In one of my many conversations with a fuels specialist, he strongly suggested that BD has some thermal stability problems when used in over a 10% mix with Petro. He has the degree and over 20 years experience in the field since I first met him.
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, July 18, 2005 4:47 PM To: Biofuel@sustainablelists.org Subject: Re: [Biofuel] Re: CUMMINS B5.9TD ----- Original Message ----- From: Doug Memering <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Saturday, July 16, 2005 9:40 pm Subject: [Biofuel] Re: CUMMINS B5.9TD > > > > Any of which can be replaced on an as needed basis. Terry's > mechanic> > should be a little more specific with him, rather than > issuing a > > > sweeping and perhaps unsupported statement. > > Perhaps I can shed some light on this topic, as I am an engineer > at Cummins > Inc, and work in Fuel System Development. > Officially, Cummins supports Biodiesel blends up to B5 or 5% > Biodiesel.There are several concerns the company has with higher > ratio blends. There > are three major areas of concerns that the company has. These are > mostlycommercial concerns which will be evident as I explain them > any of which an > individual could deal with by being aware and careful about what > they put > into their tank. > > First, while biodiesel is touted as being cleaner, there are some > caveats.While the particulate emissions (the ones you can see) are > considerablyimproved with biodiesel, the NOx emmission will > increase and the higher the > biodiesel ratio the higher the NOx increases. Up to B5 the > increase will > not likely move the engine's NOx emissions beyond the federal > limit, but B20 > and higher will likely move the NOx emissions "outside of the > box". Since > the US tends to hold the manufacturers repsonsible for the > emissions of the > engines instead of the users the company must maintain a strict policy > against recommending or accepting fuels that will violate the > regulations. > Second, biodiesel has a lower heating value than Petro diesel, > therefore the > higher the biodiesel blend the lower the available power from the > engine.Most vehicles with B5.9 diesel are substantially > overpowered so the driver > may not notice the 2% loss of power with a B5 blend, but it will > become more > noticeable as the ratio is increased. As I said many of the vehicles, > especially pickups are overpowered for the job they do, so you it > wouldlikely not be bothered unless you are street racing or > pulling a large > (heavy) trailer through the mountains. But once again as a > company Cummins > is in the position that if the sell a 305 Hp engine and the > customers tend > to expect to get 305 Hp regardless of what fuel they chose to put > in the > tank. > > The third and more serious concern for us homegrown biodieselers, > in my > opinion, is water. Most tanks collect water, many vehicles are > equippedwith water separation filters to protect the fuel system > components. The > problem is the biodiesel has a higher affinity for water than > petrol diesel, > so the biodiesel is going to carry the water out of the tank. > Furthermore,the water separators that are normally used will NOT > extract the water from > biodiesel so the water gets carried into the fuel system. Most > modern fuel > systems are very sensitive to water. The engine will run > initially but the > internal fuel system components will quickly corrode which will > lead to a > fuel system failure, and usually an expensive one. > > The company is also concerned about the quality of the biodiesel > coming on > the market. They have a wide variety from some very high quality > to some > very poor quality and currently there are no recognized quality > standardthat the commercial producers are going by. > > There are other concerns with blending biodiesel with the coming > Ultra Low > Sulfur Diesel (ULSD). It has a few challenges to overcome but I > will not go > into the details here. > > With all that said, my personal observation (not the view of > Cummins) is > that if you pay attention to what you are putting in your tank > qaulity wise. > You make sure that it is dry. Then you should not have any > problems with > the fuel system of the age mentioned. The timing does not need to be > changed in order for the engine run, however you will be producing > more NOx > than you were with petrodiesel. You will likely see degradation > of non > metal lines in the fuel system and you have to replace all of them > at some > point. Return lines are probably the first ones you will notice. > I believe > most vehicles run steel lines for the supply lines from the tank > to the > engine. > > I am brewing my own biodiesel and running it in my 94 Cummins 5.9L > dieseland I intend to eventually run on straight biodiesel. I > know the risks and > will watch things carefully. > > I hope this helps > > Doug > > > > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > Biofuel@sustainablelists.org > http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.or g > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 > messages):http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > Dear Doug, I didnt catch what year ctd you were talking about, but I have a 98 24 valve that I have been running a 50-50 blend for about a year. Is this bad for the vp-44 even if the fuel is dry? dear doug, i> _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
