One reason that ford recommends following the severe duty maint, schedule when running bio.

 

If the severe duty maintenance schedule includes shorter fuel filter and oil change intervals, I'd go with it.

Bio is hard on filters because things grow in the fuel, and we observed some increase in crankcase fuel dilution if I recall correctly. These were both issues with higher blends of bio, which is another reason why 10-20% is recommended

Like I said, it's been a while since I was involved in this stuff.

 

We're lucky and have a place called farmers fuel. They carry non ethanol gas and straight diesel. Costs a bit more, but sometimes it's worth it.

 

Bio does add lubricity to the fuel which is good. It also drops the BTU's which is a reduction in power which is bad. The Cetane rating is what I'd look for if those numbers are available. I saw one pump here in KY recently that had a 43 cetane rating. And since it was at a fuel station that gets its fuel from the same place most other places get theirs, I assume that number would be good for most places around here. From what I remember, I think anybody with any kind of performance mods would want to see some higher cetane numbers than what is readily available at most pumps.

 

Diesels like 45+ Cetane fuel.

The minimum legal limitfor 2D is 42, if I recall.

38-40 Cetane at the Eisenhower Tunnel spells a lot of ignition delay and white smoke, especially downhill with the old IDI engines.

Furnace oil is often below the 42 Cetane spec,

 

Round here they have a station called WAWA. They don't have a Bio-diesel sticker on the pump, Cetane minimum it says 40. they also carry no ethanol gas there. more expensive then the ethanol gas but I have never had problems with the in the other vehicle.
I don't understand why they use that bio-crap it cost more to make,- there is an oil glut, but they still use the bio-crap, they must be getting Taxpayer subsidies that is the only reason I can think of that they would use that crap.

 

Adding fuel to the fire, so to speak.
My best friend is a 30 yr John Deere Diesel tech and has had to deal with bio since it's conception.
He says the bio is fine BUT there is a catch.
As long as you are driving and using it up it's no big deal. The catch is if the vehicle sits for a long time, like over the winter things can go awry.
You wind up with a fuel that creates a waxy build up which is almost impossible to clean out. I surmise it breaks down or something along those lines.
You can imagine what that entails up and down the system.
Sooo, drive it and use it up.

The local mass transit has been running bio for years. I should stop in and ask what their ups and downs have been.

 

I misspoke (?) in my earlier post: Minimum legal cetane number in most states is 40, with 42-45 TYPICAL at the pump from the major producers. California minimum is 53, and most of Europe is 51.


The Diesel Engine industry was pushing for 45 minimum when I was involved several years ago, but the oil industry successfully resisted (except in California).

Diesels really like high cetane.

 

The trade off is,- the higher the Cetane the easier it ignites, but higher Cetane lowers the power of the fuel, so less milage.
According to the article I read on line.
I guess if you live in a cold climate higher Cetane level is preferable, but here in SWFL I would rather have better milage.

 

Not true. Mileage is related to fuel BTU content, which is more related to specific gravity than cetane number.

In fact, low cetane fuel increases ignition delay, which is akin to retarding injection timing, which hurts both power and fuel economy.

 

This is from an article in Diesel Power Magazine,-
"Cetane, which is also sometimes referred to as hexadecane or isocetane, is a colorless gas with the chemical formula C16H34. Cetane ignites easily when exposed to a small amount of heat and was therefore given a perfect cetane rating of 100. The easier it is for diesel fuel to ignite, the higher we say its relative cetane rating is. Generally, the faster the fuel in a diesel ignites, the better the engine will run. However, the higher a fuel’s cetane rating is, the less energy dense that fuel tends to be."

 

And this,- "How Does Cetane Number Affect Engine Operation

There is no benefit to using a higher cetane number fuel than is specified by the engine's manufacturer. The ASTN Standard Specification for Diesel Fuel Oils (D-975) states. "The cetane number requirements depend on engine design, size, nature of speed and load variations, and on starting and atmospheric conditions. Increase in cetane number over values actually required does not materially improve engine performance. Accordingly, the cetane number specified should be as low as possible to insure maximum fuel availability." This quote underscores the importance of matching engine cetane requirements with fuel cetane number.

Diesel fuels with cetane number lower than minimum engine requirements can cause rough engine operation. They are more difficult to start, expecially in cold weather or at high altitudes. They accelerate lube oil sludge formation. Many low cetane fuels increase engine deposits resulting in more smoke, increased exhaust emissions and greater engine wear.

Using fuels which meet engine operating requirements will improve cold starting, reduce smoke during start-up, improve fuel economy, reduce exhaust emissions, improve engine durability and reduce noise and vibration. These engine fuel requirements are published in the operating manual for each specific engine or vehicle.

Overall fuel quality and performance depend on the ratio of parafinic and aromatic hydrocarbons, the presence of sulfur, water, bacteria and other contaminants, and the fuel's resistance to oxidation. The most important measure of fuel quality included API gravity, heat value (BTU content), distillation range and viscosity. Cleanliness and corrosion resistance are also important. For use in cold weather, cloud point and low temperature filter plugging point must receive serious consideration. Cetane number does not measure any of these characteristics."
From fuel magic.net

It appears that it is most important to have the correct Cetane number for the engine in your truck.
How the hell your supposed to do it is an other question if the all differ from supplier to supplier and location.

 

Energy density is not a direct result of high or low cetane ratings. That's simply how resistant to ignition it is, conceptually analogous to octane ratings for gasoline. There may be corollary tendencies in real-world applications due to different fuel "recipes" and such, but you can't and shouldn't make blanket assumptions.

Please cite your source for this information.

 

Sure. Though I was not the first to mention that bio-diesel has a lower BTU rating than regular diesel, I was singled out, and I have the answer.

http://www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/fue...ison_chart.pdf

There's a lot of info in that link, but, for the sake of discussion here,

Low Sulfur Diesel has 128,448 BTU's per gallon
B100 has 119,550 BTU's per gallon
Both of those are what they call Low Heat Valur

They have something else listed as High Heat Value
Low Sulfur Diesel-138,490 BTU's per gallon
B100-127,960 BTU's per gallon

 

B10 BTU content is within 1% of low sulfur Diesel.

ULSD BTU content is slightly lower than the old low sulfur fuel BTU content too.

It's doubtful one could consistently measure the effect that difference makes in real world driving.


On the other hand, start and drive away two trucks at zero degrees, one with 40 cetane fuel and one with 45 cetane fuel.

You'll see the difference, just like you will at altitude.

Like most things, increasing cetane further has diminishing returns , but there is a reason that European diesel fuel cetane is a lot higher than ours.

California, too.

Also, don't rely on a general interest magazine article as your prime information source.

Some of us actually made a living working on these things for decades.