Out with the LNT NOx traps, in with the cleaner Selective Catalytic Reduction tech.
With the introduction of their new EcoBlue range of diesel engines to replace their current crop of TDCi Duratorq engines, Ford has thrown its hat in to ensure cleaner emissions for its oil burners to meet strict European emissions regulation.
PSA Peugeot-Citroen has their Euro 6-compliant BlueHDi line of diesel engines that support the technology (since 2013) Ford is about to adopt, joining a list that more recently has come to include the Volkswagen Group.
Ford will implement in their new EcoBlue engines, according to Automotive News, something called selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology to significantly reduce NOx emissions, with estimates floating at up to 90 percent in some cases.
Volkswagen had agreed to introduce SCR technology into its diesel engine vehicles throughout Europe and the United States in October 2015 – just after their ‘Dieselgate’ emissions rigging scandal was exposed.
Currently, Ford utilises an older and less effective NOx emissions reduction method called LNT (or NOx traps). These LNT measures are, however, more affordable, easier to package into a car’s exhaust systems, and also do not require maintenance unlike SCR which needs its urea tanks with trapped toxic gasses to be replaced.
Research and analysis consulting firm Frost and Sullivan expects that, through the permeation of stricter emissions laws on a global scale, use of SCR technology in vehicles will increase from the 8 percent it was in 2014 to roughly 34 percent by 2021.
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