Re: Getting cold this week, check your blend!

On 1/12/07, chris nich <[email protected]> wrote:

> I just mix b99 and diesel to make b50, no problems at all

Well yes, I guess the notice I made earlier is for those who are not
willing to mix petrol diesel with biodiesel. Other than being a
purist, I would rather not soot up my motor oil in my Mercedes. I've
always admired that when running on B99 all the time my oil never goes
black, it stays a beautiful golden yellow all the way up to my 7000
mile oil change.

I however have the luxury of an alternate vehicle, one that I don't
care about as much. In this vehicle I usually blend B50-B80 and also
have no problems.

As per one of the previous posts mentioning modifications to switch
tanks, yes this is possible. I believe though, that people would
prefer a solution which does not require any modifications. So that we
can help improve the usability of biodiesel during winter in Oregon.

The simplest real world solution for Oregon right now is to blend
between B5 and B20 in eastern Oregon and B50-B80 in the Willamette
Valley.

Many people wish there was an easy solution to cold weather that
didn't require any petrol. There are several additives on the market,
but most are quite expensive / gallon. I've heard good results from
Wintron XC30 and Power Service Artic Express, however the Wintron will
add about $0.35/gal at 0.5% by volume to the cost of your fill-up.

Jerry has mentioned that the Amsoil "Cold Flow Improver" may work
well. Jerry do you know the cost of this product and concentration
needed. The Wintron XC30 in Eastern Oregon might need a double or
triple dose adding between $0.70/gal or as much as $1.05/gal. This is
a pretty high premium to ask people running B99/B100 to burden.

If anyone has any useful insight to cheap and available alternatives
for B99/B100 users in Oregon without requiring modifications to the
vehicle, please let us all know.

BTW: When I went and looked over my stock piles of stuff this morning
I was surprised to see some 5 mic filtered veg oil in 5 gal containers
still had a liquid / solid separation at about the half way mark at
21F.

I have a 330 gal tank with B99 soy methyl esters from Iowa that has
some gelling around the edges but is quite liquid over the majority.

I also have several 30 gal containers with B100 that I made from
yellow grease and it is quite solid now but was a cloudy liquid just
yesterday at 34F.

All in all the SME is an impressive feedstock compared to recycled
oils for mild cold weather.

I'm curious as to how the SeQuential fuel at the co-op site is
behaving in all those big totes and how the in house co-op fuel is
standing up to the cold as well?


--
Jeff Brandt
Sun Break Biofuels, LLC
mailto:[email protected]