Application of copper-zinc metal as a catalytic converter in the motorcycle muffler to reduce the exhaust emissions

One of the main sources of air pollution is exhaust emission from vehicles. In the developing countries such as Indonesia, the most highest number of vehicles is motorcycle. Some of gas components from the exhaust emission that are commonly measured are carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon (HC). One of technology that can reduce the emission of CO and HC is the use of catalytic converter in the motorcycle's exhaust system/muffler to assist the oxidation of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon (HC). In the present study, Copper-Zinc (Cu-Zn) metal was selected as the catalyst. The selection of this combination of non-noble metals is due to their low cost materials, abundant materials, low cost production, and low-temperature oxidation). The objective of this study are to prepare the catalytic converter based on non-noble metal (i.e. Cu-Zn) and to study the performance of the catalytic converter installed in the muffler in converting exhaust gases of CO and HC into less harmful gases. The effect of two different motor engine rotation speeds (i.e. 2000 and 2500) on the conversion of CO and HC was also studied. The analysis of the emission from the muffler was carried out using gas analyzer. Additionally, the kinetic of oxidation reaction of CO and HC was also studied using pseudo homogeneous approach. The emission analysis results show that the use of Cu-Zn catalyst was effective to decrease the emission level of CO and HC. The CO and HC concentration level decreased up to 47.71 % at 2000 rpm and 55.34 % at 2500 rpm, respectively.