View Single Post
Old 04-27-2009, 12:48 PM   #8 (permalink)
theunchosen
Master EcoModder
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Cookeville, TN
Posts: 850
Thanks: 1
Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by RPM View Post
Let me just rephrase the question so as to make it clearer: if emissions were not an issue and you only cared about FE, what would the best location for the catalyst be?
On your work bench at home. The catalyst does not increase FE. It creates backpressure which the engine fights everytime it goes to exaspirate the hot gases from the cylinder. If you ignore emissions the cat is worthless other than maybe avoiding causing some soot on the back of your car from extra hydrocarbons(I think this takes a while, but take a peak at some ricers that have that big black smear above their tailpipe.)

If you mean you are going to leave it on. . .then the place it generates the least amount of backpressure. This would be somewhere that the air is more or less cooling to ambient temperature if the cat were not there. In that place it will reheat the air to keep it moving along instead of condensing and slowing down(that said the cat is guaranteed going to produce more backpressure than the condensing gases). You also have a problem in that you need the cat to get hot to make it work. So you'll need some way of keeping it hot at that location.

simply the furthest you can get it from the engine and it work is best.
  Reply With Quote