British Sign Language Glossaries of Curriculum Terms

BSL Environmental Science Glossary - Catalytic converter definition

Definition: Catalytic converters work to prevent pollution coming from cars. Petrol and diesel engines produce a lot of pollutants when they burn fuel and emit their exhaust gases. With catalytic converters, cars are stopped from producing those harmful emissions. As the exhaust gases pass through the converter, metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium react with the nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons and covert those harmful substances into less harmful emissions. Catalytic converters are situated underneath the car so the engine flue can go through the converter, cleaning the air before it leaves the vehicle so that it is less polluting.