Ford 450 Car Catalyst Field Test

This paper evaluates the performance of monolithic automotive exhaust catalysts under conditions of actual customer usage. Conclusions are based upon a field test that involved 450 catalyst equipped cars which accumulated 7.3 million miles of customer driving by the end of July, 1974.

Based upon the results obtained from the 450 catalyst equipped vehicles, it was concluded that the monolithic type catalyst is an efficient device for reducing hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions in customer usage. The effects of accumulated vehicle mileage, engine maintenance, three alternate catalyst designs, catalyst overtemperature, partially melted catalysts, misfueling with leaded fuel, and vehicular accidents on the performance of the catalyst system are discussed.