The AdBlue tank in Mercedes-Benz truck applications is a stainless steel unit. Passenger car applications also will be stainless.
Contents are refilled at prescribed service intervals.
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America has yet to make up its mind about a diesel engine under the hood of the typical passenger car. But in the European
Union nations, diesels have a more than 50 percent share of the engine market in the last two model-years of sales. Despite
these impressive statistics, the diesel engine still has to overcome the U.S. car-buying public's memory of General Motor's
(GM) disastrous attempt at modifying a 350-cubic-inch displacement (CID), gasoline-powered V8 to run on diesel fuel.
While Ford, GM and DaimlerChrysler provide excellent small-displacement diesel engines as options for the European car buyer,
not one has yet announced its intention to bring these clean, efficient, quiet, higher fuel efficiency engines here to the
United States.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) emissions regulations for diesel engines have been a big stumbling block
for OEMs who want to bring in their high-tech diesel automotive power plants from Europe. That fact may be changing, however;
the EPA recently signaled an easing of these tough emissions standards, which would permit these diesel engines to be part
of the nation's alternate fuel strategy.
Going blueFor 2007, Mercedes-Benz (M-B) has replaced its E320 Commonrail Direct Injection (CDI) inline-six diesel engine with the all-new
three-liter V6 CDI BLUETEC-configured engine. M-B says this diesel engine offers four-cylinder fuel economy with V8 torque.
BLUETEC EXHAUST GAS TREATMENT
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The BLUETEC technology is a comprehensive system of diesel emissions control that uses the latest electronic control concepts,
as well as some new components in the design of the fuel injectors. Diesel exhaust aftertreatment also is an essential part
of the BLUETEC concept, as is the proposed addition of a urea-injection subsystem that cleans up tailpipe emissions to meet
the originally proposed EPA diesel limits on emissions for all 50 states, which can be difficult to meet. But more on that
a little later.
The M-B 2007 E320's BLUETEC-configured engine combines several technologies to minimize exhaust emissions, and it is a newly
designed V6 turbocharged direct-injected diesel engine. BLUETEC is a concept based on advanced engine design which includes
four valves per cylinder, centrally located piezoelectric injectors, third-generation CDI, a turbocharger with variable nozzle
turbine and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). This new V6 engine develops 221 horsepower (HP) and 376 lb.-ft. of torque.
Electronic FI the key
The GL320 passenger wagon available now in Germany includes the BLUETEC system.
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The new high-torque M-B diesel engine is quiet and delivers high fuel efficiency as it achieves much lower exhaust emissions
than previous diesels. The turbocharged V6 powerplant uses full electronic fuel injection (FI), considered technically impossible
on a diesel less than a decade ago. Relying purely on the heat of highly compressed intake air to ignite the fuel, diesel
engines operate without spark plugs or other ignition-related parts.
