Hey All. Don't recall if I've ever shown you this before.. http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/Publications.htm?seq_no_115=171882&pf=1 This is from the US department of agriculture.. they did some research on biodiesel as a lubricity agent, and they've determined that it is the glyceride contaminants that provide lubricity..not the fuel itself, or any other ingredient in it. Interestingly, research found elsewhere indicates that these same contaminants are what gels up when it's cold out, and it is recommended that these be filtered out, so cold weather performance is better. So, the purer the biodiesel, the less functional it is as a fuel system lubricant, if we follow the logic. I know people are excited about biofuels, but I would be remiss if I didn't give you all of the info I had on the subject. Here's what a Minnesota paper ( pioneer press )wrote about biodoesel, just so you can see I'm not making this up. Posted on Tue, Feb. 14, 2006 WARINESS GREETS RETURN OF BIODIESEL Officials say clog problem solved BY TOM WEBB Biodiesel is back in fuel tanks across Minnesota after a winter of discontent with the soybean-based fuel. But this time, it's accompanied by tougher quality rules, more state-sponsored tests and greater wariness from users. In December, poor-quality biodiesel was blended into Minnesota's diesel supply, causing a wave of clogged fuel filters and angry truckers. In response, state officials temporarily lifted a new state law requiring that biodiesel be blended into every gallon of diesel sold. That waiver expired Friday, so once again, a 2 percent blend of biodiesel is back at the pump. Officials can't or won't reveal the precise source and scope of December's troubles, but they do agree that the bad biodiesel was overloaded with glycerin, a substance that one observer described as solidifying "like a snow globe" in frigid weather. Now, the state's fledgling biodiesel industry is embracing more inspections, tougher standards and greater caution, less than five months after Gov. Tim Pawlenty celebrated the state's first-in-the-nation biodiesel mandate by fueling up a school bus. "There's nobody more disappointed by poor quality product than we are," said Mike Youngerberg, executive director of the Minnesota Biodiesel Council. "And we're doing absolutely everything we can to support the Department of Commerce and anyone who has enforcement, to assure quality in the marketplace." But skepticism remains. The Minnesota Truckers Association complained that "the biodiesel industry has not been very forthcoming" about test results, expecting truckers to simply trust that biodiesel plants are fixing the problem. At Flint Hills Resources, which buys and blends biodiesel, there's greater scrutiny of the fuel's quality, and wariness about existing quality standards. "Everyone has made a good-faith effort to put the right measures in place, but we think there's more to be done about why the plugs that occurred did occur, and whether the specs in place are enough to protect consumers," said John Hofland, a Flint Hills spokesman. Minnesota is the first — and only — state to require that soybean-based biodiesel be blended into every gallon of diesel fuel. While the fuel has had growing pains, state officials remain enthusiastic. "We're convinced that there's not going to be a problem," said Edward Garvey, deputy commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Commerce, which is stepping up its biodiesel testing. "As of today, biodiesel is a high-quality, trouble-free fuel." Tom Webb can be reached at twebb@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5428.
So Garvey said that in early 2006. Another winter has gone by. Did the fuel improve last winter or did it not? And if not why not?
