Biodiesel Dos and Donts

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Bio-diesel - Dos and Donts
In Summary

• What is biodiesel?
• Shells Position ?
• What is happening in SA
• What do the OEMs say

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What is Biodiesel ?

• Biodiesel is made chemically by reacting an
  alcohol (methanol) with Vegetable oils to form a
  Fatty Acid known as FAME (Fatty Acid Methyl
  Esters). This is used in Diesel engines as a
  blend of diesel or sometimes neat it contains
  oxygen.
• Proposed sources in SA
• Sunflower oil
• Soya bean oil
• Cotton oil
• Ground nut oil
• Canola
• Jatropha carcass oil

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What Biodiesel is not .

• Vegetable oil and used cooking oil is not
  biodiesel.
• The term is reserved for ester products (FAME)
  made by chemically treating vegetable oils in a
  process known as trans-esterification.
• The untreated oils are not suitable for use as
  diesel fuel because their properties are
  different from diesel and will cause engine
  damage if used as a diesel fuel.
• The esterification process makes the vegetable
  oil similar to diesel.
• The term biodiesel should not be used to
  describe a blend of biodiesel with diesel fuel.
• Such a mixture is properly called a Biodiesel
  Blend, and designated by the term BX, (e.g.
  B5, B20 etc) where X refers to the proportion
  (X) of Biodiesel that has been added to diesel.

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What is biodiesel made from ?
Biodiesel may be produced from a variety of
renewable sources Farmed crops vegetable
oils from rapeseed, sunflowers, soybeans or
palm-oil these are most widely used sources.
Recycled used cooking oils - problematic due to
poor quality and oxidation stability. Tallow
(animal fat) - obtained from animal rendering
plants. Products have poor low-temperature
performance. We say biodiesel is made from
renewable sources because animal and vegetable
oils/fats cannot be completely exhausted - they
can be replenished over a short timescale - crude
has a finite lifespan that takes millions of
years to form again.
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Common Sources of Biodiesel
Rapeseed
Groundnut
Sunflower seed
Soybean
Corn
Coconut
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What is Shells position on biodiesel?
Shell believes in the use of biodiesel blends
(up to B5) as one part of its Sustainable
Development strategy. Shell will supply
biodiesel only in blends with diesel. For
Customer satisfaction reasons seamless
introduction by inclusion of small percentages in
diesel is preferred. Shell is the world's
biggest marketer of fuels containing
bio-components. Where the logistics and the
economics are right, Shell will look for
opportunities to extend the availability of B5
biodiesel.
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Drivers for Biodiesel introduction in SA

• Bio-diesel is being driven by SA government for 3
  main reasons
• To stimulate job creation in rural areas (main
  reason)
• Source of sustainable energy / development
• Lessen the reliance on crude imports

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The issues for Biodiesel in SA

• Cost and Subsidy
• Cost more to produce Biodiesel (parity at 55 65
  USD/bbl) than it is to produce Diesel
• A rebate of 40 on the diesel levy (R1.00/L)
  40c/L (RSA cents) to manufacturers only
• On-going debate on subsidies to oil companies
  mainly to recover investment
• 2. Technical and Specifications
• SANS 1935 analogous to EN 14214 except for slight
  higher iodine value.
• At lt5 FAME is supported by OEMs without adverse
  effects to modern engines.
• Plan is to initially role out with 1-2 FAME from
  soya mainly.
• Objective is to meet a target of 4.5 by 2013.

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Benefits of Biodiesel

• Reduced emissions
• marginal benefit in 2-5 blend
• Requires 10 20 to see any significant
  measurable emission benefits
• Provides adequate lubricity at 2 blend
• It is cheaper to use additives
• Refineries use additives to meet the diesel SANS
  342 specification
• FAME acts as sulphur diluent
• Need to greater than 10 blends to have any
  advantage for refiners.
• At 5 in diesel there is a marginal benefit
  (eg. 500 ppm dilutes to 475 ppm)

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What are the technical issues with biodiesel?

• Cold operability Biodiesel may start to freeze
  at SA winter temperatures
• - causes filter blockage mainly when
  biodiesel made from palm oil or tallow.
• Stability biodiesel has higher tendency to
  degrade through oxidation than diesel.
• - antioxidation additives are needed to
  improve stability.
• Water uptake biodiesel has a greater tendency
  to absorb water than diesel, leading to
• Microbial growth common in biodiesel blends
  causes corrosion and blocks filters.
• Solvent effects biodiesel can degrade rubber
  seals and hoses
• Metals compatibility biodiesel can interact
  with certain metals causing corrosion
• Many of these effects are negated by the use of
  low-level blends of biodiesel e.g. B5.

