TPilaske

Well I filled up (a little over 22 gallons) of B20 last night to check it out... It was 2.38/gallon cash price (3¢ more for debit/credit card). Cost me $55 and some change. I'm curious to see if it will run any different or if I will get any mileage improvements, etc....

It was pretty funny pulling up too a pump that has huge letters saying "SOYBEAN"


Tony

Eskimo

It'll take about a tank before you notice a quieter engine, and less smoke...

infidel

Good price, I paid 2.38/gallon last time I filled with straight diesel.

Good idea to change your fuel filter after the second tank or so.
Bio has a solvent action that will loosen up deposits in your tank and fuel system.

TPilaske

So does this stuff gel up like regular #2 in the winter? I did notice on my receipt that it said #3...



Tony

Holsteinman

I belive it starts to gel sooner than #2. When it gets really cold I would only run B5. Where I work we get B20 in the summer and B5 in the winter.

Lightman

Tpilaske - you will not need to do any filter changing with b20, that is more for folks running b100 which has a lot of solvency. I've run b20 since 2001 in my MB exclusively, and in two other vehicles in ratios up to b100. It's great stuff. I bet you notice the next time you start your truck cold. As far as gelling, b20 is good without additives down to about 5F. If you use anti-gel additives you can get all the way down to -20 or so. I've run b20 at as low as -5F, and had no issues. BTW that is a great price! Congrats on 'burning the bean' !

infidel

I'm proud to say I worked in the research phase of bio-diesel production, formulation and usage for over ten years. Take my word for it, change your filter even if you use B-2. Don't be like my associates and I were and learn the hard way.

In the early phases of bio testing we would run into filter plugging and think it was a property of the bio itself causing problems, took awhile to figure out it was the solvent properties. Severity of the problem depended on the previous hours on the engine and quite likely the fuel quality used beforehand. At one time during testing we were running 26 diesel engines 24/7 seeing what we could and couldn't get away with. The result is much of the way bio is now formulated and the recommendations for use.

Lightman

Well infidel may know something I don't, that's for sure, and I don't know much about the research phase of biodiesel, however I have studied the 'implementation' phase, with literally hundreds of folks running biodiesel without a clogging issue, let alone preblended b20. I've now only ever heard of one person clogging a filter , and that was with b100 that was of questionable quality. Maybe theoretically you should change your filter early with b20, but realistically there is absolutely no need. Reality aside, filters are cheap and if it makes you feel warm and fuzzy to throw out your current filter, go for it. I'm just happy that people are running biodiesel, it's a win-win.

kingofdodge7131

I have sucessfully made my first batch of b100! makes me totally happy haha.

Right now Im going trhough testing before i throw it into my new and old truck. Exhaust temps. Basically what ive got set up is 1 injector on a pop off tester into a coffee can that ive brazed a top onto. Then i pumped it 50 times ( not real good comarioson but being its specific gravity was only a titty big higher than Reg diesel im not worried about any clogging


this was a test for Burn temps Noticable Carbon and so on. Seeing how it burns next to the good ole regular.

So far its been good news. The burn temps so far have been about 75 F less than number one. but I cant say that its definate because like i said im using coffee cans for this experiement.

Also left both my home made b100 and regular number one set out over night. low was 23

There was a noticable diffrence in the viscosity by this time. The b100 had changed some but no more than the commercial b20 changed. I have yet to find a place that supplies b100 to compare too.

im confident that you could run b100 in the cooler/warmer climates ( where lows get in the 30s and what not. ) With additive. Could go down a lot lower id think if you had a tank heater. I believe the cummins has a fuel filter heater in it. So that might solve the problem there. Only time will tell.


My next test Is to make a more less continuous loop with my oil filler. I have a big barrell of oil. and picked up this digital meter last summer purty cheep. And might run that on the bio one night when it gets cold and see how much flows over say a 5 hr period then do it with diesel. see how that works.

