching you first need to "recover" the metals from the leach --- then "refine" the recovered metals

Kurt


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## golden-puncture (Apr 30, 2018)

its commonly said that gold recovery is much more easy according to pgms. you must must must study before start pgm recycling. here is mathod that i use to recover pgms from catalytic converters. 
1 crush the honeycomb.
2 put hcl in it and heat it, simply hcl should be heated, add hcl slowly as it is vigourious, 
3 add little amount of nitric. 
4 heat the solition and keep adding hno3 until the hcl and nitric ratio become 1:4
5 heat it the whole day and then leave it to cool down
6 pour off the pure acid comes on surface.
7 reprocess with same procedure.
8 mix both solutions and add zinc untill solution color becomes clear
9 filter the black percipitated powder and dry it
10 redissolve black powder in AR and heat untill all black stuff dissolve in AR
11 yellow powder will sattle down its rhodium.
12 filter rh salt 
13 add concentrated ammonium chloride solution to get platinium salt
14 filter pt salt and then use potassium chlorate to get pladium . 
keep in mind, its too dangrous if you not use proper safety equipment, 
its nearly impossible to filter crushed ceramic honeycomb. 
you can not get all pgms out of solution
its anothor lengthy process to purify pgms salts
its too difficult to melt pgms!!! 
now you should read each step and do it in mind so you can understand what equipment you will require.


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## jimdoc (Apr 30, 2018)

golden-puncture said:


> its commonly said that gold recovery is much more easy according to pgms. you must must must study before start pgm recycling. here is mathod that i use to recover pgms from catalytic converters.
> 1 crush the honeycomb.
> 2 put hcl in it and heat it, simply hcl should be heated, add hcl slowly as it is vigourious,
> 3 add little amount of nitric.
> ...



Do you do this in a lab, or your kitchen?


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## snoman701 (Apr 30, 2018)

jimdoc said:


> golden-puncture said:
> 
> 
> > its commonly said that gold recovery is much more easy according to pgms. you must must must study before start pgm recycling. here is mathod that i use to recover pgms from catalytic converters.
> ...



I think I will do this in my daughters kitchen. Can you help me with a recipe?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## golden-puncture (Apr 30, 2018)

my choice was kitchen but i have a wife :!:


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## cuchugold (May 1, 2018)

Kitchen is good, but toilet is more secretive.


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## g_axelsson (May 1, 2018)

Joking is fun, but I would like to point out that refining inside your house is NOT the way to do it. Acids emits fumes and can poison people and any metal in the vicinity is going to rust.

Especially platinum group metals are dangerous as the dissolved PGM:s are quite toxic and allergenic.

I'm writing this warning as we have a lot of newbies that might read a thread like this and think it would be okay to refine in the kitchen. Even if just a small percentage doesn't realize the posts above were a joke, that would be too much.

golden-puncture, I don't know if your reply was a joke or not, you have only been a member for six days so no one knows if you are a seasoned refiner or a newbie that has never done the procedure you proposed. Since we handle dangerous stuff with potential harmful or lethal consequences if it is done wrong we usually show a healthful dose of skepticism until we get to know a new member. So don't take the questions about your refining as a personal attack, see it as an opportunity to describe your proficiency in refining, then we might put some more weight in your advice.

I have never tried to refine cats myself so I'm not qualified to judge on your advice if it is good or bad.

Göran


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## cuchugold (May 1, 2018)

If there was a way to retrieve 110% of the metals in a catalytic converter, without any investment of time, at zero cost, and without safety risks... I'm pretty sure that I'd manage to lose money.

However as an intellectual pursuit, it is rather fascinating.


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## anachronism (May 1, 2018)

Cuchu where in Ireland are you ?


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## cuchugold (May 1, 2018)

anachronism said:


> Cuchu where in Ireland are you ?


Somewhere in Venezuela, or Brazil, or Guyana, or Colombia, or... Aruba! :lol:


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## anachronism (May 1, 2018)

cuchugold said:


> anachronism said:
> 
> 
> > Cuchu where in Ireland are you ?
> ...



Dude you seem like a nice guy but please don't claim to be from a country you aren't from. I make my decisions and perceptions and tailor my advice based upon where someone is and I know I'm not alone. Do you think you could use a country closer to where you really are please? 

Jon


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## cuchugold (May 1, 2018)

anachronism said:


> cuchugold said:
> 
> 
> > anachronism said:
> ...



In a word: NO.


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