Date:         Thu, 27 Dec 2001 13:51:28 -0500
Reply-To:     David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Subject:      Re: Cut you spark plugs
Comments: To: Stan Wilder <wilden1@JUNO.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <20011227.123726.-400061.5.wilden1@juno.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

At 01:36 PM 12/27/2001, Stan Wilder wrote:
>I just wondering and I knew you'd know the answer to this: What is that
>stuff that drips out you tail pipe in winter months?

Same stuff that comes out all the time -- put in oxygen and hydrocarbon
fuel (gasoline), get out carbon dioxide and water.  Lots of it.  One reason
that hydrogen is an attractive fuel is that the end product is simply
water, without the CO2.

The catalyst functions to adjust the small amounts of hydrocarbons (burn
them to H2O and CO2), nitrogen oxides (reduce them to nitrogen) and carbon
monoxide (oxidize to CO2).  The reason we need an O2 sensor on the engine
is that the mixture control must be very close in order for the ratios to
come out right in the cat. converter.

david


--
David Beierl - Providence, RI
  http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
'84 Westy "Dutiful Passage"
'85 GL "Poor Relation"