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As of the 1st Jan 2005, new vehicles sold in Europe have needed to comply with the Euro 4 Emissions standard, this stage of the Euro's standard requires harmful emissions to be halved from the previous Euro 3 requirement. A drastic reduction needs to be made in the NOx (nitrous oxides) emissions for all heavy goods vehicles. Euro 5 is effective as of October 2009. The new limits outlined in Euro 5 are even more stringent than before, in fact almost half of the previous standard. In order to meet the environmental requirements of the Euro 4 and Euro 5 standards on polluting HGV emissions, the vast majority of manufacturers have chosen SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) technology to reduce their nitrogen oxide emissions. This involves incorporating the urea into an aqueous solution called AdBlue. The alternative is EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) but this technology has its limits and at present will not be able to meet the demands of Euro 6 due in 2012 There are a number of advantages with SCR technology as around 85% of the nitrous oxide is converted into water vapour and nitrogen. (the air we all breath is approximately 74% nitrogen). Fuel savings of approximately 6% can be achieved using the SCR method. This has encouraged many of the leading manufacturers to concentrate their efforts on developing SCR vehicles in their range. These arguments carry some considerable weight for SCR, especially now that fuel prices are at a record high. Concern has been identified at the outset though as AdBlue is highly susceptible to contamination unless handled correctly, which has led to some dispute surrounding the creation of new ISO standards, who should be involved and how should they be implemented. At present the AdBlue solution is produced in Europe and shipped to the UK, although there are plans to create production plants in the UK none are available to date. Sceptics are using these considerations to argue the long term suitability of the AdBlue concept in the UK's Market. However unless an alternative cleaner fuel solution is made available before October next year all modern fleet operators will have to adopt this new technology sooner or later. The transport industry are encouraging the authorities to develop new standards to help guide consumers through this new technology.
Article Source: http://www.rightarticle.com
Information on AdBlue and the surrounding legislation can be found at www.adblueonline.co.uk Included here are details referencing both the history and future of the AdBlue concept. AdBlue is now required on over 80% of Heavy Goods Vehicles produced in Europe
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