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Is biodiesel the same as cooking oil ?
No, biodiesel is very different from cooking oil
and other vegetable oils and fats. Converting
vegetable oil to biodiesel (by transesterification
) reduces the molecular weight e.g from 880
to 300 g/mol for rapeseed oil, reduces the
viscosity (e.g from 38 to 5 mm2/s at 40C for
Palm oil) increases the volatility (i.e. lowers
the boiling point). It is important to note that
vehicle manufacturers do not approve of the use
of vegetable oils as fuels in diesel engines.
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What do Engine Manufacturers say
Based on current understanding of biodiesel fuels
and blending with petroleum based diesel fuel,
EMA members expect that blends up to a maximum of
B5 should not cause engine or fuel system
problems, provided the B100 used in the blend
meets the requirements of ASTM D 6751, DIN 51606,
or EN 14214 (SABS 1935). If blends exceeding B5
are desired, vehicle owners and operators should
consult their engine manufacturer regarding the
implications of using such fuel.
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Engine Operation, Performance and Durability

• Based on energy content of neat biodiesel fuel
  is 11 lower than that of petroleum-based diesel
  fuel (on a per gallon basis), which results in a
  power loss in engine operation.
• The viscosity range of biodiesel fuel, however,
  is higher than that of petroleum-based diesel
  fuel which tends to reduce barrel/plunger leakage
  and thereby slightly improve injector efficiency.
  
• The net effect of using B100, then, is a loss of
  approximately five to seven percent (5-7) in
  maximum power output.
• The actual percentage power loss will vary
  depending on the percentage of biodiesel blended
  in the fuel. At B5 (5) indicates a power loss of
  lt1 which will have a marginal fuel economy
  loss.

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Engine Operation, Performance and Durability

• Neat biodiesel and higher (gt5) percentage
  biodiesel blends can cause a variety of engine
  performance problems
• including filter plugging,
• injector coking,
• piston ring sticking and breaking,
• elastomer seal swelling and hardening/cracking,
• severe engine lubricant degradation.
• At low ambient temperatures, biodiesel is thicker
  than conventional diesel fuel, which would limit
  its use in certain geographic areas. In addition,
  elastomer compatibility with biodiesel remains
  unclear therefore, when biodiesel fuels are
  used, the condition of seals, hoses, gaskets, and
  wire coatings should be monitored regularly.

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OEM Position on Biodiesel Mercedes Benz
Mercedes-Benz Position on Biodiesel As of January
19, 2007 Mercedes-Benz USA now approves the use
of B5 biodiesel (standard diesel with a maximum 5
biodiesel content) in all Common Rail Injection
Diesel "CDI-engines" including BLUETEC
engines. As biodiesel can be refined from a
variety of raw materials resulting in widely
varying properties, the only approved biodiesel
content is one that meets the ASTM D6751
specification and that has additionally the
necessary oxidation stability (min. 6h, proved
with EN14112 method ) to prevent damages to the
system from deposits and/or corrosion. Please ask
your service station for further information. If
the B5 biodiesel blend is not sufficiently
labeled to clearly indicate that it meets the
above standards, please do not use it. The
Mercedes-Benz limited warranty does not cover
damage caused by the use of fuels not meeting
Mercedes-Benz approved fuel standards.
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OEM Position on Biodiesel Volvo
Biodiesel/RME Volvo Truck Corporation does not
accept more than 5 RME in diesel ready mixed
from the oil company since nitric oxide emissions
increase drastically and the injection system can
be damaged. Volvo does not intend carrying out
long-term tests on engines for these fuels as no
standard exists. If, in spite of this, the
customer wishes to use fuels based on vegetable
oils, we recommend that the oil changing
intervals be halved in order to eliminate the
risk of dilution of the engine oil. It is oil
companies who are responsible for ensuring that
the mixture of biodiesel meets the diesel
standards. The customer must not add mixtures in
the biodiesel in the diesel tank afterwards. The
cold properties for these fuels are not
particularly good. Pure RME can produce deposits
already at -10C. They even have washing like
characteristics which causes faster clogging of
the fuel filters.
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OEM Position on Biodiesel VW
As a result of a major joint research project
between the Volkswagen Group and the prominent
agricultural products firm Archer Daniels Midland
Company, and improvements in the specifications
for biodiesel fuel in North America, Volkswagen
has determined that diesel fuel containing up to
five percent biodiesel meets the technical
specifications for Volkswagen vehicles equipped
with TDI engines imported to the United States.
Therefore, the diesel fuel commonly known as B5
biodiesel is acceptable for use in all our TDI
vehicles.
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The FIE (Fuel Injection Equipment) manufacturers
position FIE manufacturers encourage the
development of renewable compression ignition
fuels. Experience to date with Rapeseed Methyl
Ester fuels in Europe suggests that RME
conforming to the European standard EN14214 at
the point of sale used in mixtures of up to 5 by
volume with mineral diesel fuel complying with
the EN590 diesel fuel standard should not give
end-users any serious problems. The currently
agreed position of all FIE manufacturers
undersigned is to limit release of injection
equipment for admixtures up to a maximum of 5
FAME (meeting the EN14214 standard) with
unadulterated diesel fuel (meeting the EN590
standard). The final product B5 must also comply
with EN 590.
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Conclusion

• Biodiesel blends up to a maximum of B5 should
  not cause engine or fuel system problems,
  provided the B100 used in the blend meets the
  requirements of ASTM D 6751, DIN 51606, or EN
  14214 (SABS 1935).
• Engine manufacturers should be consulted if
  higher percentage blends are required.
• Individual engine manufacturers determine what
  implications, if any, the use of biodiesel fuel
  has on the manufacturers commercial warranties.