Knoxville, Tenn.-One of the first – if not the first – diesel exhaust fluid pumps is in operation at the Pilot Travel Center in Brooks, Ore., to dispense liquid urea for selective catalytic reduction emissions systems. Another pump is ready for use in Charlotte, N.C. A total of 50 will be in place by the end of the year, and 50 more will be installed in the first quarter of 2010, according to Alan Wright, Pilot vice president for supply and distribution. Wright told Green Markets the pump is set up so it can be used by truckers at the same time they’re refueling diesel. “It’s a self-service setup; just swipe your credit card, fill it up, and you’re ready to go,” he explained. Wright said that Pilot purchased the urea product from Yara International of Stockton, Calif. He said the Brooks location has a 1,500 gallon capacity. Wright said that Pilot expects there will be a very small demand for the first year, adding that “we’re doing it as a service to our customers; eventually we believe it will grow.” Pilot, the nation’s largest retail operator of travel centers for the professional driver and traveling motorist, with over 300 retail interstate properties in 41 states, is in the process of merging with Flying J and will be making arrangements for installations at those locations, Wright reported. DEF is for diesel-powered trucks that use urea selective catalytic reduction to meet tough new EPA limits on nitrogen oxide emissions that go into effect on Jan. 1. All new diesels built after that date will have to reduce allowable NOx levels by 90 percent from today’s levels.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain