12/21/2009  Cummins Previews 2010 ISX
By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

If it hadn't been for the development of copper zeolite as a catalyst to use in reducing nitrogen oxides (NOx), Cummins might have been right alongside Navistar in using increased levels of exhaust gas circulation to meet the Environmental Protection Agency's new stringent emissions regulations for 2010. But the copper zeolite led Cummins to abandon its early work to seek an in-cylinder NOx solution, and Cummins is squarely in the selective catalytic reduction camp for 2010.

In an exclusive briefing for Heavy Duty Trucking editors, Cummins engineers and marketing staff reviewed the ISX11.9 and ISX15 engines and technologies for 2010, including how the use of the copper zeolite has allowed them to pursue fuel-efficiency strategies that may beat other SCR engines in fuel savings.

Cummins for 2010

Originally, the strategy had been to develop medium-duty engines along an SCR route, and for the bigger, on-highway engines to use additional exhaust gas recirculation with no SCR. This strategy looked attractive for several reasons. For one thing, the power density required from medium-bore and smaller engines in vocational applications demanded that a solution other than power-robbing EGR be sought.....

12/17/2009  The ABCs of DEF
By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

Diesel exhaust fluid is almost certainly in your future - and not just because you run heavy- or medium-duty trucks that may need it to meet federal emissions regulations for 2010. If you drive a diesel vehicle in your personal life, DEF may be in your car today. DEF is the enabler that makes virtually zero NOx (nitrogen oxide) emissions from a diesel engine's tailpipe, whether it's in a car or a truck.

How DEF works

Nearly every truck manufacturer around the world will use exhaust aftertreatment to reduce diesel exhaust emissions - specifically NOx. The exception in North American is Navistar International, which will pursue its NOx reduction within the cylinder to meet the requirements of EPA 2010 - albeit with emissions credits. The only others are Scania and MAN, European truck markers which, like Navistar, are using exhaust gas recirculation to meet Euro 5 emissions regulations on some models.

Everyone else around the world is using selective catalytic reduction of the exhaust stream, treating it with a chemical reagent in the exhaust system - hence the term aftertreatment.....

12/2/2009  Keeping Their Cool: Navistar's 2010 Diesels
By Tom Berg, Senior Editor and Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

We'd heard lots of talk from Navistar International about its 2010 diesels, which use a different technology than all other engine makers to meet strict new federal emissions standards that go into effect Jan. 1. And we've seen displays of the new engines at several truck shows. But hearing and seeing is not necessarily believing for reporters, so last month the company put its products where its collective mouth was.

The company assembled a group of International trucks and tractors powered by very clean-burning 2010-model MaxxForce engines and turned them over to trade-press editors for riding and driving. What we saw were diesels that ran cool, just as Navistar executives had been saying and in spite of competitors' contrary speculation.

Of course, the Chicago-area event happened on a rainy and chilly day. Under these conditions engine heat wouldn't be an issue for anybody. Yet in mid-October it could've been 30 degrees warmer, and it's likely that the engines with Advanced Exhaust-Gas Recirculation and other enhancements would have performed as well had it been. Executives promised us later experiences in hotter weather.....

11/4/2009  DEF Gets its Hearings
Commentary By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

Confidence in the widespread availability of diesel exhaust fluid to support 2010's SCR technology got a couple of big boosts recently. In Greensboro at the beginning of September, Gilbarco Veeder-Root showed off its fuel-island dispensing pump, which will become a familiar sight in truckstops and gas stations around the country over the next few years. Mid-month, Pilot went on-line with a bulk DEF dispenser in its first truckstop installation. And Pilot even announced the price: $2.79 a gallon.

In case you haven't been following the technology debate for the Environmental Protection Agency's 2010 diesel emissions regulations, DEF is the solution that makes the selective catalytic reduction aftertreatment of NOx out of a big diesel possible.....