"Bellingham and Stanley offer refractometers which specifically meet the stringent needs of the chemical manufacturers who supply urea solutions to the automotive industries."
In our environmentally aware age we are all concerned about pollution and we should therefore applaud the efforts made by national governments and the EU to address matters such as exhaust emissions from heavy and light goods vehicles. Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) converters are particularly suitable for selectively reducing the mono-nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions of diesel engines, by addition of urea to the exhaust flow.
AdBlue® the registered trademark for Aqueous Urea Solution 32.5% (AUS32) is such an additive, one stored as a concentrate in a separate tank prior to mixing with the waste exhaust gases.
In order to be effective, and to comply with the quality standards ISO 22241, which specifies the characteristics of AdBlue®, it is essential that the additive concentration is accurately monitored and maintained. Depending on the measuring position and accuracy required, a range of different refractometers and hydrometers can be used for this task. These instruments include portable devices, such as optical and digital hand-held refractometers for fleet vehicle management, and more substantial laboratory devices that give greater accuracy for the manufacturers of AdBlue themselves.
Bellingham + Stanley, pioneers in the development of high quality optical instruments, in their RFM990-AUS32 model, and a new version based on the RFM900-T Series, has designed extremely accurate refractometers specifically to meet the stringent needs of the chemical manufacturers who supply urea solutions to the automotive industries.
These manufacturers are required to conform to ISO 22241-2, which dictates that the AdBlue® measurement temperature must be extremely stable (±0.02 °C) and the refractive index resolved to 5-decimal places. Only Bellingham + Stanley produce a refractometer that complies in terms of both temperature and refractive index as well as being fitted with urea scales and temperature compensation.
Plus the RFM900 series also features RFID user identity/clearance, significant on-board data storage, calibration audit trails and a methods system that makes changing instrument parameters a simple two-button process as well as allowing for both the F factor and biuret content of the solution that forms part of the analysis to be input and recorded as part of the experiment.
And, because no matter how good an instrument’s performance is, without good verification it is not possible to confirm that the instrument meets the specification laid down, Bellingham + Stanley offer a new UKAS Certified Reference Material for this very purpose, at precisely the correct RI value.
For automotive manufacturers, the PRH-DEF32 system provides continuous measurement and a secure audit trail of AdBlue® tank content as they are filled in the production line.
