Update - Biodiesel

[BMinett]

I was at meeting in OH on Tue. and rep from distribution company in Columbus,OH gave large group of farmers this info on biodiesel.

A) Biodiesel can be made with soybean, sunflower,canola or even french fry oil. It may be animal or plant based.

B) B20 or B100 are the designations given to biodiesel products. They refer to the % of oil in the fuel. B20 or less is most common because of added cost of biodiesel. Generally, this added cost is $. 02 for each % oil. (B20=$. 40)

C) Earlier info is correct that MPG is reduced 10-20%.

D)Most gov't diesel fleets are already using product because of reduced emissions.

E) 2006 Emission Regulations can be met now with use of B20 and many organizations are interested because of possible tax credits in future.

F)Navistar, Caterpillar, Detroit, and John Deere have already approved use because of large increase in lubricity. Cummins is currently considering increasing warranty to 500,000 miles if biodiesel use is proven. I assume this heavy-duty line and not our B5. 9(I don't know).

G) New 2006 #2 fuel will be even lower sulfur than in current #2 and will hurt lubricity even more. Biodiesel or other additives will be our tools against this problem.



This info is not all that was presented and I will probably remember more in future. I did not present this as an advocate but as info to chew on in the future

 

[illflem]

Just to clarify, the B designation can run from 1 to 100 according to the percent bio. Montana state vehicles are currently using B2 or 2% biodiesel. Most farmers are also using B2, a few use B20. Farm delivery fuel trucks carry B100 in a separate tank so the purchaser can choose whatever blend they desire.

A bio blend of 1% (B1) has proven to increase lubricity by 65%

 

[BMinett]

update - continued

B100 must be stored @ 45 degrees F or greater or it must be heated. Apparently, the B20 product has been OK down to 10 degrees or so before additives are needed.

An old thread said that biodiesel didn't have the BTU's of #2 but I do know it burns much cleaner and the cetane level is much higher.

It's going to be interesting to see how it evolves.

There was some discussion at this meeting regarding a law that was enforced earlier than expected regarding EGR systems in all diesel motors. The manufacturers are 100% against but had no choice. Does the 03' Cummins have this? Apparently the manufacturers are sure longevity will be shortened. Can anybody explain this to me?

 

[crebelein]

AFAIK - the 03 rams do NOT have EGR. EGR is scheduled to be added to all trucks that are shipped post 12/31/03. so roughly 1/2, or maybe even all, 04's will have EGR.



currently Cummins is building some 5. 9's w/EGR (for other applications).

 

[Amianthus]

I wasn't gonna post this, but...

... what the heck.



My neighbor and I just made a batch of biodiesel just to see how it would work. I must say, with a few easy to find pieces of equipment, it can be made pretty easily. I wasn't going to post our progress for fear of the fuel police. But since we aren't running it on-road, that shouldn't be a problem.



There is a downside to the B100 fuel. We can't stop it from gelling. We've added anti-gelling additive at four times the recommended mix, and it still gells up. So it looks like a summer fuel only.



As for it's performance. We've been running it in an oil funace to heat the garage we made the stuff in and it behaves just like the #2 oil (diesel) that we normally run in it. SO the stuff will burn and does have energy. However, neither of us will put it in the trucks until it is way warmer outside than it is now.



And that's all I have to say about that.

 

[Cattletrkr]

AFAIK - the 03 rams do NOT have EGR. EGR is scheduled to be added to all trucks that are shipped post 12/31/03. so roughly 1/2, or maybe even all, 04's will have EGR.



currently Cummins is building some 5. 9's w/EGR (for other applications).

Just thought I'd bump this to show not all rumors are true.

 

[SHobbs]

My experience with B100 is as follows:

1-Mileage did increase but modestly only about . 5 mpg

2-Have had B100 in the tank down to 15* with no problems at all cranked right up and the truck was plugged in all night

3-Engine is happier, it runs smoother, quieter and feels like it has more power

4-Can't let the coal roll, alot less smoke almost none at all

I am currently looking into getting the Viscon additive to help lower the NOx emissions. I have read that B100 will increase NOx by around 9% and the Vicson will lower that number not sure how much. #2 has 130,000btu/gal B100 has 118,000btu/gal and the way I understand it is that the lower btu's contribute to the higher NOx and a not so clean burn. Power loss is around 10% overall from all that I have read, but with the higher cetane it's hard to tell.

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Biodiesel Article in new issue of TDR...

Issue 52, Page 80, upper left hand corner, half way through Myth #10. Written by Greg Whale:





"... Biodiesel has 5-7% less energy content but more importantly it's cetane spec of 40 is below Cummins' minimum recommendation (42)... . "





Correct me if I am wrong but I thought Bio had a cetane rating closer to 50.

 

[Matt S]

I don't have that one yet but this is what I found on the National Biodiesel Board website. http://www.biodiesel.org/resources/reportsdatabase/reports/gen/19940101_gen-297.pdf



Says #2 ranges from 40-45, #1 ranges from 48-52, and BioDiesel ranges from 46-52 with veggie oils based BioDiesel and up to 56-60 with animal fat based BioDiesel.

 

[HEMI®Dart]

My experience with B100 is as follows:

1-Mileage did increase but modestly only about . 5 mpg

2-Have had B100 in the tank down to 15* with no problems at all cranked right up and the truck was plugged in all night

3-Engine is happier, it runs smoother, quieter and feels like it has more power

4-Can't let the coal roll, alot less smoke almost none at all

I am currently looking into getting the Viscon additive to help lower the NOx emissions. I have read that B100 will increase NOx by around 9% and the Vicson will lower that number not sure how much. #2 has 130,000btu/gal B100 has 118,000btu/gal and the way I understand it is that the lower btu's contribute to the higher NOx and a not so clean burn. Power loss is around 10% overall from all that I have read, but with the higher cetane it's hard to tell.

That's good to hear that you gained mileage w/ B100. I thought that a guy would see a marked decrease of 2-3 MPG. I am almost ready to try B100. Perhaps later this week.



See my post #8 in this thread about the new TDR article.

 

[SHobbs]

HEMI,



Yep caught that one. One thing I have learned with bio is that it is hard to get facts that are written in stone. There are tons of varying opinions out there. I have not towed with my truck as of yet running the B100 so I cannot comment on any loss of power. I will be towing the 5er later this month and I will know then. There general consensus is about a 10% loss of power running B100 but, a set a of injectors should help with that. The mileage claim was hand calculated and I will be checking it again at the next fill up. I will post the results when I can.



I can tolerate a loss in power and even a slight loss in mileage knowing that my money is going to the farmers here at home and not the Arabs.

 

[Matt S]

I'm only running B20 and I saw a drop in MPG on my last towing trip. Around . 5-1 mpg. I also noticed the heat on the pyrometer wasn't as high.

 

[DBond]

Issue 52, Page 80, upper left hand corner, half way through Myth #10. Written by Greg Whale:





"... Biodiesel has 5-7% less energy content but more importantly it's cetane spec of 40 is below Cummins' minimum recommendation (42)... . "





Correct me if I am wrong but I thought Bio had a cetane rating closer to 50.

The ASTM D6751 spec for B100 is 47 cetane minimum.