Numerical investigation of urea freezing and melting characteristics using coolant heater

Urea-SCR technology is known as one of the powerful NOx reduction systems for vehicles as well as stationary applications. For its consistent and reliable operation in vehicle applications, however, the freezing and melting of the urea solution in cold environments have to be resolved. In this study, therefore, a numerical study of three-dimensional unsteady problems was analyzed to understand the urea freezing and heating phenomena and heat transfer characteristics in terms of urea liquid volume fraction, temperature profiles, and phase change behavior in urea solutions with time by using the commercial software Fluent 6.3. As a result, it was found that the freezing phenomenon proceeds with a phase change from the tank wall to the center, whereas the melting phenomenon occurs faster in the upper part of the storage tank by natural convection and in the adjacent part of the coolant pipe than in other parts. Furthermore, approximately 190 s were required to obtain 1L of urea solution using a 4-coiled coolant heater under conditions of 70°C and 200 L/h.