If there was a ‘magic bullet’ to kill harmful toxins in your fleet’s exhausts would you use it?
If you ask a fleet manager, or indeed anybody who runs diesel-powered trucks what his main business concerns are at the moment, the chances are that ‘selective catalytic reduction’ is not at the top of the list.
However, at the time of writing, the World Future Energy Summit is in full swing, and it seems that the government in the UAE is serious about reducing the amount of pollution in the atmosphere over the coming years.
Cleaning up the region isn’t just a UAE initive either. Unlikely candidates that have turned up to the summit include the world’s biggest producer of oil, Saudi Arabia as well as Bahrain and even Israel – not a country you’ll see mentioned in these pages very often – have signed a pledge to switch to ‘green’ sources of energy.
For those up us who run fleets, either of heavy machinery or road-going vehicles, this could pose problems. In Europe, the current regulations governing how clean an engine’s exhaust is are extremely strict – and getting harsher. The USA has adopted a different standard, but it is clear that it too is getting serious about cleaning up the particulates from the atmosphere.
Soot
So what is it that is causing the problem? The issue is the black smoke curling out the stack. This contains tiny particles which are toxic to people, such as sulphur dioxide and other harmful matter, which are known to cause lung diseases and even cancer.
There have been a number of technologies that manufacturers have introduced over the last few years to counter this, the most obvious is the ultra-high injection pressures modern diesel engines now run at. This is to help the fuel combust completely, as the pressure is now so great, the fuel mist is burned at an atomic level.
This goes a long way to preventing the harmful particles from being formed in the first place, but a modern exhaust system on a diesel engine will go much further.
Besides the various baffles contained in the pipe to reduce noise, a catalytic converter uses a chemical reaction to turn one gas into another is commonly used, though this differs slightly to the type found in a petrol engine car.
Without going into the minute technical details, these converters will keep 90% of the harmful stuff out of the atmosphere, but not enough unfortunately, as the most damaging tiny particles are in the remaining 10%.
So boffins in Germany worked out a way of introducing another chemical to the catalyst, in a process known as Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR). The process is relatively simple: the substance is injected directly into the exhaust chamber and the harmful particulates are converted into something more benign and harmless.
All the major European truck brands have now adopted this system, and most of the American makers are also beginning to introduce it too.
UREA
Despite being marketed under the trade name ‘AdBlue’, the chemical additive is actually more of a kind of yellow colour. This is because the active ingredient is actually urea – a substance normally found in animal urine.
When mixed with a number of other chemicals that occupy the furthest reaches of the periodic table it almost completely kills the remaining particle matter – though it does nothing to reduce the greenhouse gas CO2.
This is all good news, but nowhere in the UAE sold the AdBlue chemical – until now.
The first plant in the Middle East opened in the Al Qusais industrial area of Dubai in Janurary, and the firm producing it has already signed a big deal to supply the RTA’s bus fleet with the fluid.
“AdBlue is a clear, non-toxic solution of a chemical,” explained Mattias Kruse, CEO of Kruse group, who manufacture the product under license. “It is safe to handle and it doesn’t affect the environment.”
Kruse Group, along with local partner Zenath Group have already agreed to supply the RTA’s fleet of more than 600 buses with the fluid. “Over a twenty-year bus life cycle, this amounts to a significant reduction just from this one fleet” Mr. Kruse concluded.
Whether we see the AdBlue catalyst adopted more widely really depends on legislation – it would be a brave operator indeed who voluntarily increases his own costs. But if the nation is serious about environment, rather than simply talking, it seems like a cheap option.
The future’s bright
If there was a 'magic bullet' would you use it?
If there was a ‘magic bullet’ to kill harmful toxins in your fleet’s exhausts would you use it?
If you ask a fleet manager, or indeed anybody who runs diesel-powered trucks what his main business concerns are at the moment, the chances are that ‘selective catalytic reduction’ is not at the top of the list.
However, at the time of writing, the World Future Energy Summit is in full swing, and it seems that the government in the UAE is serious about reducing the amount of pollution in the atmosphere over the coming years.
Cleaning up the region isn’t just a UAE initive either. Unlikely candidates that have turned up to the summit include the world’s biggest producer of oil, Saudi Arabia as well as Bahrain and even Israel – not a country you’ll see mentioned in these pages very often – have signed a pledge to switch to ‘green’ sources of energy.
For those up us who run fleets, either of heavy machinery or road-going vehicles, this could pose problems. In Europe, the current regulations governing how clean an engine’s exhaust is are extremely strict – and getting harsher. The USA has adopted a different standard, but it is clear that it too is getting serious about cleaning up the particulates from the atmosphere.
Soot
So what is it that is causing the problem? The issue is the black smoke curling out the stack. This contains tiny particles which are toxic to people, such as sulphur dioxide and other harmful matter, which are known to cause lung diseases and even cancer.
There have been a number of technologies that manufacturers have introduced over the last few years to counter this, the most obvious is the ultra-high injection pressures modern diesel engines now run at. This is to help the fuel combust completely, as the pressure is now so great, the fuel mist is burned at an atomic level.
This goes a long way to preventing the harmful particles from being formed in the first place, but a modern exhaust system on a diesel engine will go much further.
Besides the various baffles contained in the pipe to reduce noise, a catalytic converter uses a chemical reaction to turn one gas into another is commonly used, though this differs slightly to the type found in a petrol engine car.
Without going into the minute technical details, these converters will keep 90% of the harmful stuff out of the atmosphere, but not enough unfortunately, as the most damaging tiny particles are in the remaining 10%.
So boffins in Germany worked out a way of introducing another chemical to the catalyst, in a process known as Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR). The process is relatively simple: the substance is injected directly into the exhaust chamber and the harmful particulates are converted into something more benign and harmless.
All the major European truck brands have now adopted this system, and most of the American makers are also beginning to introduce it too.
UREA
Despite being marketed under the trade name ‘AdBlue’, the chemical additive is actually more of a kind of yellow colour. This is because the active ingredient is actually urea – a substance normally found in animal urine.
When mixed with a number of other chemicals that occupy the furthest reaches of the periodic table it almost completely kills the remaining particle matter – though it does nothing to reduce the greenhouse gas CO2.
This is all good news, but nowhere in the UAE sold the AdBlue chemical – until now.
The first plant in the Middle East opened in the Al Qusais industrial area of Dubai in Janurary, and the firm producing it has already signed a big deal to supply the RTA’s bus fleet with the fluid.
“AdBlue is a clear, non-toxic solution of a chemical,” explained Mattias Kruse, CEO of Kruse group, who manufacture the product under license. “It is safe to handle and it doesn’t affect the environment.”
Kruse Group, along with local partner Zenath Group have already agreed to supply the RTA’s fleet of more than 600 buses with the fluid. “Over a twenty-year bus life cycle, this amounts to a significant reduction just from this one fleet” Mr. Kruse concluded.
Whether we see the AdBlue catalyst adopted more widely really depends on legislation – it would be a brave operator indeed who voluntarily increases his own costs. But if the nation is serious about environment, rather than simply talking, it seems like a cheap option.