Some gas stations in Ukraine sell low-quality AdBlue reagent.
For the first time, a study of the so-called urea was carried out in Ukraine. It is a special reagent for diesel vehicles. Its official name is AdBlue. The research was carried out by the Institute of Consumer Expertise.
The experts concluded that half of the samples tested were outside the standard requirements, and this is bad news for motorists and owners of truck fleets, as well as for pedestrians and city dwellers. Urea is responsible for reducing harmful emissions from diesel engines. If this reagent is of poor quality, then, firstly, it can lead to damage to the fuel system. And that means thousands of dollars worth of repairs.
Secondly, poor quality AdBlue does not properly purify diesel fuel. That is, it does not protect against harmful emissions from others.
Many gas stations have introduced AdBlue into their range. At the same time, as a rule, only one manufacturer of urea is offered in each chain. Therefore, the driver has no choice.
In Ukraine, the largest AdBlue producers are the CrossChem plant and the Ukrainian-British joint venture Azmol-BP.
The BRSM-Nafta network independently produces the reagent for sale in its network. But her product is called EcoBlue. It is made according to the company's own “recipe” and is not a proprietary AdBlue reagent.
Other gas stations offer an imported product. Mostly from Poland.
In the study, in addition to Ukrainian-made samples, the following reagents were targeted:
Noxy (OKKO);
Gaschema (Socar);
M-standard (Marshall).
These reagents are produced in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus, respectively.
Almost all manufacturers offer both refueling of reagents at gas stations and the purchase of AdBlue in cans.
Experts warn: under the guise of AdBlue, some manufacturers may well offer a solution of agricultural urea diluted with plain water. And this is a direct path to the “death” of the car catalyst, which costs about 5 thousand euros.
The experts recognized urea from domestic Azmol-BP and CrossChem as safe. In all respects, AdBlue from these manufacturers complies with the standards.
BRSM-Nafta follows them. But here the sodium concentration exceeds the permissible norm by more than three times, which is why it cannot be called qualitative. This may indicate that the production of poorly purified water, which is used for the reagent. And salts from such water can clog the pores of the catalyst.
Samples from Gaschema and M-standard have an increased biuret value, which may indicate the use of low-quality agricultural raw materials. Gaschema also overestimates the concentration of aldehydes, magnesium and sodium, the norm of which is three times higher in BRSM-Nafta.
In Gaschema, the concentration of calcium exceeds the norm by 40 times.
All these impurities will negatively affect the operation of the vehicle catalyst as a whole, lead to a decrease in its efficiency, and then all the benefits of the exhaust gas cleaning system will completely fail, losing its original purpose. If the level of impurities is significantly exceeded, the accumulation of limestone deposits may even occur, which subsequently clog the exhaust system.
In their research, the experts conclude that the urea refueling service is in the development stage. Therefore, the choice of AdBlue should be taken responsibly, because the car's fuel system will not withstand constant refueling with a low-quality reagent.