Unconfigured Ad Widget

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Biodiesel Gets A Bad Rep

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Biodiesel Gets A Bad Rep

    Now before I go any further this information is second hand from my mechanic.

    Have a look at the picks !!

    this was apparently Commercial Biodiesel from 7-11 at Carlingford, the poor guy that bought it didn't know any different until after he had filled up, a day later this is what happened to the fuel in his vehicle, he only just made it to the mechanics, blocked lines, filters etc...

    My mechanic started to tell me about the evils of BD, I put him right the best I could and he was convinced that the stuff on his bench was bad BD after I explained how BD is made and processed etc...

    anyone know what all this stuff is, the top layer was crystal clear BD (The container is grubby), the middle layer looks like soap, I haven't a clue what the other stuff is ??

    Cheers

    The Fat Man






  • #2
    Re: Biodiesel Gets A Bad Rep

    Looks alot like water to me with the crap out of the fuel tank giving it the dark sediment / tinting.

    I hesitate to say this but were did he buy this? The stuff in the tanks at the servo may bear only some resemblance to what was put in there.

    Matt
    Biodiesel Bandit

    Landcruiser '98 80 series B100.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Biodiesel Gets A Bad Rep

      Could it be that the BD loosened all the crud in his tank? This wouldn't be the first time that happened to anyone. In fact, when I bought my first 200L of BD from the Rutherford plant, I was warned of the possibility that it could loosen the crap in my lines and in the tank, and to be safe, it would be best to clean my tank before using it and jkeep an eye on the clear prefilter.

      This is what gives BD a bad name, but it is more likely "user error".
      Cheers
      Bruce


      1976 W123 300D (3 litre 5-cyl NA diesel running on SVO since June 2006)
      1982 W126 280SE (Sadly is For Sale)
      1993 W124 300D (3 litre 6-cyl NA diesel - being converted to SVO)

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Biodiesel Gets A Bad Rep

        7-11 in Carlingford? Geeze, I think this sounds like possibly Diamond Fuels is getting more distribution. Does anyone know if the pump was even labelled? This is the sort of stuff that I am really concerned about, as it will not take much stuff like this to get biodiesel a really bad name.
        I fully think that the crap in the system is more likely old crud that the bio had loosened that was already in the system, or even crud loosened in the tanks at the station. The sad part is that the urban legends will not include this information and the simple public will just believe biodiesel was to blame.
        Robert.
        Site Admin.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Biodiesel Gets A Bad Rep

          Without the benefit of actually checking what it is, the biodiesel on top has the colour of tallow biodiesel, the white stuff looks like unprocessed tallow, the bottom - ????.

          A bit of temperature could help to figure this out. If the stuff was heated up to say 25C and the white stuff melted, then that would be an indication that it was unprocessed tallow.

          The smell of the burning biodiesel will also give it away. If a rag was soaked in the biodiesel and burned, does it smell kind of like a beef rendering plant?

          If it turns out to be tallow biodiesel with that much unprocessed feedstock, then it is probably not coming from a commercial plant. It's probably more likely someone is cranking out low conversion biodiesel from the cheapest feedstocks to blend into fuel on the sly. This would have to be a fair size plant and not some backyarder. You don't usually show up at a tallow supplier and get 100 litres - you get a tanker load delivered to your site.

          I remember a waste oil collector that was making his own biodiesel. He was making about 85% conversion biodiesel from relatively good WVO feedstock. He had a bit of problems running it during the winter and had to blend it. He was also selling the biodiesel to anyone that wanted it. It wasn't sold at petrol stations, only to those who showed up at his plant. However, it would not surprise me to find out that his business model has been expanded to include petrol stations.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Biodiesel Gets A Bad Rep

            The grey/ dark stuff looks like what came out of my tank after I started putting straight vegie oil in the tank of my merc (Svo conversion) It came out for ages, block up numerous filters, only stopping when I bought a bulk lot of filters
            Is it possible if the biodiesel is "unwashed" with dissolved soap, and mixed with diesel where a high proportion of water is added (some places are adding water with the chemicals to keep it emusified) could the white stuff be soap?
            cheers<BR>Chris.<BR>1990 landcruiser 80, 1HD-T two tank, copper pipe HE+ 20 plate FPHE, toyota solenoids and filters. 1978 300D, elsbett one tank system.<BR>

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Biodiesel Gets A Bad Rep

              Hi All

              The bowser was apparently labeled as BD but the guy didn't notice till to late, I'll see if I can get some to do a test on

              Cheers
              The Fat man

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Biodiesel Gets A Bad Rep

                Capt Echidna, soap mixes in with any water in the tank and does produce a 'white' water, however this white stuff is sitting between the biodiesel and the gunk laden water on the bottom. The white stuff also appears to be broken into chunks, therefore I suspect the stuff to be unprocessed tallow that was broken up while it was cold, and stayed cold so it never had a chance to warm up and reform into a consistent layer.

                The unprocessed tallow may not have eventuated from a low conversion batch. If this blackmarket fuel processor is running his own tanker truck to pick up the tallow, he may also be re-filling the same tanker with the finished biodiesel in order to deliver it to the stations. The residual tallow in the tank simply gets blended back into the fuel.

                The fuel trade is a mass of crooks, lots of them because there is big money in it. Not only is the fuel made cheaply, but the blackmarket fuel processor avoids paying excise tax or GST. He is selling the product well below the petrol diesel costs.

                The petrol station dumps whatever comes along into the tanks, then he disconnects the pump meter in the bowser so the extra quantity isn't recorded. On some of the bowsers it is very easy to do. The price meter will still work and the customer is none the wiser. The station not only picks up extra revenue, but without recording the sales he can also avoid the GST - however the customer will still pay the GST and the station will keep it.

                This gelled biodiesel would not be a problem during the summer, but someone has tried to beat the weather and the weather won.

                This is not a result of homebrewers who are making fuel for their own use, but with blackmarket producers that are doing commercial activity. The blackmarket biodiesel scene is just an extension of what is going on with the distillation plants. I've seen used motor oil, used paint thinner, acetone, used ATF, all sorts of stuff distilled off to be blended into diesel fuel. The use of biodiesel is a bonus to these plants as the extra cetane, oxygen and lubricity in the biodiesel helps to compensate for the low quality of the distillates.

                I predict that as Peak Oil hits this problem will only get worse. When rationing begins, nobody will care about the quality, but only that they can get something to continue driving with.
                Terry Syd
                Senior Member
                Last edited by Terry Syd; 6 September 2006, 11:44 AM.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Biodiesel Gets A Bad Rep

                  Hi Terry

                  I predict that as Peak Oil hits this problem will only get worse. When rationing begins, nobody will care about the quality, but only that they can get something to continue driving with.

                  Can you tell me what makes you predict the above ?? I know the price of fuel will continue to rise but what about rationing ??

                  Cheers
                  The Fat Man

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Biodiesel Gets A Bad Rep

                    Whoa! There's a question for a whole new topic and I'm sure Terry would be more than happy to tell you (and us all) about this one. Terry, if you do respond to this, can you please do so in a new thread (or one of the other ones dealing with peak oil), then link here so we don't all get off topic too much in this thread?

                    Edit: Thanks Terry. He's replied in this thread here about Peak Oil.
                    Robert
                    Administrator
                    Last edited by Robert; 6 September 2006, 08:24 PM.
                    Robert.
                    Site Admin.

                    Comment

                    Working...
                    X