Lightman

Congrats KingofDodge! That's awesome you're making your own. Don't forget that biodiesel is hygroscopic (not hydro), meaning it attracts water - much like brake fluid. So if you leave it to settle, be sure you heat it to evaporate any water before final filtration!

B100 starts to cloud around 40 and gels only slightly lower. B20 without additives is good to about 5f. Not sure what you used to determine the b20 and b100 were the same at those temps, but at 23 b100 would quickly become crisco.. At least a milkshake! I got 40 gals of b100 a few weeks ago, and at 40F it was already looking kinda like jello, and wouldn't flow through my aux tank filter.

PS guys - Powerservice makes a b20 specific antigel additive - supposedly good down to -40! I know folks that have used it with great success(no gelling), the only problem is that you have to buy such big containers. I think 5 gals is the smallest.

kingofdodge7131

Well i used 2 test. The first test was the ruler method. I stuck 2 diffrent rullers ( same exact one but not the SAME one. ) into tue fuels and then clipped them up for 2 minutes and measured the flow rate down. Then to get more accurate i got out the refratometer and checked up the specific gravity. And my judgements on that. Were also just my judging. Because the meter is not made for diesel fuel, its made for coolant testing and battery charge. But the diffrence wasnt that great. Um for anyone that uses these it was only about a 10 F diffrence on the coolant scale haha. See not real hard facts. but not too bad for the guy in his basement :{P

One problem i am having is wondering why it didnt gel sooner. One thing is that I did not use regular oil It was Penut and Canola So maybe thats why it didnt not gel. And this is also why i need to get good quality commercial b100 as a "known" factor As well as another gallon of diesel.

being a diesel mechanic Im somewhat aware of what to look for


Along with the attracting water. I thought about that earlier (month or so ago when i relaly started getting into this) If everything i use attracts water ( even the veggie to begin with) why wouldnt the diesel?

So when i started fabbing up a processor. Ive welded in some air vents for my Barrels which are closed. And the vents run into a dehumidifier. Which i hope helps dry it out to begin with. As i do boil it to make sure water is gone


One thing ive been wondering about is how to boil a barrell full of bio 55 gal or more. Its not hard with the few gallon batches but i would think the amount of energy that it takes would negate the cost savings ( how long the heat sorce would have to be on)

Now i guess in not real sure how hot a water heater element will get. but what im thinkin of of is getting some tubing and making a 1/2 pipe and heating that up and running the fuel over it. Then it would be pretty thin and just boil water right off. But im not sure how well that will work yet so this is all just me thinkin out loud

Sorry for the long post

Lightman

kingof dodge, there are several biodiesel forums that are totally dedicated to brewing it, although I'm sure you've found them. Let me know if you haven't, they are a much better place to post questions about your processor. If you want to see some cool processors for ideas , check out www.biodieselgear.com . Maybe you can see how they heat it.

PS, biodiesel is virtually magnetic to water, not like other elements in the process. Once it's biodiesel, I would try to keep a lid or something on it. Luckily it's not too humid in the winter =-]

TPilaske

I did throw a spare fuel filter in the truck "just in case!" Either way, it's time to change the oil and fuel filter so I'll be changing it saturday. It don't hurt to keep a spare filter in the truck....

This is an interesting subject. I hope more info comes on the boards and I hope it becomes more widely availabe across the country!


Tony

Lightman

TPilaske - I'm not sure where southgate is, but did you happen to fill at Wacker Oil? They are in MI, not quite sure where, but their b20 mix is mixed with 80% 50 cetane minimum Amoco Premier. Talk about a sweet blend =]

TPilaske

Southgate is just a bit south of Detroit (check yahoo maps). The closest station to me is a BP in Carleton (yahoo map it). It's roughly 15 miles from me... I found the station on biodiesel.org - There was only about a handful of stations listed on there and that was the only city that I was familiar with!


Tony


EDIT: How can you find out what the blend is? Think the average cashier there would know?