Hey. Im a new member and i already love this place. I learned about bio-diesel in 2003 when the prices of gasoline and diesel started skyrocketing up. Looking for a solution, i found one, called bio-diesel. Basically you get used cooking oil and then add a few chemicals like lye and let it cook. What you get from that is bio-diesel. Something you can run in any diesel. Although it would be a good idea to get better fuel lines because its powerful stuff. I have a friend that makes bio-diesel for his car and he sees an increase of fuel economy but one downside are injectors. They can get clogged/worn so he just uses a injector cleaner from Wal-Mart. Bio-diesel really pays off if you use ALOT of diesel. Most places will give away free cooking oil which makes this an economical choice. Its said to cost around $0.77 cents to make a gallon of bio-diesel, better than $2.39 a gallon! There is a new process coming out soon that make bio-diesel production much cheaper, in the range of 10-15 cents per gallon. It is always a fantastic way to further ourselves from foreign oil. We can also help American farmers by using American corn/soybeans/etc. What does everything think about bio-diesel? I cant wait until we can find out how to make bio-gasoline. Just imagine.
I think it is great on a small scale. Like any other product it will be influenced by supply and demand. Right now used cooking oil is given away for free, because they are happy to be rid of it, but don't expect that to last if demand increases greatly and it can be easily sold to the highest bidder. Also at some point there will be limits to how much farmland we can devote to growing crops for fuel, because we will always have to eat. I hope this doesn't sound too negative, because I think every little bit helps, but we need plan on the major limiting factor for almost all alternative fuels and that is "scalability"
Hello chechnya.I live in Minnesota,the one state that mandates all diesel sold in the state must contain a minimum of 2% bio-diesel.The state recently put the law on hold due to the fact that there was widespread problems with fuel filters plugging in cold weather,caused by the addition of the bio-diesel. www.biodieselreport.com/2005/12/26/minnesota-biodiesel-on-hold The problem was traced back to the producers of the bio-diesel.The bio-diesel they were supplying had an excess of glycerin in it,and it was causing the filter problems.Their trying to figure out how to get the fuel to meet the proper specs.,so it won't cause the problem,but until then they've put the law on hold.It sounds like it may only be a problem with bio-diesel derived from soybeans(which all of ours is). My personal feelings on bio-diesel are "all for it!" IF they can make it,so that it won't cause any ill effects on the engines.I'm hoping they'll figure out what they need to do,so there won't be any problems with filter plugging. On a side note,This winter I started to use the Schaeffer's winter diesel fuel additive(this site's sponsor)in my semi. We had one spell where it got down to -15 ,and even with having run the bio-diesel blend,I haven't had any filter problems,like many others have.
This was in Schaeffers last internal newsletter. "Trucker's 3 Deep at Pump at Trucker's Inn Body: Stu ##### got a nice endorsement from the owner of Trucker's Inn. The owner said the word got out that Trucker's Inn fuel had Schaeffer's additive in it and was the only fuel that didn't gel up. The trucks were lined up three deep at the pumps! Stu says the B2 Mandate in Minnesota has caused a rash of filter plugging. Surprisingly, this is not due to gelling, but due to the solvency of biodiesel and the clean up effect in tanks and fuel systems. One customer, Mason Brothers Wholesale Grocers, has 40 trucks. When a number of them went down with filter plugging, the customer double treated with 137A (Premium Diesel Treat) and thought the problem was gelling. Stu cut the filters open and found a black residue on the filter. Sending the fuel out for Fuel Doctor testing showed the fuel had substantial fungus and bacteria. The fuel went to -40F. The customer was amazed. At Stu's recommendation they changed all their filters. Tell your customers if they are having filter plugging with B2 to change filters and treat with Diesel Treat - it's the best solution."
This is the exact thing that I was referring to with the thread involving the duramax diesel a few weeks ago.
Being the guy who has the duramax in question -- I took a run to South Dakota last summer -- Ran biodiesel in it from the Quad cities to SoDak and back. Wonder if I could be suffering from a deposit from that long ago. Since I'm based in North Georgia, and that was 7 months and probably 10000 miles, two oil changes, and a new fuel filter ago, I'd not think so. Still, I havent gotten it fixed yet, and I promised a report back when I do figure it out. Stay tuned.
Littledenny, What I was refrencing was the fungus/bacteria presence. This will not go away on its own. The only way to cure it, that I know of is, with a fungiside treatment. What reminded me of this was the post above describing the black residue on the filter membrane. cut and copied from my post: Originally Posted by salesrep "Stu cut the filters open and found a black residue on the filter. Sending the fuel out for Fuel Doctor testing showed the fuel had substantial fungus and bacteria. " The presences of the black(fungus) residue will stop the fuel flow. This fungus/bacteria grows because of the water (condensation) present in most every fuel tank. A fungiside like I used called KILLEM, took care of the trouble that I had. One quart will treat 1900+ gallons of fuel.
Will, where did you buy it...locally or ?
We have a product Called Fuel Shock http://www.schaefferoil.com/datapdf/285.pdfIt comes in 4/1 gallon containers that I sell to bulk tank users and jobbers that works great. A gallon treats 4000 gal. of fuel. Our premium diesel treat 2000 http://www.schaefferoil.com/datapdf/137ND.pdf product has a biocide in it as well to keep the "bugs" away
Xcavator, It was purchased over the counter at Highway Equipment in nearby Zielinople, PA. For the size, it was pricey(Around $20 for the quart) It does a bang up job and cured the trouble that I had.
I found the price quoted here is a little bit high. I often can locate some good deals on ebay. You need to know what you really look for though. Here is the tool I use to look for all the bargains. .tg.