French mechanical engineer Eugene Houdry (1892-1962) is probably best known for inventing a process for "cracking" crude oil and turning it into high-octane gasoline—otherwise known as the Houdry process. However, he is also credited with inventing the first catalytic converter for cleaning up car exhaust fumes.
Houdry had an avid interest in all things automotive and enjoyed car racing. This made him acutely aware of the need for high-performance fuels in engines, and he developed a way to make high- octane fuels from petroleum using what is known as a catalyst. A catalyst is a substance that can instigate or speed up a chemical reaction, without itself being changed during the process.
In the 1950s, early studies about smog in Los Angeles were published and Houdry became concerned about the effect of harmful chemicals in exhaust fumes. The main .products from car exhausts are carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and water vapor, but they also produce toxic gases such as carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. Houdry made a device that used catalysts such as platinum, rhodium, and palladium to reduce the amount of toxic gases released in the fumes. Unfortunately, catalytic converters were not used until after Houdry's death.
In 1970, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency set strict emission-control standards, and in 1974 the first cars with catalytic converters were produced. The devices were not introduced in Europe until 1985, but now most new cars have a catalytic converter.
