HOW TO RECOVER PLATINUM FROM CATALYTIC CONVERTERS
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Q. HI, I BUY, SELL AND REPAIR COMPUTERS. RECENTLY I STARTED TO SAVE ALL MY COMPUTER SCRAP TO RECOVER THE GOLD THAT IS ON THE CARDS. SO ON THE OTHER HAND I STARTED TO BUY A FEW CATALYTIC CONVERTERS AS SCRAP BECAUSE I HEARD THAT IT HAS A LITTLE AMOUNT OF PLATINUM AND PALLADIUM HONEYCOMB THAT IS INSIDE THE BODY OF THE CONVERTER. SO THE POINT IS: IF SOMEONE CAN EXPLAIN TO ME OR GUIDE ME IN THE NEXT STEP TO RECOVER THE PLATINUM_PALLADIUM ONCE THE CONVERTER IS OPEN, BECAUSE THE HONEYCOMB I THINK IS MADE OF CERAMIC. WHY I WANT TO KNOW THIS: TO PROVE TO A COUPLE OF FRIENDS THAT THE CONVERTERS HAVE A LITTLE AMOUNT OF THESE METALS. THEY THINK THAT I AM CRAZY OR NUTS. MARIO Z "hobbyist" - TIJUANA , BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO |
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A. If you want to do it just to prove your friends the point, then I agree to them. But if you're willing to make money out of it, be prepared to spend a decent amount of life and a little fortune with no guarantee of success up front. Guillermo MarrufoMonterrey, NL, Mexico +++++ A. We have the process for getting platinum (and other platinum grade metal from scrap catalytic converters). Listen to your friends. The platinum is there, but it is a very dangerous process and you have to know what you are doing. Charles K- Burtonsville, Maryland ++++++ A. Catalytic converters have precious metal in them, Mario. It's those precious metals that provide the catalytic reaction. So collect on the bet! :-) Recovery is rather dangerous and shouldn't be attempted by untrained individuals though.
++++++ A. Yes there is Platinum in catalytic converters. You can't recover it yourself but you have to take it a place that buys gold, metals, scraps... I buy catalytic converters, I pay good money. It depends on what kind of catalytic converter you have and if it's full, or half full. Monica M- Louisville, Kentucky |
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Q. Monica M,
Can you please explain what you mean by full or half-full.
also, what different types of catalytic converters are there? which ones are most desirable for resell to refiners?
Thanks - Mark
- San Antonio, Texas
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Q. Hi
I currently buy and sell catalytic converters to a man. He has often told me that he will be out of town selling these catalytic converters. My question is how much more is he getting paid and where does he take them to? Currently the best paid one I have had is one for $120.00, if anyone can help me please do so.
buyer/seller - Seven Springs, North Carolina
A. I think Ted was kind of on the right track with his answer, but just as wrong as the rest of the responders. You will probably not find anyone willing to give up the process that they use because they use it to recover the material themselves. It would be nice if they came right out and said that so you could use your powers of internet research on chemistry to devise your own way of extracting the materials. BTW, if a person wishes to blow themselves up or poison themselves let them do it just don't take anyone else with you.
Ron H- Scranton, Pennsylvania
! Hi, Ron. Sure, people can sometimes be coy; but this site has tens of thousands of pages of people helping people, and there are tens of thousands of other sites like it. The main problem isn't coyness, but difficulty. I'm sure that brain surgeons can be coy too, but their coyness isn't the main reason why you don't find 1-page internet instructions on how to do brain surgery :-)
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 Ted Mooney, P.E. RET finishing.com Brick, New Jersey |
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Q. I have access to hundreds of catalytic converters, and want to know how to extract, not refine, the platinum from them. This would save shipping fees, but I'm not sure if I can just cut out the part containing the platinum, or do I have to strip it out?
