FORD DEF POSSIBLE SOURCE OF UREA?

[davidhorton_111]

So I work at a Ford dealership, and the 2012 diesel trucks now have Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) 67% deionized water/ 33% chemically pure urea per us gal.
just want to know if this might work for bringing the ph level back up.

And would I just be able to heat it up and add to solution to nutralize the nitric.

The DEF is only like $6.00 a gallon at my cost so it seems like a cheap alternative.
Let me know your thoughts.

 

[goldsilverpro]

So I work at a Ford dealership, and the 2012 diesel trucks now have Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) 67% deionized water/ 33% chemically pure urea per us gal.
just want to know if this might work for bringing the ph level back up.

And would I just be able to heat it up and add to solution to nutralize the nitric.

The DEF is only like $6.00 a gallon at my cost so it seems like a cheap alternative.
Let me know your thoughts.

If that's exactly what's in it (and if that's all that's in it), that's an excellent find for those who use urea! It would work just like solid urea, but in a more convenient form that's easy to measure. There is exactly 3# of urea in a gallon - that's $2/#. I also like the purity of it and the widespread availability of it (lots of Ford dealerships).

However, you're better off not using urea, for several reasons. If you've been heavy-handed with the nitric in the aqua regia and, therefore, you must do SOMETHING, I would either use sulfamic acid or evaporate it down. If you dissolve things properly, though, you won't have excess nitric and you will therefore never need any of these things.

 

[butcher]

Urea and water gives carbon dioxide gas and ammonia
CO(NH2)2 + H2O => CO2 + 2NH3
Diesel catalyst assisted conversion NOx (nitrous oxides) and the ammonia from above give nitrogen gas and water vapor.
4NO + 4NH3 + O2 => 4N2 + 6H2O
4NO2 + 4NH3 + O2 => 3N2 + 6H2O

The diesel sulfur fuel and ammonia, if at wrong temperature of exhaust gases can form ammonium sulfates, as sulfur can condense out if temperatures are low.


(I see this sulfur form in steam boiler flues if flue temperature of flue gas gets too low and water formed in combustion of flue gas cakes this sulfur deposits, when burning a sulfur based fuel like diesel or coal, this can also form some sulfuric acid to etch at metal surfaces).

If exhaust gases were too hot ammonia would just evaporate when liquid is injected into hot exhaust gases, so reaction to convert the nitrous oxide gases to nitrogen may not occur.

(I am unsure how they control the exhaust gas temperature, beside maybe by adjusting fuel to air ratio of the engine to get complete combustion of fuel with maybe some excess air for pollution and to cool cylinders some),

I am wondering if this is not in part driven by the price of the catalytic precious PGM metals and manufacturing saving money, shifting the cost onto the consumer having to maintain and make repairs later after the truck drives off of the sales lot, this system to me sounds like a high maintenance system, and potential to cost more in maintenance and repairs of the truck.

Of course I hardly ever like the new things, to me the old things always worked better. I do not take change easily.