Bio-Fuel

[Starman]

Speaking with a local fisherman/shrimper who has a reputation for being ahead of the curve in the business, he was telling me about this Bio-Fuel.

He buys it and mixes it with his regular diesel and swears that his engines run better, the filters need changing less, and is saving huge bucks.

Has anyone else been doing this and if so, can you see any performance increases as Mike has been telling me ?

 

[Maynard Rupp]

They run it in city busses. Smells like french fries. The smell of diesel and a heavy sea makes me sick. I can only imagine what my tummy would do with a french fry exhaust. Maybe the crazies in government wont make us put ethanol in the bio-fuel. That might smell like a martini with french fries and a sugar cookie eh.

 

[Pascal]

bioD ?

it's the future... unlike ethanol, a scam created by environazis and corn growers, bioD can be produced from a variety of sources which means it will not affect the price of food... like ethanol.

Algea is one very promising source... In Florida, a plant is now producing bioD from left over citrus peels.

it is supposed to be 100% safe and compatible with just about any diesel engine, although it will initially clean up the tanks and lines...

another alternative is cooking oil, new or used. witht he right filtration and some preheating, it is supposed to be even better than diesel !

 

[Brian Degulis]

Hi Paul There is a company near me in Lakeland FL they make bio diesel they have been doing it for a long time long before fuel went nuts. Some of the municipalities and shrimp fleet have used it for years with no ill efects I'm aware of. It does have a french fry smell it's pretty strange.

Brian

 

[Genesis]

Its good stuff. Better cetane, less harmful to the environment if spilled, just works.

Only downside is about 5% lower BTU content (lower mileage)

 

[Freestyle]

Anyone know how to get a load of Bio Diesel in Tampa and what it costs per gallon?

 

[mtadamek]

We have been thinking a lot about BioD for use in our Farm equipment and Hatteras. It is one thing to absorb the increase costs of diesel in a business, but it just seems to hurt more if it coming out of your own pocket for recreation. Never mind. It hurts a lot period. BioD has a lot of advantages over Petroleum diesel. Better lubricity is the main advantage if you ask me. Less engine wear, and good for the environment. There are several reports out there about less economy and there are some about greater economy. You can buy it here locally and I am going to give it a try for myself (In my truck first.) I even checked into making it. Prices of methanol have risen to just out of sight prices and it is one of the chemicals used in the reaction.

 

[mopester]

Starman, Mike from ri here. been off the computer all summer got the yf hull painted, but that is another story.

I have and still run bio d. In my old vw tdi bug (rearended and totaled) and my current vw jetta wagon tdi. I dont have any thing negative to say about it. I found out about from a buddy with a gmc 6.5 diesel, he also runs it in his 85 mercedes and his jetta tdi. We have both made ""batches"" from used fryolator vegetable oil, just to see the procces and if we could. I forget what the saving calculations were but it was significant?? Of course as mentioned previously some of the products have more than doubled in cost, and we couldnt figure out what to do with the by product wich is glycerine or basic soap!! It definately smells like fries. We both noticed quiter injectors and less smoke. fuel economy was not noticable (probably because we had our foot in the pedal!!!) Depending on what you read the emmisions reduction can be 65 to 90 percent less. And yes it is definatly safer for the enviroment, put a couple of drops in and watch, it will kinda of disaper in the sun, rather than leave a strong sheen. the problem for us up north here is gelling. i was running a b100 (pure bio d) in my bug drove an hour and fifteen minutes and it gelled/froze in the filter!! had to be towed and defrosted. Now in the winter i dont run more than a b25 (25%mix)belnd. this gelling is why i havent tried it in the boat yet.

the other concern i had was algae. It from what i have read thrives in the stuff?? but i have never had a problem yet...