Georgia Trecycler, junk dealer - Nashville, Tennessee
A. Hi, Georgia. You can cut the valuable part out from the steel. They will look a lot like a small muffler. The metal housing is stainless steel and contains no precious metal (although stainless steel has scrap value too!). The precious metal is in the ceramic honeycombs you find inside. But be careful to keep records because reputable recyclers will (hopefully) not buy from you unless you are convincing about their legitimacy. Best of luck!
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Ted Mooney, P.E. RET finishing.com Brick, New Jersey |
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Q. Hello,
I would like to know whom I could sell the catalytic converters. I have one way to do it but it is kinda hectic. But, for the ones that want to know why they are so expensive, for an average size converter it has about 1.9 grams of platinum in the honeycomb....and do the math at 1200 dollars an ounce for platinum.
- Vernon, Alabama
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A. I did the math as you asked, Nathan, and came up with $80. Looking at e-bay with asking prices from about $10 to $150 for scrap catalytic convertors, it seems that developing a good "buy low / sell high" strategy is an easier way to make money than doing the dangerous chemistry yourself :-)
+++++++ Q. I work in a lab and need to produce platinum from a catalytic converter on a small and safe scale, What is the best way of doing this? Rachael Cwork in a glass lab - Rotherham, South Yorkshire, UK
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A. Recovery of precious metals is a well developed industrial science, Rachel, and there are books that compare the alternative approaches and explain the chemistry in depth. Read the great reviews of Ammen's book => If you can provide a little more detail on what you are trying to do, you will probably get better targeted and therefore more helpful answers. Thanks!
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! MY NAME IS WADE COLLINS AND I WAS TRYING TO FIND THIS PROCESS OUT MYSELF, BUT IT SEEMS TO ME THAT NO ONE WANTS TO GIVE THIS VALUABLE INFORMATION UP IN FEAR OF OTHER PEOPLE MAKING THE KIND OF MONEY THEY'RE MAKING, I MEAN REGARDLESS OF IF IT'S A DANGEROUS PROCESS OR NOT ITS OUR OWN DECISION IF WE WANT TO GO THROUGH WITH IT OR NOT, I MEAN THERE ARE A LOT OF DANGEROUS THINGS OUT HERE, ALCOHOL FOR ONE IS A DANGEROUS PROCESS IN EVERY WAY BUT PEOPLE NEVER DENIED US THE PROCESS OF CONSUMING IT AS WELL AS DRUGS, WORKING IN ASBESTOS AREAS, AND OTHER FOREIGN ILLNESSES, THAT WE DON'T EVEN ASK FOR, BUT TO DENY THE PEOPLE TO MAKE MANY WHETHER YOU BELIEVE OR NOT TO BE DANGEROUS IS OUR DECISION IF WE WANT TO DO IT.
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SO FOR ANYONE WOULDN'T MIND SHARING SOME VALUABLE INFORMATION PLEASE LET ME KNOW THE PROCESS OF EXTRACTING THESE PRECIOUS METALS
- ST. LOUIS, Missouri
A. Hi, Wade. It's not secret; it's just difficult to explain when starting from zero. Johnson-Matthey & Heraeus, with their half-billion dollar precious metal refineries, are no more afraid of competition from individuals than Boeing is.
If you ask a very specific question, people will answer; but if you say "tell me how to build a jetliner", it's not that people refuse to answer, it's that they simply can't answer a question that broad.
Recovery of precious metals is a well developed science-- start by reading the books that we mention here, that are readily available from any large library. Give yourself a few weeks of reading and you'll be able to ask specific questions that people will be able to answer. Good luck.
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Ted Mooney, P.E. RET finishing.com Brick, New Jersey |
January 11, 2011
LOL Just acquired a foreclosed estate property with acreage and found a mountain of converters waaaayyyy back in the woods under tarps. Couldn't for the life of me figure out what this guy was keeping them for and why he was hiding them so far from the road.
Stumbled on this thread and now I know.
- Belvidere, Vermont USA
