I moved into this area 11 years ago and had always purchased fuel at the local 76 truck stop a few miles up the road. When I stopped by the other day, I see they have switched all of their diesel over to "renewable" diesel. Anyone out there that may have tried running this and have you noticed anything like reduced power, milage, or increased water retention? I did a search on FTE but did not find a discussion on renewable diesel. While it's not the same as bio-diesel, not sure I trust the marketing hype just yet. For those not familiar with the stuff, here is some of the info posted on another site:


In lay terms, RD is a fossil-free alternative to regular fossil-based diesel fuels. RD is derived from agricultural waste products like vegetable oils and animal fats making it a fully renewable and sustainable energy. Though it can be considered a biodiesel, the process of hydrotreating (RD) over transesterification (biodiesel) gives RD some significant advantages over both regular diesel and biodiesel. RD is considered a drop-in replacement for conventional diesel and biodiesel, because it’s processed similarly and chemically identical to conventional diesel. This means RD may be produced in regular diesel facilities, used in regular diesel engines, and transported and dispensed in the same regular diesel network. Therefore, an entire fleet can basically be converted overnight.
It’s cleaner. Because RD is produced from lower carbon materials like waste agricultural oils and fats and because it is created through the process of hydrotreating, it burns much cleaner than conventional diesel. In fact, RD can yield up to 80% lower lifecycle emissions over fossil-based diesels. RD’s carbon intensity is also 50-80% lower than conventional diesel.

It’s renewable. RD is derived from 100% renewable and sustainable resources, which helps to eliminate our dependence on diminishing fossil fuel supplies and our dependence on foreign oil.

It’s durable. During the processing (transesterification) of biodiesel, oxygen is introduced into the fuel, which can introduce cultures that may gum up fuel lines and filters. The excess oxygen in Biodiesel also causes it to perform poorly in cold environments. With the hydrotreating process, there is zero oxygen introduced into renewable diesel, making it a much more effective replacement fuel for cold environments.

 

That the Neste fuel? It has been discussed here. In the Grand Scheme of Things, it's not all that much different from petroleum based diesel other than being a little cleaner. Just as I recall the past discussions. I don't recall all the discussion.

Diesel ignition, like gas turbine, is very forgiving as to fuel. You can run a diesel on anything combustible, including powdered coal. And remember, diesels were first run on peanut oil. Distilled diesel fuel is far more practical as it can be refined in commercial quantities. Much harder to do that with soy beans.

 

Looking into RDs, I found this presentation from 2018.

https://cleancities.energy.gov/files...2016_07_18.pdf

One question Dan, since you seem to be in the know about this stuff. Since, from what I have read, that hydrotreating diesel fuel to make ULSD fuel makes the resulting fuel more hygroscopic ( gives the fuel more ability to attract and hold water from the environment), does hydrotreating the oils/fat make the resulting renewable fuel more hygroscopic?

I don't know if the process itself causes the ULSD to be more hygroscopic or it's because of the fuel after the process. If it's the process itself, then why wouldn't renewable diesel become more hygroscopic as well? Thanks.

Check this out: https://www.the-triton.com/2016/03/w...s-worst-enemy/

From there:

"Dissolved water, sometimes called entrained water, is the result of diesel fuel being hygroscopic. That means that fuel has the ability to attract and hold water from the environment, whether it is from humid air or condensation on the wall of a fuel tank. And as the fuel temperature in the tank increases, so does the amount of water that can be dissolved and held in solution in the fuel."

Another good article:

https://www.futurebridge.com/industr...of-the-future/

 

I am far from in the know, I posted up some info that I found as I have no experience with renewable diesel. Water retention was one of my concerns but I can’t find much feedback from folks that have been using it for some time. While it’s been around for several years, this is the first time I have actually seen it at the pump.

 

Renewable diesel is diesel. It’s a superior fuel to biodiesel. It can be made from vegetable oil and animal fat which is pretty cool.

 

It comes from the same stuff as biodiesel, but is processed differently. Seems to be a much better fuel though than biodiesel from the sounds of it. I was just asking about the moisture issue like with ULSD fuel and biodiesel...

 

Straight vegetable oil is the best "renewable diesel". Thank you Rudolf Diesel!

 

thanks for his vision of CIEs.


Thanks for inventing our powerful engines...

 

This was on my phone feed. It includes renewable diesel as well as biodiesel and electric info. I'm gonna post here for the renewable diesel fuel info.

https://www.paloaltoonline.com/blogs...-the-real-deal