The scarcity of raw materials and the currently particularly high energy costs are increasingly affecting the automotive industry and its customers. The semiconductor crisis remains a hot topic, Europeans are deficient in magnesium and therefore aluminum.
In Ukraine, the production of electric cables for cars stopped, and it turned out that they were mainly produced there, with the result that one car maker after another reported a production stop in their factories.
Now a new problem is approaching: there is a shortage of urea for the production of the liquid AdBlue reagent, without which many modern diesel engines cannot operate.
With gasoline prices already skyrocketing last fall, early AdBlue producers announced cuts in production. The same happened in mid-March 2022, shortly after the start of NWO in Ukraine.
AdBlue is used to clean the exhaust gases of diesel engines. Modern diesel vehicles with SCR-Kat (Selective Catalytic Reduction) inject Adblue into the exhaust stream and as a result of the reaction, nitrogen oxides and ammonia are converted into harmless nitrogen and water vapour, reducing the nitrogen oxides (NOx) content in the exhaust gases of diesel engines by 90 percent. %. The diesel vehicle has a separate tank, which must be regularly filled with AdBlue. The car consumes one to two liters of this reagent per thousand kilometers.
If the fluid level is too low, the on-board computer issues a series of warnings. When the tank is completely empty, the engine can only run in emergency mode.
What’s the problem?
AdBlue is an aqueous solution consisting of 32.5% highly purified urea and 67.5% demineralized water. Urea is produced by the chemical reaction of ammonia and carbon dioxide. Chemical supply companies such as BASF or SKW need natural gas to produce ammonia, and therein lies the problem. Due to the current high natural gas prices, companies have reduced ammonia production or, in the case of SKW, completely stopped (since mid-August) because it is no longer economically viable. And without ammonia, the production of Adblue is impossible.
Moreover, the problem does not only concern cars, many construction vehicles and even ships also need a urea solution to clean exhaust gases. But AdBlue is especially relevant in the truck sector. However, suppliers and dealers are finding it increasingly difficult to supply this part.
Source: Z R
