100% biodiesel

[bigblockchev]

I got the viton from a friend who bought it from a stateside vendor. You only need about 18" to do a VW but if you get some friends to go in you can get a better deal, or offer it here on the forum.  I know McMaster Carr sells it but will not ship to  private individuals in Canada. They will however ship to buisness addresses in Canada. Cheers Dan

[ELVIS]

i think my supplier uses 'coldflow 350' some sort of winterisation additive i have heard of people putting in a litre of unleaded every tankful.
   BTW - how do you buy your biodiesel ? i buy mine as heating oil as it attracts a lower rate of duty etc (was about 13p/l cheaper last time i went)    :wink:

[TD_Bunny]

BejamminR thanks for the clarification and for helping me understand a bit better. BTW, the Giles pump I had done has been great. You guys really do a good job.

The station here in my town has ASTM-D6751 specification Biodiesel and since I just got it rebuilt and the only fuel it has had is ULSD I should be okay. thanks again.

[BejamminR]

i think my supplier uses 'coldflow 350' some sort of winterisation additive i have heard of people putting in a litre of unleaded every tankful.
   BTW - how do you buy your biodiesel ? i buy mine as heating oil as it attracts a lower rate of duty etc (was about 13p/l cheaper last time i went)    :wink:

Mixing gasoline with diesel is a poor idea. Not that it's going to destroy anything immediately, but the thing is that octane and cetane work in diametrically opposite ways. That is to say that any fuel with a high octane index will actually RETARD the cetane rating of another fuel. The gasoline may be enough of a solvent to thin the fuel, but cetane is particularly important in cold-weather starting, when you want the fuel to light up as easily as possible under compression... so mixing in gasoline to thin the fuel isn't such a great winterization plan. There are additives that will do the job, with varying degrees of success.

I buy my biodiesel as on-road (i.e. fully taxed) fuel from a truck terminal (Truck Town Terminals in Milton, ON) because they are the cheapest available (~5-10% higher for B100 than B20 or B0), have good quality fuel, and cycle it faster than anybody else. I have used small amounts of good quality homebrew, but for the most part I just buy it since I haven't got access to enough waste oil to make my own in large volumes. The biodiesel intended for home heating oil is fine to use in terms of chemical composition, but not in terms of legal liability. Unless you're running an off-road or otherwise tax exempt vehicle, you're breaking the rules by running untaxed fuel on the roads. Whether that bothers you or not is another thing entirely, of course. :lol:

Thanks much for the kind words, TD_Bunny. I'm glad that you enjoyed your Giles / Performance Diesel pump. If you ever get any vids of your ride in operation, leaving strips of rubber while largely smokeless and stuff, I'd love to see'em.

[TD_Bunny]

well i bit the bullet and just got my first tank of Biodiesel. I actually found a place in town that has B5, B20, and B99 from soybean oil all of which are within Biodiesel allowed specs. Went for the B99 so hopefully since my pump has only had ULSD since its rebuild I wont have any problems. Of course, I will report back if i do    Not sure if it is suppose to but I seem to be letting out less smoke now. Makes sense since there is less particulate matter polutants with bio but its nicer for now at least.

[BejamminR]

Not sure if it is suppose to but I seem to be letting out less smoke now. Makes sense since there is less particulate matter polutants with bio but its nicer for now at least.

Oh yes, it is supposed to, but the reason isn't that there is just less particulate matter in biodiesel (not sure if that was what you were implying). It's because biodiesel is a carbohydrate instead of a hydrocarbon. It is a much more oxygenated fuel, meaning that for any given charge of air, there is actually MORE usable oxygen than with a comparable petrodiesel scenario. Therefore it burns more completely, like a heavily oxygenated diesel fuel... less "ash" or particulate matter, and also considerably less smoke. Generally, when you DO get smoke, it will by white and much lighter than the same system on 100% petrodiesel.

This same attribute is exactly the disadvantage of biodiesel for long-term storage and fleet applications, though; unlike petrodiesel, since it is full of oxygen and it is essentially a food rather than a mineral, it rots or turns rancid (6-12months, longer depending on storage). Petrodiesel degrades too, but not in the same manner and not nearly as fast.

[Vanagoner]

The only environmental downside to this, is since it is combusted more efficiently, the oxides of nitrogen released are more. (starting to talk like Yoda, I am)  Since NoX is a strong greenhouse multiplier, it is worth considering ways of cleaning that up.  The Bluetec system is a beauty, but obviously not for retrofit.  I have heard that EDTA (a food additive) is also used to reduce pollutants in flue gas.  I bet if some of that were mixed into the tank of a water- mist injection system ( or into the exhaust post-turbo), it might help the NoX.

The fledgeling biodiesel retailers can use freshness as a way of marketing their fuel-  or have a massive algae experiment going in their storage tank.

[burn_your_money]

Doesn't retarding timing reduce NOx?

[Slave2School]

Just pee into your water injection resevoir.

[BejamminR]

The only environmental downside to this, is since it is combusted more efficiently, the oxides of nitrogen released are more.

Only partly true, maybe.

http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_nox.html
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2005/05/nrel_rethinking.html
http://www.nrel.gov/vehiclesandfuels/npbf/pdfs/38296.pdf (PDF Link)

Basically, the gist is that early studies with biodiesel demonstrated increased NOx, but those were only in "stationary" dyno applications, not reflecting actual driving conditions. The gradually emerging consensus about a year ago (when I was paying more attention) was that in actual driving, NOx was either equal to or potentially less than petrodiesel, and when used in a blend (B20, B80, etc.) the biodiesel unequivocally did reduce the NOx emissions as compared with a similar volume of petrodiesel.

Early on, what you say was considered correct, or at least nothing to the contrary had been readily proven. However, even at that point, biodiesel's compatibility with NOx-reducing technologies that petrodiesel (especially crappy North American petrodiesel) was incompatible with still makes it a winner from an environmental perspective.

[Vanagoner]

BeJamminR- Thanks for updating my knowledge- good links.  I'm happy to see that it is not a significant problem, if at all.  I also appreciate your enthusiasm for biodiesel.  
A question-  has anyone come up with a good winterizer yet- assuming a high quality no-glycerine fuel to begin with?

[Slave2School]

If I was going to run bio I would probably run kerosene as the cutting agent and a good lubricant like Stanadyne.

[larry104]

An article about biodiesel I wrote for Machine Design...

http://machinedesign.com/ContentItem/57843/BeanMachines.aspx

[bigblockchev]

When the temps get into the -10 region which is not often here on the wet coast, I tend to drop a bit of reg diesel into my tank like maybe 30% . I keep a jar of B100 in my carport and glance at it to see if it is getting a few wisps of cloudy strings ie approaching cloud point. My feedstock is Canola so this has been quite successful for the last couple of years. Kerosene is more effective than diesel at lowering the cloud point but is harder to get and more expensive. Last year I probably spent about $40 on reg diesel so that should give you an idea of how often it is necessary to do this. It is pretty much not required to use Stanadyne or any othe lubricity additive when using BD as it is essentially 100% lubrication. Cheers Dan

[Slave2School]

how much kerosene is proven safe to run with bio as the only other additive for lubrication?  Stanadyne also helps keep things from gelling along with lubrication, cleaning and even more cetane.

err they say it better here hahaha.  I'd like to know what Giles would put in his car for additive.

http://www.dieselpage.com/add1.htm