We can get it at the pump in one gas station in the whole state and one marina in the whole state. (little Rhode Island)

 

[mopester]

Paul google bio diesel and see what comes up. I am wrong apparently in the lsat year there have been a couple more places pop up in ri. here are a couple links.
this one is an article with links
http://www.projo.com/extra/2007/green_energy/biodiesel_web_sites.html

one cpmany
http://www.newportbiodiesel.com/cms/

another company
http://www.thmalloyandsonsfuel.com/biodiesel.html

another article
http://www.projo.com/news/environment/GE_BIODIESEL_MAKERS_08-15-07_6S5TJRK.25d9998.html

this is an incentive to be tax exempt for making it.
http://www.tax.ri.gov/forms/2007/Biodiesel/biodiesel notice.pdf

Mike..

 

[Brian Degulis]

Anyone know how to get a load of Bio Diesel in Tampa and what it costs per gallon?

Try a search there is a company in Lakeland that makes it on a large scale I don't know how they sell it. Let me know what you find I'll take a look also I'm in Tampa area.

Brian

 

[krush]

another alternative is cooking oil, new or used. witht he right filtration and some preheating, it is supposed to be even better than diesel !

Please do not believe that crap from people that don't know what they are talking about.

When biodiesel is made, lots of glyercerin and starches/crap comes out of it. When you run strait veggi oil in a diesel, that stuff cokes up an engine. Please fine me somebody with more than 100,000 miles on strait vegi oil.

 

[MarioG]

My question is, is BioD bad for our old Detroit engines, tanks, filters and fuel lines to and from?

What are the long term effects?

 

[mtadamek]

I just filled up my truck today with it. BD100. 37.7 gallons cost me 111 bucks. Local company makes it and I had been wanting to try it out. I drilled him for some info and what he said made alot of sense and supported what I had read. Fuel mileage will go up for the first few tanks and then go back to normal. BD really rattles loose all the crud in your fuel system. I was told to have an extra fuel filter ready for the first tank or two. I guess the fuel mileage gain might be attributed to burning a lot of the leftover stuff in your system. My odometer will be the judge. I have about 220k miles on my f250 right now, so we will see what happens. Does not burn a drop of oil as of now. I have not read anything about "coking" up your engine. All the soap and glycerin is precipitated out. Smelling the exhaust I can tell you it really smells clean. Completely different from other diesel. He uses 2/3's virgin oil and 1/3 used veg oil. He also uses koh instead of Naoh which results in a better product. I have a neighbor that runs straight waste vegetable oil with absolutely no conversion on his engine. He filters it over and over and adds some kind of commercially available stabilizer. We are in South Texas, and has no gelling issues. Has been running it year round for over 4 years without a single problem. He does have over 100k on the waste oil same engine. You have to remember Rudolf Diesel designed his engine to run on Peanut oil. Granted today's engines are not designed for that, but it does stregthen the case. Detroits have a reputation for being able burn just about anything without ill effects. Don't make the assumption that just because it is different, it is not equal or even better. I assume as the price of oil goes up, Methanol will go up as well. But Methanol can be made from a variety of sources....Coal, biomass, Natual gas... I don't know the emissions that the coal to methanol conversion has, but we have such an abundant supply of coal in this country it is worth a look. We should be using methanol instead of ethanol in our gas powered vehicles. Methanol can actually compete with oil and does not have the market competition with food products like ethanol has. I am not sold on the Biodiesel yet, but time will tell. It would be nice not having to rely on the Middle East or Venezula for so much of our oil. I will keep you updated on my economy numbers and any problems I have using BD. Using standard "at the pump" diesel I was making about 16-17mpg in my 7.3L Powerstroke F250. I paid 2.95 a gallon for BD today. The cheapest at the pump I have seen in town is $3.159 (only at one station) and the highest was $3.409. So I saved $7.92 on the low side and $17.42 on the high side. About $12.67 if you averaged it out. We will see what the mileage does. If the differential stays fairly constant, and my mileage does not change, that would be about a $500-600 savings per year on 4 fillups a month using BD.

