I’m new to crafting BD with only experience making several 1 liter test batches. I would like to ask a few questions to experienced brewers.
1. I want to confirm that running 100% BD in an engine is OK. I’ve spoken to people (fuel injection equipment, & engine remanufactures) that have warned against it. I suspect this one fellow lacks first hand experience in BD, but he is a very knowledgeable person none the less. What say to this?
2. From the sounds of the “Common position statement from Fuel Injection Equipment mfgrs”, fresh, clean, dry, soap & glycerin free BD is important. Therefore is performing a “gentle wash” on the first few washings not potentially camouflaging possible problems with remaining acid, glycerin, etc.
3. What is the best way to ensure the stability of BD from ageing & decomposition?
4. Has anyone had experience with “ALGAE-X” fuel conditioner device and their chemical products to improve stability of BD? (http://www.algae-x.net)
5. Is it a good idea to provide heating of the BD & fuel system in vehicle to ensure reduced viscosity, therefore reducing wear on lift & injector pumps?
6. Is copper or brass alloys a problem in presence of BD?

Thanks for the help. PD e-mail deandesigns@shaw.ca

PD.Vancouver,
Hi, welcome to the site. I'l have a go at answering some of your questions.

Therefore is performing a “gentle wash” on the first few washings not potentially camouflaging possible problems with remaining acid, glycerin, etc

Biodiesel is not acid. If anything it can be slightly alkalyne. The oil that bio is made from is acidic, but the process of making bio changes this. Any glycerine and other nasties will be removed during the wash. This is why you do it. Many people use unwashed bio(including myself) and no one reports any real problem except maybe relating to seals.

What is the best way to ensure the stability of BD from ageing & decomposition?

Bio doesn't appear to suffer from ageing or decomposing in the short to mid term. I suspect that most bio brewers use their fuel long before ageing could possibly become a problem.

Is it a good idea to provide heating of the BD & fuel system in vehicle to ensure reduced viscosity, therefore reducing wear on lift & injector pumps?

Where have you heard that bio causes wear in pumps etc ? No one has yet been able to confirm any problem that could be down to using bio. It is said to have superior lubricity to Diesel. Generally no need to heat a bio fuel system. In really cold conditions you can always mix it with Diesel at, say, 50/50 It is the svo users that have to worry about cold.

Hope this helps.
Rgeards
dva

the engine manufacturers and fuel injection equipoment manufacturers in the US at least are quite conservative and resistant to any changes that might cost them money for materials changes, retooling or customer support. So they've taken a very conservative stance on biodiesel blends here. Some of the same manufacturers fully warrant 100% biodiesel in other countries, for what it's worth.

As for viscosity, Dr Jon Van Gerpen of Iowa State University and U of Idaho (mechanical engineer whose original training/research was in diesel engines , who now works in biodiesel process research) points out in various writings that the fuel injection equipment is designed for diesel fuel operation at very low temperatures, at which point petroleum diesel is just as viscous as the viscosity of biodiesel at biodiesel's lowest usable temperature. Basically, biodiesel becomes unusable at a certain temperature because of cold filter plug point (ie it freezes into little crystals which plug the filter and stop the car long before the rest of the fuel actually becomes a gel that could damage fuel system components).

Dr Van Gerpen says that the viscosity that biodiesel at this temperature attains- it the thickest biodiesel viscosity you can expect to ever see- is still well within the specs for what usable petroleum diesel at cold temperatures reads on a viscosity test, since the diesel is usable at a colder temperature and is much more viscous at that temp, and that level of viscosity is accounted for by the fuel injection equipment manufacturers.

Be aware also that mechanics and some engines engineers are very leery of biodiesel often due to being misinformed about it, and they are likely to blame any real or imagined problems with an engine on the use of alternative fuel.

Mark

copper and brass aren't recommended by the biodiesel industry for storage or manufacturing equipment. I dont' think it's a big problem in vehicles though. I have seen examples where it WAS a problem with home heating oil equipment, however.

The problem with copper, brass, zinc, and a few other metals , is that they act as a catalyst which can make changes in the biodiesel, which give it a shorter shelf life. In our case homebrewers are unlikely to store biodiesel for very long. In the case of the commercial biodiesel industry they have to be very conservative with their recommendations regarding storage because they have no control over how long and how cleanly a customer might store the biodiesel (example: farmers who use it in summer only but store a half-full, water-vapor-filled diesel tank on the farm the rest of the year).

Heating the fuel system in your vehicle is a nice way to extend the season when you can run on b100 or high biodiesel blends in cooler weather, though it's probably not necessary for viscosity reasons alone.

Specific examples of vehicle problems I know of-

-Some lift pumps in some dodge 1990's trucks are prone to seal failure both on petroleum diesel and biodiesel, and that failure can cause stress on the injection pump either using bio or petroleum diesel. That's sometimes cited as a biodiesel-specific problem by mechanics who assume that the biodiesel ate the seals.
-there's some evidence that switching from regular diesel to any form of ultra low sulfur diesel can cause shrinkage of some rubber seals that had swollen due to the sulfurous orginal diesel . Therefore some TDI owners experience leaks at a seal that's relatively easy to repair but is often misdiagnosed as an injection pump problem by mechanics. This seems to happen on both biodiesel and petroldum ultra low sulfur diesel. Once regular diesel goes away in North America we should have fewer of these incidents.
-some old VW 1.6 engines develop a leak at the injection pump, which is also fixable without replacing the entire IP, though most mechanics dont' know how to do it: http://www.vwdiesel.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=2371
and http://vwdiesel.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=1759 on how to make the tools to do this replacement

and many old vehicles (1980's mercedes and VW) develop leaks upon beginning biodiesel use, at the injector spillover lines (easy replacement, usually no tools required). These seem to happen most often when the vehicle's due for a fuel line change anyway (ie dry rot and stuff like that).

Although heating of biodiesel fuel systems is not required for viscosity reasons, it may be advisable if your local conditions cause your particular biodiesel to be at or below it's cloud point at any time the vehicle is started or operated.
By heating the biodiesel before the first fuel filter in the fuel system, it may allow operation on B100 at lower temperatures than in a non-heated fuel system.

As biodiesel has much higher lubricity than ULSD or LSD, the heating will not cause increased wear in the IP while using biodiesel. If the use of LSD/ULSD is likely, it would be advisable to install a valve to control the coolant flow to the fuel heater, or to ensure that some biodiesel is added to every tank of LSD/ULSD.

quote:

Originally posted by PD.Vancouver:
I’m new to crafting BD with only experience making several 1 liter test batches. I would like to ask a few questions to experienced brewers.
1. I want to confirm that running 100% BD in an engine is OK. I’ve spoken to people (fuel injection equipment, & engine remanufactures) that have warned against it. I suspect this one fellow lacks first hand experience in BD, but he is a very knowledgeable person none the less. What say to this?
2. From the sounds of the “Common position statement from Fuel Injection Equipment mfgrs”, fresh, clean, dry, soap & glycerin free BD is important. Therefore is performing a “gentle wash” on the first few washings not potentially camouflaging possible problems with remaining acid, glycerin, etc.

I'm also pretty new to the bio-diesel enterprise but have made enough to be running some in my cars. I also find horror stories about running 100% but I think this is due to lack of information AND the previlence of bad fuel out there. I'm shooting for 100% once I can assure myself of fuel quality.

Which leads to question two. I TOTALLY AGREE that gentle wash techniques can mask bad fuel issues. Washing will take out lye and soap, but I don't believe it will removed free floating glycerin, di-glycerides or mono-glycerides all of which are hard on engines. If you've got good fuel you don't have to gentle wash.

Dave