# breakdown of pgm's in cats in ppm



## loco (Feb 16, 2009)

hey guys I was wondering if I could get some help/info. first let me say I had all this info before stored on a laptop I had stolen about a year ago and wasn't needed again until recently. 

Anyways, does anyone have a rough average in PPM (parts per million) of the standard USA Lrg. GM catalytic converter, or what about USA foreign/imports converter contents?

thanks


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## jimdoc (Feb 16, 2009)

Heres a link that has some ppm figures;

http://www.hpcnet.org/sdsmt/SiteID=199458

In general there are three types of automobile catalytic converters in terms of the PGM content. Grade 1 consists of 2200 parts per million (ppm) of platinum (Pt), 200 ppm of palladium (Pd) and 300 ppm of rhodium (Rd). Grade 2 has 1000 ppm Pt, 200 ppm Pd, and 100 ppm Rd; while Grade 3 consists of 875 ppm Pt, 250 ppm Pd, and 30 ppm Rd. 

On the average a metric ton of each catalytic converter grade contains the following PGM values: Grade 1 - $34,588; Grade 2 - $16,023; and Grade 3 - $13,667. These values are based on March 13, 1998, metals market prices of platinum at $392/oz., palladium at $264/oz. and rhodium at $535/oz.


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## Lou (Feb 16, 2009)

For any of you who don't realize this from looking at it:

2200 ppm is 2.2 grams per kilogram of converter.
200 ppm is 200 milligrams.

The information is rather reliable, although numbers have actually decreased slightly in recent years as coating technologies and QC have improved.


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