Originally Posted By: KrisZ
This is exactly what I was thinking, people seem to freak out at the fact that MMO contains phosphorus whitout knowing it's concentration.
MMO contains about 900 ppm of phosphorous, and that is why Terry has issues (at least one reason). But you must understand how MMO works in the fuel to see if this is a concern for cats - my understanding follows:
There is much misunderstanding about how lead (of course no longer an issue with unleaded gas) and phosphorous hurt a catalyst - many people use the phrase "poisoning", when in reality, they cause "buildup" on the catalyst plates, preventing them from functioning properly.
That said, the reason MMO does NOT hurt the cat is that it is very effective at removing lead (that is why it is used in the aviation industry so much - to counter the lead buildup in Aviation fuels like AV100) and phosphorous so that it keeps the cat very clean and free of metals like lead and phosphorous, but also free of carbon buildup, which can cause just as much damage by restricting flow and causing too hot operating temperatures.
The dichlorobenzene's used (2 types), 1,2 and 1,4 (look them up in wiki), are the main ingredients that prevents this buildup, in addition to being a great cleaners and extremely good barrier lubricants and friction modifiers. You can see the results of this in the carbon-less and very clean exhaust pipes as it is cleaning them as well.
All this said, I have done a lot of researching on MMO before I started using it, including talking with Rick Kelly the MMO Technical director, and have found most of the elemental analysis are used to sound alarms without focusing how it actually functions during combustion when used in the fuel.
While were at it - the dichlorobenzene's do not cause corrosion when used in the oil - there have been many informal corrosion tests and it has never shown to promote corrosion, maybe to total package works to prevent that possible side-effect. Heck, it is used as a penetrating oil all the time.
My 2 cents for all the panic attacks lately.
I continue to use MMO in both the oil and gas with excellent results and confidence.