Thread: Adblue?

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

going one step further in the "my diesel fuel is better than your diesel fuel" debate,,

Mack trucks sell a product called Adblue,,

they say that you will not get full performance and clean emissions from your new Mack unless you use it.
(around 80l per 4K kays)

any Mack employees care to explain?

MB have it, termed "BlueTec". It's basically a reductant that attempts to reduce NOx emissions.

I thought Adblue (?) was urea, and certain US diesels use ( ie spray) it in the catalytic converter to conform to emission specs.

AdBlue is aUrea used in the IVECO,Volvo, Benz and UD trucks to meet Euro 4 emmission standards.

The trucks carry a seperate tank for the AdBlue, depending on the size of vehicle typically Prime movers are a100ltr and local delivery 50ltr.
These sizes are for IVECO as that is I can speak from experiance.

The Urea is added via a metering pump into the exhaust system before the exhaust passes through a special muffler that is ceramic internally. I am not good on the scientific side but as I understand it when the Urea gets really hot it becomes ammonia and through a chemical reaction bonds to the nitogean oxide in the exhaust and thus reducing the Nox released into the atmosphere.

There is a website for AdBlue that explains it better than I.

I didn't know Mack were going the AdBlue path, I assumed they were going the same way as the other American engine companies with EGR to meet Euro 4, which came ito effect Jan 1 for thrucks built this year.

The benefit of Adblue over the EGR method is the engine runs cooler, and it is easier to move up to Euro 5 in the near future.

Should a vehicle run out of AdBlue the driver is notified via an alarm on his dash. Once the level gets a certain point the next time the engine is started it will only run in a de-rated state until AdBlue has been refilled.

I have had 50 drums of AdBlue on order for a few weeks now,there is currently a shortage with our supplier. I think there are acouple of suppliers for it. I may have to find some others shortly before we run out of stock.

From Autoblog.com,,,,,,,,


New diesels won't run when the urea tanks is dry

Owners of the new crop of clean diesels will have another maintenance item to concern themselves with if their new cars are equipped with urea injection. The EPA requires that all diesels meet strict new emissions standards, which almost always requires the use of either a NOx trap or urea injection. To ensure that the system is working, a sensor checks both the level and the quality of the urea solution and will keep the car from starting if the tank is empty. The new VW Jetta TDI doesn't use urea, but the new Mercedes-Benz BlueTEC vehicles do. According to Mercedes, a counter will appear on the dash when there are twenty starts remaining. If the driver ignores the message, the car will not operate until at least two gallons of urea solution is added to the tamper-proof tank that resides in the spare tire well.

Engineers have designed the urea tanks to be large enough to last about 15,000 miles. This should be large enough that drivers never run out, as the tanks will be checked at every schedules service. As an alternative, small bottles of the urea solution will be available for owners who want to maintain the system themselves. The cost of the urea solution, which MB refers to as AdBlue, will mirror the cost of diesel fuel, so a refill shouldn't cost more than $30 or so. Before anybody asks, yes - urea is a component of urine, and no - peeing in the tank will not fool the sensors. You've been warned.