Reducing emissions
22 Jun 2004
Kemira has developed a new product that it claims can reduce the emissions of nitrogen oxides by motor vehicles.
To date, development work on exhaust gas catalysers has concentrated on the use of urea solutions that reduce nitrogen oxides into harmless nitrogen gas when a water/urea solution is sprayed into a vehicle's exhaust gas system.
However, this Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology has its weakness. The low (-11 degrees C) freezing-point of the urea-and-water solution makes the handling, transportation, storage and use of the solution difficult in cold climates. And heating the solution only has the effect of adding to the cost of the technique. What's more, the reduction capacity of the solution is not that great, either at low or high exhaust gas temperatures.
The Kemira product - Denoxium - on the other hand, is an ammonium formate -based solution obtained by refining formic acid.
According research results from the Finnish research centre VTT, the Kemira solution is more effective than the urea-and-water solution at reducing nitroge oxides at both low and high exhaust gas temperatures.
It is also perfectly compatible with existing urea solutions.
