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Urea SCR is an established method to reduce NOx in dilute exhaust gas. The method is being used currently with stationary powerplants, and successful trials on motor vehicles have been conducted. The reason most often cited for rejecting urea SCR is lack of urea supply infrastructure, yet urea and other high nitrogen products are traded as commodities on the world market as a fertilizer grade, and an industrial grade is emerging. For a subset of commercial vehicles, urea can be provided by service personnel at designated terminals. But this approach does not support long distance carriers and personal use vehicles. The preferred delivery method is to add urea during vehicle refueling through a common fuel nozzle and fill pipe interface: urea / diesel co-fueling. Aqueous urea is well suited to delivery in this fashion.

This paper will discuss a compliance demonstration methodology for UN38.3, an international regulation which includes a series of tests that, when successfully met, ensure that lithium metal and lithium ion batteries can be safely transported. Many battery safety regulations, such as FMVSS and ECE, include post-crash criteria that are clearly defined. UN38.3 is unique in that the severity of the tests drove changes to battery design and function. Another unique aspect of UN38.3 is that the regulatory language can lead to different interpretations on how to run the tests and apply pass/fail criteria; there is enough ambiguity that the tests could be run very differently yet all meet the actual wording of the regulation. A process was created detailing exactly how to run the tests to improve consistency among test engineers. As part of this exercise, several tools were created which assist in generating a test plan that complies with the UN38.3 regulation.

Ford's continued effort to improve fuel economy in automotive applications has emphasized the need for lightweight components that retain all the toughness associated with Ford truck vehicle characteristics. The application of an impact extrusion process to wheel design and manufacture, for Ford Aerostar, provides strength, performance and style more efficiently than other traditional processes. It results in a valuable 33% weight saving over comparable HSLA steel wheels, and provides the customer with uncompromised value. The Ford Aerostar Impact Extruded Aluminum Wheel was designed to be of one-piece construction, manufactured from a less than 1″ thick aluminum wafer-shaped blank. The process permits manufacture in half the steps of a conventional stamped steel wheel, and eliminates extensive machining required with forged or cast aluminum wheels.