A scientific report about air pollution due to automotive emissions Lab

A scientific about air pollution due to automotive emissions - Lab Report Example Nevertheless, the increased levels, even in converters that are 10 years old, are still lower than the emissions of engines that do not have converters. The world’s population doubled from 3 billion in 1959 to 6 billion in 1999 (International Data Base, 2008). This rapid rise has led to increased demand and use of modern transportation, majority of which, run on the fossil fuels petroleum and diesel. The burning of fossil fuels to power automotives results in production of compounds that do not burn completely to their elemental forms. These products are carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxides. Carbon monoxide is toxic even in small amounts. Carbon dioxide is the major greenhouse gas, contributing largely to global warming. Nitrous oxides react with water in the environment and are a major contributor to acid rain and the consequent problems associated with acid rain (Driscoll, 2001). Reducing vehicular emissions can be achieved by the use of a catalytic converter, which first came about in 1975 (Environmental Protection Agency, 1994). This simple device is used to reduce harmful emissions to less harmful forms and amounts. As the name implies, the catalytic converter acts by mediating the conversion of nitrous oxides, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons to nitrogen gas, oxygen and carbon dioxide. The converter has both reduction and oxidation catalysts consisting of a ceramic structure coated with the metal catalysts (platinum, rhodium and/or palladium, and recently, gold). Gold, aside from being cheaper, increases oxidation by up to 40 percent (Kanellos, 2007). Exhaust coming from the engine passes through the converter and is released after the gases have been transformed to less harmful compounds. The objectives of this experiment were to compare the emission levels of automotive that are run by diesel and petrol without catalytic converters, and to test the effect of converter age and speed of the vehicle