What is the bottom line on gelling?

[BigPapa]

I have been told that the problem with 100% home brewed bio is that it gels at @ 50* and that there are no reliable additives. Is this true or urban legend?



Scott

 

[ToolManTimTaylor]

It starts to "Cloud" at 45* and it's viscosity begins to lesson. And the issue is mixing Petrolium anti gell/conditioners with an organic fuel like Bio or wvo

 

[67guzzler]

Yup --



And from what I've read and speaking with the folks at PowerService traditional #2 anti-gel formulas don't work with biodiesel.



You'd need one specifically for bio like this:



http://www.powerservice.com/arcticexp_bd_antigel.asp



And sadly, that's only good for ratios up to B20.



I don't know if there are better ones out there for bio.

 

[Cattletrkr]

... You'd need one specifically for bio... And sadly, that's only good for ratios up to B20... I don't know if there are better ones out there for bio.

Yep, gotta be specifically for Bio, and then only B20. There is another one. My fuel supplier uses "powerstroker". Power Service said that there's is good to 10-15 below, not sure I'd trust it that far, maybe 0*. PowerStroker, the guy told me to around 10*F or so. Not sure if I like running anything called "powerstroker" in my cummins...

 

[BarryG]

Similar thread about the arctic service somewhere else here. I run amalgamated fuel additive in my reg diesel and the last drum I purchased there was some propaganda/info with it. some of it pertained to bio fuel and anti gelling specifically. The guy I have dealt with there is Gary Pipenger. Might be worth a call.

http://www.amalgamatedinc.com/products.htm

 

[bighornram]

The bottom line...

"Living in Nederland at 8200' I have ran 50% biodiesel down to 0 degrees without a problem. Once it drops below zero it gels. Last winter I had two days with geling , I try to watch the weather and if it goes below zero I blend to B20. This is without any additives, Mike" This was from boulderbiodiesel.com's forum.

 

[Headshot zod]

The best thing to do is get a sample of what you are running and put it in your freezer and when it gels up. I did this last Setember. I also picked up a cheap digital thermometer at the food store to monitor the temp of the sample.

 

[bighornram]

I've also read where it is a good idea to put a sample out on your porch so you can see what the fuel probably looks like in your tank.

 

[Cummnzpowr]

Gelling

Well, 3 nights later after testing some SVO soybean oil in a cup on my porch at night... has proved to show no gelling at all down to about 45 degrees.

 

[LightmanE300]

The arctic express or regular powerservice will both work on blends. Neither are designed to affect the biodiesel portion of the blend... brian wilson at powerservice will tell you that... their arctic express just severely depresses the cloud/gel points of the 80% petro diesel in a b20 blend, and the overall mix is lowered.



There is a company out of england, the name is slipping my mind right now, that makes additives designed to lower the cloud/gel points of b100... also a few months ago it was rumored that primrose was as well. You might check primrose oil's website to see if they have it yet. .

 

[JFaughn]

There are lots if differant oils out there and since its not food grade you can bet that its going to be the cheapest they can find , this is a very broad maket , starting at the bottom the waste both vegi & animal renant[boiled down falt] are used to some degree in most that you would find at a pump . just like dino oil by the time it reaches the pump its a blend from ever where . and changes over time , the refinrees go through prosses that make the end product pass the standards , basicly what Im getting at is like stated above a lot of veritiy , buy a bottle of olive some brand but differant grades , virgin , extra virgin ect. set them out side and they all have differant gell points , then you can get into who knows what somebody is putting in the tank , bad batch , water, corrupt methods none prossesed waste crankcase oil , and thats if you don't go into Mexico ect. These are good reasons for a mod. for the fuel systems that are out there we need to protect ourselfs , I was thinking of something along the lines of a dualbypass like Amsoil uses for motor oil.