Love's a few miles down the road sells B10 at the pump. About a nickel a gallon more than I can buy regular diesel.

I have read that biodiesel is really slippery and actually cleans, so you do not need any additive, so the nickel a gallon is probably worth it.

So what has been everyone's experience with biodiesel?

 

my experinces with the bio is lower fuel ecomony and harder on the emissions and will cause more regens due to the production of more soot.


Water can be an issue, but should not at a truck stop since they move a good amount of fuel.


While I will burn it I need to I don't seek it out either.

 

Scott - Sorry, but you are incorrect on a couple of points of biodiesel. It's causes way less soot. It causes you to use more DEF though as it creates more nox... I have run thousands of gallons of B99 in various diesel engines. Including diesels without DPFs.

It is a "cleaner" and has more lubricity and it has higher cetane. It has slightly less BTUs than D2 so you will have a little less power and less mpg running it, but you get less regens, unless you are already going 500 miles between them. At B10 level I doubt you will notice much difference at all. From fuel tests, B20 is supposed to be the true "sweet" spot as in you get less soot, don't generate as much NOX, get the lubricating quality of biodiesel...

FWIW, I know some people that rebuild motors that use B99 as a parts cleaner. Not only does it clean better than traditional parts cleaner, it's non-toxic. Doesn't smell remotely as bad either. Having said that, if you are going to run it in an older diesel, specifically one that ran high sulfur diesel, it can clog your fuel filters with the cleaning it does. In a 6.7 and at B10 I haven't heard of this happened. Today's fuel is much cleaner than fuel 11 years ago, which is a lot cleaner than the high sulfur stuff before that.

Just my .02 and experience with running Biodiesel... and I only ran commercial biodiesel, like what you would get ant loves... Although I got mine direct from a distributor...

 

I have read that there is less soot, so less regens.

I have not heard the extra DEF part.

Biodiesel.org says B5 and above give lubricity advantage over D2.

 

I would go out of my way to fill up my 6.4L with bio when possible. It ran smoother and quieter, and oddly, the tank AFTER I ran bio would yield an extra .5-1 MPG. I think it has to do with less soot and therefore less regen on the next tank. Results were very similar to when I would run Power Service fuel additive. It was only rated for B5, but I ran B20 in it. I plan to do the same in my new 6.7L when I can.

Side note, I know several of the folks that run National Biodiesel Board (biodiesel.org) and their headquarters is near me (I've actually done some IT consulting work for them). Nearly all of them drive diesel vehicles (trucks, MB, Jeep, diesel Chevy Cruze) and they all run bio in them. Just noting this to say they practice what they preach about bio.

 

well, this was never my experience. less energy in bio means more mashing of the pedal and that produces more soot, which, especially in a 6.4 meant for more active regens.

 

There is a propel near my home and they don't offer B20 anymore but something called HPG, how is that different than B20?

 

The esters are "cracked" differently than creating traditional biodiesel... They won't really say how they do it, since it's proprietary information.

It is a type of biodiesel though.

 

I am not seeing a groundswell of support for bio.

 

You won't offend me if you hate it or love it.... It has positives and negatives... Before we were pumping so much oil, I liked it because it was home grown and the profits went back to USA farmers and not the middle east...

I also liked supporting the "little guy" that was selling it locally by me... I used some good gas station owner fuel stations too, not franchises for the same reason. I knew the owners personally. I also knew he was **** retentive about his tanks and had high turn over - I used to watch him check his tanks.

 

Is this considered Bio Diesel? This tag is displayed on all pumps at Quick Trip stores. From my research they sell only top tier fuels. Is this true for Diesel fuel as well?

 

It's part biodiesel... B5 or 5%, assuming they add it into the fuel.

 

That tag is a disclaimers saying their fuel MAY contain Bio diesel. So I guess they post that because they might have a source they occasionally buy from that sells them Bio-Diesel.

Around here, You can't buy Bio Diesel in the winter, It has a lower cloud point and they stop selling it when the weather turns cold. But in the summer I buy an occasional tank of Bio when I'm near a station that sells it. I have a station that sells the B99 in the warmer weather and I'll top off my tank so I end up 50/50 Bio vs Dino and it keeps my fuel system clean and well lubricated.

You exhaust does smell different.

 

I ran Shell most of the time for the first 10k or so, then started using a lot of Pilot-Flying J (usually labeled somewhere between B5 and B15) because I like the conveniences of a truck stop. However, they're REALLY proud of their fuel, even though, as others have also noted, regens are much more frequent than with the major oil company brands.

Lately, I've been able to buy from a cardlock company called Pacific Pride. They're all over the west coast - don't know how far east they go, pumps are labeled "ultra-low sulfur, B5." Mileage is 10-12 towing tall 5-7k# trailers, 18-20 unloaded. 350-400 miles between regen unloaded, defaults to the 500-whether-it-needs-it-or-not when towing. AND the averaged price difference between even the lower-cost major oil companies and Picific Pride since the first of the year has been 30 cents a gallon in favor of Pac Pride.

 

I notice a .05 to1 mpg drop with bio diesel here in la., also notice more sludge looking stuff at the bottom of the oil drain pan when changing it. It may just be my imagination but it feels like it produces less power as well. It is hard to avoid bio theses days though.