Brenntag North America announced at the Mid-America Trucking Show that it is preparing to provide “appropriate availability” of the automotive grade urea or diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) required by 2010 regulations for selective catalytic reduction (SCR) vehicles in the U.S. The company will begin its national Urea 2010 program with 120 existing company locations in the U.S. and Canada, coordinating blending capabilities, flexible packaging options and delivery.

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A worldwide chemical distributor and the largest distributor of automotive grade urea (with annualized worldwide sales of $9.1 billion in 2007), Brenntag says the company is ideally suited to the task at hand and is already working with various partners, such as Benecor , to help develop the DEF supply infrastructure. “We currently distribute some 150,000 gallons of DEF every day,” noted Alan Smith, head of DEF business development for Brenntag. “We understand what it takes.”

Brenntag plans to stock DEF that meets ISO quality standards, but the company is also aware of expected resistance to this first new “required” fluid in the trucking industry in decades, said Smith.

Answering some of the most common questions about DEF/urea, Smith noted:

• One gallon of urea will take a heavy-duty truck about 250 mi.

• DEF/urea is not toxic and is already in wide use for other purposes, such as de-icing airport runways and fertilizing farmers' fields. It is rated as having “no environmental impact.”

• If a urea tank goes dry, on a truck designed to use SCR for emissions, an intelligent onboard system will first de-rate the engine and then gradually shut it down unless the urea system is refilled.

• DEF weighs 9.1 lbs./gal., but mpg gains should more than offset weight penalties.

• The only replacement parts for a 2010 DEF system are three onboard filters, and only one should require replacement about every 120,000 mi.
  www.brenntag.com

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