[AT] Was:tractor shopping NOW:fuel

[Henry Miller]

Like most thing it depends.  Biodiesel has no sulfer, lubricates better than normal diesel, has better cetane numbers, and is "renewable".  The bad news is it has slightly less energy than normal diesel, tends to clean all the junk from your fuel system (leaving it your fuel filter which clogs until the fuel system is clean), is thicker, and gels at warm tempertures (diesel anti-gel will not prevent this, but there are biodiesel anti-gel).   However the above is all a generalization and thus has some major exceptions.

The first is feed stock.  Soybeans oil is different from canola, different from palm...  Each has a different gel point, cetane number, and energy content.

The thicker (viscous - if could spell) is a big deal - new common rail systems do not like that and you shouldn't use much biodiesel in them (B5 and less is fine).  You can get away with anything in old diesels.

Biodiesel in small quantities often increases fuel milage because the cetane helps more than the loss of energy hurts.

Biodiesel is not compatible with all seals.  You 25 year old tractor may need all new fuel systems seals, though the 02 ford should have had the. Compatible seals (just luck that everone switched to bio-compatible seals before biodiesel became popular).  Of course at 25 years old the seals may have been ready to go anyway.

I think biodiesel is a short term thing though.  In WWII the germans were making real diesel from coal, and this allows setting the exact fuel charicteristics you want.   Some racetracks sell synthetic diesel made like this - it is expensive, but is enough better that not using it will lose the race.  (Last I heard this was about $3/gallon so - assume some people were buying it for street cars when diesel was expensive - but the limited quantities mean their price had to go up as well)  The real advantage is this can use any carbon (plant) as feed.  There isn't much oil in an acre of soybeans. 

Brad Gunnells <brad-gunnells at uiowa.edu> wrote:

>Speaking of the new fuel requirements. How does biodiesel fit into  
>the picture? Does using it as an additive (filler) help in sulfur  
>reductions etc?
>
>The reason I ask is that I filled up last night and they only have B2  
>(2% biodiesel blend) where I fueled up. I noticed the sticker about  
>the 2007 emissions on the pump and the B2 sticker and it got me  
>wondering (and now this topic).
>
>Before fuel prices skyrocketed last summer I was buying a lot of  
>biodiesel from the local co-op. I was really pleased with the  
>performance, and the fact you could walk past the tailpipe and not  
>gag on the fumes was a great plus. It's supposed to have good  
>lubrication properties which should be a plus as it seems the new  
>mandated blends are getting more additives to replace properties that  
>are refined out.
>
>The only drawbacks I had from running the biodiesel (anywhere from 5%  
>in the winter to 100% in the summer) was that I needed a couple of  
>filter changes as they plugged which was a known possibility. This  
>was on an 02 Ford. I also ran some in the 2640 Deere (tractor  
>reference) with good results. However, now that one has developed a  
>drip from the fuel shutoff control. I'm not sure if the seal didn't  
>like the biodiesel or if it cleaned out some residue that kept it  
>from leaking.......or the fact it's 25 years old and maybe it was  
>just it's time. It drips when it's first started but will stop after  
>the engine warms.
>
>Brad
>
>On Feb 25, 2009, at 9:04 AM, Dick Day wrote:
>
>> One of my clients is a tanker company who hauls mostly fuel.  Even  
>> they have
>> had problems with diesel gel. They told me that because of the lower
>> emissions requirements, that this new "low sulfur" fuel is  
>> susceptible to
>> gelling issues.
>>
>>
>
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