Tweet
Re: BioDiesel in D4D Prado
Biodiesel mixes are not evil but bring with them a number of potential problems that do not exist with traditional fuels. Yes it can strip out the existing crud in the system and that might be a pain but one of the joys it can bring is fatty acid filter plugging especially in colder climates.
That crops up because dissolved water (i.e an emulsion) tends to be more prevalent in biodeisel than conventional fuels and the presence of such water can cause reversion of the biodiesel to fatty acid, the increased pressure and fuel recycle temperatures in new high pressure injection systems accelerating the process.
A lot depends on the feedstock the biodiesel is made from. If it is high in saturated fats the resultant biodiesel is more prone to clouding and gelling at low temperatures which is not much fun if you are somewhere cold-ish in winter but simply not an issue elsewhere. Use feedstocks high in unsaturated fats and the biodiesel has a shorter storage life and is more prone to temperature/pressure degradation!
None of that might matter much if you only use a 5% biodiesel mix but evidence is emerging that higher biodiesel concentrations can have a complex chemical interaction with conventional diesel over time. That is not yet properly understood and if you do not have it hanging around in the tank for ages it most likely is not an issue
Interestingly diesel vehicles will increasingly tend have two stage filtration systems with new filter media to help remove the very finely divided water in oil emulsions that biodiesels tend to have because that is not good for high pressure pump & injector systems. Existing single stage filters with water separation features simply cannot deal with it.
Biodiesel mixes are not evil but bring with them a number of potential problems that do not exist with traditional fuels. Yes it can strip out the existing crud in the system and that might be a pain but one of the joys it can bring is fatty acid filter plugging especially in colder climates.
That crops up because dissolved water (i.e an emulsion) tends to be more prevalent in biodeisel than conventional fuels and the presence of such water can cause reversion of the biodiesel to fatty acid, the increased pressure and fuel recycle temperatures in new high pressure injection systems accelerating the process.
A lot depends on the feedstock the biodiesel is made from. If it is high in saturated fats the resultant biodiesel is more prone to clouding and gelling at low temperatures which is not much fun if you are somewhere cold-ish in winter but simply not an issue elsewhere. Use feedstocks high in unsaturated fats and the biodiesel has a shorter storage life and is more prone to temperature/pressure degradation!
None of that might matter much if you only use a 5% biodiesel mix but evidence is emerging that higher biodiesel concentrations can have a complex chemical interaction with conventional diesel over time. That is not yet properly understood and if you do not have it hanging around in the tank for ages it most likely is not an issue
Interestingly diesel vehicles will increasingly tend have two stage filtration systems with new filter media to help remove the very finely divided water in oil emulsions that biodiesels tend to have because that is not good for high pressure pump & injector systems. Existing single stage filters with water separation features simply cannot deal with it.
Comment