News continues to emerge that domestic urea production companies are running out of urea inventory. Diesel vehicles released these days need to be periodically injected with urea, but as China, which exports about 60% of the urea needed for urea production, has restricted exports, the phenomenon of urea leakage is occurring.
For this reason, hoarding of urea water continues, centered on logistics companies and transportation companies that operate cargo trucks or diesel vehicles that use urea water, leading to a urea water crisis.
But what on earth is ‘element number’? Is there something called a urea crisis?
What is the number of elements?
Source: sbs
Urea water is an ingredient that changes nitrogen oxides, a carcinogen emitted from diesel engines, into clean water and nitrogen, and is an essential device for SCR, a pollutant reduction device that is mandatory for trucks and buses. If the urea solution is not added at the right time, the vehicle may not start or the output will decrease, making normal operation difficult.
Cause of the urea crisis
The main cause of the urea water crisis is that the supply of urea, the main raw material for urea water, was blocked. We are completely dependent on imports of urea, but when the coal from which urea is extracted from China, which accounts for about 66% of the world’s supply, became insufficient due to a trade dispute with Australia, the Chinese government suddenly restricted exports.
Is the number of elements absolutely necessary?
In the case of diesel vehicles such as trucks and buses, it is mandatory to install SCR (Selective Cately Reduction) emission reduction devices. However, if urea water is not injected into diesel vehicles, SCR does not operate properly and the engine does not start or the engine cannot be driven due to low output. You won’t be able to do it.
In other words, it is absolutely necessary for driving a vehicle.
What are the problems caused by the element count crisis?
It is estimated that there are about 2 million passenger cars and 2 million freight vehicles (buses, etc.) in Korea that use urea water.
Unlike passenger cars, which replenish urea every 15,000 to 20,000 km of driving distance, trucks and bus companies need to replenish urea every 300 to 400 km in the case of large trucks.
If the urea crisis continues, it is likely to lead to a cargo crisis and the damage is expected to be significant. If the trucks responsible for transporting most of the cargo from logistics centers and couriers stop working, an overall disruption in distribution logistics will occur, and the resulting social repercussions are expected to become more severe.
As the urea quantity phenomenon occurred, people flocked to each online site to try to hoard the remaining quantity, causing the price to rise by more than 50% in two weeks, which could lead to a logistics crisis in the future. no see.
Regular gas station urea water price (variation▲)
In the case of general gas stations, the price is around 1,500 to 2,200 won per liter, but it is very likely that even this will rise further if supply shortages continue.
Solution to the urea crisis
In order to prevent the urea crisis, it appears that China, which is restricting exports, must first lift the restrictions or find a new import channel to prevent the urea crisis. In the long term, it seems necessary to change all vehicles that use urea water to electric or hydrogen vehicles.
We have summarized the general information related to the element count crisis above.