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But to hasten the adoption of the cleaner and more fuel efficient diesel vehicles, various
incentives were available in Europe that pulled the adoption of SCR forward to as early as
2006.
The SCR technology actually goes back even further. It has been widely used in electrical
power generation facilities to clean up smokestack emissions for decades.
the emissiONs sOlutiON
In Europe the reagent as the chemical solution is termed, is sold as Ad Blue. In North
America it goes by the descriptive name Diesel Exhaust Fluid, more widely known as DEF.
Historically and because of the European name, blue has become associated with SCR and
on-vehicle tanks for DEF carry a blue filler cap. Daimler takes this a step further and refers
to its SCR technology as BlueTEC. Similarly, PEAK Commercial & Industrial, which is the
nation’s number one producer of DEF has adopted BlueDEF as its brand name.
The solution has to be manufactured from an automotive/medicinal grade of urea
dissolved in de-ionized water, with the solution containing 32.5% urea and 67.5% water.
In the heat of the exhaust stream and over a catalyst, the urea gives up ammonia for the
above chemical reaction.
Urea is a widely used product, in fact it may be the most widely manufactured chemical
compound since it is used worldwide as a fertilizer. However this should not be confused
with the automotive/medical grade that is required to have a much higher purity. This is
assured by making the urea synthetically from natural gas.
The actual composition is contained in the ISO standard 22241 and in North America
each manufacturers’ fluid is certified by the American Petroleum Institute, so packaging
for DEF should carry both the ISO artwork and the API logo to verify that it has been
manufactured correctly and in the right formulation.
All commercially available DEF is manufactured in this way, either at a main automotive/
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