Three DEF Manufacturers Gain API Certification

Several companies that blend diesel exhaust fluid, the urea solution used in truck engines with selective catalytic reduction systems, have had their blends certified by the American Petroleum Institute.

The companies that have received the certification are Colonial Chemical Co., Tabernacle, N.J.; Terra Environmental Technologies, Sioux City, Iowa; and Yara North America, Tampa, Fla.

All three companies received the certification earlier this month.
The API certification confirms that a company’s name-brand DEF product conforms to ISO 22241, an international performance standard for automotive-grade urea. The process is voluntary and API said it is still accepting applicants.

DEF is a blend of purified water and 32.5% automotive-grade urea, according to the North American SCR Stakeholders Group.

While DEF blenders and distributors are represented in the SCR Stakeholders Group, that organization ceded the responsibility for certifying DEF to API, a spokeswoman for the Stakeholders Group said.

“The stakeholders asked API to develop the program based . . . on their experience and history in assisting with the rollout of ultra-low-sulfur diesel and other oil products across the automotive industry, which includes over-the-road and vocational trucks and truckstops, as well as all automotive retail outlets,” a spokeswoman for the SCR Stakeholders Group said in an e-mailed statement.

The SCR Stakeholders Group, Dearborn, Mich., represents equipment manufacturers, fuel distributors, automotive suppliers and trade associations affected by the looming rollout of a national urea distribution system.

API, a member of the SCR Stakeholders Group, is a Washington, D.C.-based trade group representing petroleum companies.