The systems engineering process has been applied to develop and
evaluate a system that collects and processes scrapped catalytic converters
to recover the platinum group metals retained by the converters' spent
catalyst substrate.
A needs analysis establishes a catalytic converter manufacturer's
desire to reduce the cost of obtaining platinum group metals used to
produce new catalytic converters. The analysis proposes a collection and
processing system as an alternative to existing suppliers to provide these
metals at a lower cost. The analysis applies the engineering process to
develop the system's high-level requirements and devises its components,
inter-relationships, and operation. This process establishes a system
configuration used to evaluate the system's economic feasibility.
The results of this analysis indicate that the collection and processing
system is feasible within the constraints of available technology and
economic resources.
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