 

[ThirdHatt]

What's the big push to biodiesel if the stuff costs nearly $3/gallon just like diesel??? At least regular diesel can/will go back down way under $3. I doubt that if they're getting nearly $3/gal for biodiesel that they'll EVER go down on price! I thought biodiesel was supposed to be MUCH cheaper and cleaner. If it is only cleaner and not significantly cheaper, I and many others will probably not bother with it.

 

[Brian Degulis]

What's the big push to biodiesel if the stuff costs nearly $3/gallon just like diesel??? At least regular diesel can/will go back down way under $3. I doubt that if they're getting nearly $3/gal for biodiesel that they'll EVER go down on price! I thought biodiesel was supposed to be MUCH cheaper and cleaner. If it is only cleaner and not significantly cheaper, I and many others will probably not bother with it.

Your probably right and that's a shame. If for equal money or even a little more I could get a fuel that's home grown and burns cleaner I'm in. Why in the world would you want to continue to finance people that want to kill you? And no matter where you stand on the severity of emissions and the problems they cause cleaner is better isn't it?

Brian

 

[Boss Lady]

BD is cheaper here by $1 a gallon over diesel. It cost less than a $1 a gallon to produce when using waste fryer oil. BD is an emerging enterprise and prices will vary according to local market conditions. The suppliers who make full ASTM compliant BD and are selling it to the oil companies to blend with regular diesel will be charging the most money. Eventually there will be equalibrium in the market, but if I have a product to sell, the price will be adjusted to make the sale. BD and alternative fuess are not practical when oil is cheap. Now that world demand has pushed the prices higher, other fuel sources become practical. The emerging markets of china and india are putting tremendous demand on the world oil supply, there will not be cheap oil again, unless additional major reserves are discovered. Peak oil was predicted 50 years ago to happen around the year 2010. We are just starting to feel the effects and it will only get worse. Products from oil are so valuable to our way of life that it will become to precious a resource to burn in cars in the very near future. America needs a coherent energy plan.

 

[krush]

I have not read anything about "coking" up your engine. All the soap and glycerin is precipitated out. Smelling the exhaust I can tell you it really smells clean. Completely different from other diesel. He uses 2/3's virgin oil and 1/3 used veg oil. He also uses koh instead of Naoh which results in a better product.

I have a neighbor that runs straight waste vegetable oil with absolutely no conversion on his engine. He filters it over and over and adds some kind of commercially available stabilizer. We are in South Texas, and has no gelling issues. Has been running it year round for over 4 years without a single problem. He does have over 100k on the waste oil same engine.

My "coking" comment is in reference to using strait vegi oil, NOT biodeiesl.

There are lots of people out there that "run it fine" (waste vegi oil) but here's what really happens: http://www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/forum/viewthread.php?tid=1553

But hey, it's america....you can run your engine on whatever you want.

True my taximan, i run an indirect injection engine,On veggy in me canal boat, idles for long time, i stipped it apart rings so gummed and coked i couldnt release them, i have a large stock of these pistons so mim not bothered, chucked them. my petter is dirt cheap, not the money your taxi is

 

[Passages]

. We should be using methanol instead of ethanol in our gas powered vehicles. Methanol can actually compete with oil and does not have the market competition with food products like ethanol has.

Be careful with Methanol. The owners manual on our little jetboat warns that it should be avoided, ethonal is ok if octane is 89 or better and alcohol free gasoline is preferred.

 

[Maynard Rupp]

We used to warm our fuel dragster engines on methanol. One winter I left a 55 gallon barrell of it outside. It had about 15 gallons in it. By spring the quantity had doubled. This stuff has a great affinity to collect water. Ethanol also does. So, how can you tell the difference between Methanol and Ethanol??? It is very easy...Drink it...If you go blind it was methanol.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Is methanol wood alchohol? Thats what they used to run in the model Ts for antifreeze. By the end of the day you were usually empty from evaporation.
Folks during the depression would drink it and go blind. Sounds like a good time to me! LOL ws