HI Everett! here is an article on a biodiesel "winter weather advisory", dated November 2006, giving everyone a heads up on what happened the previous winter, and the steps taken to insure quality: http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/11/national_biodie.html Here's an article from this past august, detailing minnesota's plan to increase the blend from 2% to 20%..while not coming out and saying everything went fine, they seem to be banking on everyone adhering to the quality standard: http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=49628 And here's a recent article, detailing an overview of the whole issue: http://www.auri.org/news/ainapr07/biodiesel_unplugged.htm about the glycerins, they say this specifically: "High glycerin concentrations in biodiesel can also cause a wax coating on fuel filters. But if fuel is stored below ground where it’s better insulated and warmer than above-ground storage, there may be fewer problems with glycerin" so, the bottom line is that glycerin must be refined out, to insure it's not an issue ( and to meet the ASTM standard).. and while refining the BD helps with cold weather operations, the "lubricity" is compromised. We've also seen where an agency can mandate any quality standards they want, but meeting it is another matter.. we still find biodiesel with more water in it than is allowed by the new ASTM standard. To answer your question as to whether or not there have been further issues, I just found the following quote from the "Ag innovation news article": “We haven’t seen many issues with Minnesota’s biodiesel this season. And most of those were relating to higher blends or biodiesel that was produced from other states.” so, it seems to me like they've implemented a quality standard, and hoped for the best. Are they still having issues? who knows..they're pushing for it's use, no matter what, it seems. hope this helped ya.. T
I think this company is going in the right direction. Just think of the garbage that could be converted to fuel instead of landfills; The idea of a germ Ethanol from cellulose? Coskata doesn't stop there This story comes from the 04/21/08 issue of AutoWeek magazine. Reading the magazine is the only way to make sure you don't miss anything. If you aren't getting the magazine, you can sign up today for just 58 cents an issue. GET THE ONLY WEEKLY CAR MAG TODAY! By KEVIN A. WILSON Imagine converting virtually any waste--grass, municipal waste, old tires, wood chips--into fuel for your car. A company called Coskata claims it can do this using a patented bioreactor and anaerobic microbes found in nature (microbes that, although they're not genetically modified, are patented). Factories using this proprietary process could produce ethanol for $1 per gallon or less and sell it for twice that much, Coskata claims. When ethanol-promoting General Motors signed on with a "strategic ownership investment" (large but short of controlling interest) announced at the Detroit auto show, Coskata, a 35-employee company in Warrenville, Illinois, moved into the limelight. Ever since President Bush suggested in his 2006 State of the Union address that we could reduce dependence on imported oil by getting ethanol from switch grass or wood chips, there have been lots of start-ups pursuing this Rumpelstiltskin-like profit-from-straw idea and the federal grants and tax breaks that go with it. "Most companies doing cellulosic ethanol are trying to use enzymes to digest the sugar out of organic matter," says Wes Bolsen, Coskata vice president. "We don't do it that way." The bioreactor first phase is essentially an update of old-fashioned gasification, burning the feedstock at up to 4000 degrees Fahrenheit. Some organic materials can be gasified at lower temps. One advantage: Plant fibers also get converted to energy. Either way, the feedstock is reduced to ash, which has agricultural uses, and carbon monoxide, hydrogen and that nasty greenhouse gas, CO2. Some of the exhaust might need scrubbing, but most of these gases are "fed" to anaerobic bacteria that consume them and emit ethanol as a waste product. "It's kind of like a fish tank. Bacteria recycle the waste into something beneficial," says Bolsen. Research was done with microbes floating around in a big tank, but in our visit to Coskata's lab and HQ, tucked into an office park in the western Chicago suburb, we saw early research toward industrialization, in which the microbes would be grown as a slime layer on a dense matrix in a plastic tube. The water-and-gas mixture would bubble through these tubes, and the liquid coming out would be 3 percent or more ethanol. The ethanol comes out through distillation and passing the liquid through a membrane, and the water is reused. Coskata needs only one gallon of water per gallon of ethanol, less than one-sixth of that needed for corn ethanol. The gasification phase produces waste heat that makes a Coskata plant an ideal collocated partner for something like a paper mill. It's a continuous process (you don't want to starve the microbes) so you need a reliable supply of feedstock, but Bolsen says "you could do straw one week and tires the next." Once it's running, the process takes only two-minutes to convert feedstock to ethanol. Unlike many cellulosic ethanol start-ups, Coskata doesn't aim to go into ethanol production itself. It wants to sell its processes and colonies of its proprietary bacteria to bigger companies that have the massive capital resources to build cost-intensive production facilities. "We want to provide the software, essentially," says Bolsen. "In our business model, you'd license the process, and we'd help you set up your plant. Say it makes 600,000 gallons a year. You're making money selling ethanol and we're getting a per-gallon royalty. We're back at work in the lab, developing better processes, more efficient organisms, and we come back to you and say, 'We have version 2.0 now. Buy this upgrade, and you'll get 800,000 gallons a year.'" Besides GM, Coskata's other industrial partner is ICM, builder of most corn-ethanol plants in America. It also has ties to several venture-capital firms and educational and research institutes such as the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, Brigham Young University and Argonne National Labs. The microbes-Coskata owns rights to five--were discovered by academic researchers funded by the company. By selectively breeding the germs--making them "thoroughbreds," Bolsen says--the company has improved output 100-fold. If oil companies don't want to be involved or block access to their fuel stations, Bolsen says, there are alternative distribution channels, "big-box retail outlets that have fuel pumps, essentially. They're eager to have this." A 40,000 gallon/year demonstration plant will be announced on April 24. Then, a new partner would build a production plant making millions of gallons annually. Bolsen says he envisions one more round of drumming up venture capital and eventually an IPO.
