Is this good bio-diesel

M

mickey

Guest
Their data sheets say the cetane is "40 minimum, 45 typical."

That's not exactly something to write home about.

-mickey
 

Dorado

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2001
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
TDI
New Beetle TDI, 2002, Cool White
You don't know how lucky you are to have this available near you already! Its possible that Biodiesel in very low concentrations will be the additive used across the US to deal with the lower lubricity of ULSD, whenever we get it. So you are definitely ahead of the crowd.

It seems to be petro-diesel with soy-based biodiesel used as an additive. It would be good to know what is the concentration of BD in that blend. For example, Soypower BD "Diesel Fuel Lubricity Additive" recommends on the label: 32 ounces per 100 gals of regular #2 diesel, or 12 ounces per 100 gals of premium diesel. I suppose that US Soy Field Diesel is using such a low concentration of BD.

The offer two varieties: US Soy Field Diesel ("typical" cetane: 45), and US Soy 50 Field Diesel ("extra high cetane number": 50). The overall quality depends on the petro-diesel used to begin with: their Gold Diesel is 45 cetane while their Gold 50 Diesel is 50. Therefore the BD blends should be great stuff for your TDI!!! At least with respect to the cetane number and lubricity of the fuel. Lubricity indeed is the forte of biodiesel.

In our neck of the woods (literally!), the available petro-diesel is only 40-42 cetane, and the use of biodiesel as an additive has an immediate effect on engine sound and smoke if there is any. We use 1/2 gal per 10 gals because we like the stuff so much (it even smells good) and because the fuel in our area is not acceptable to us as it is.

Go ahead and try the stuff and report back to see how it went! I'm sure many here would be interested in a comparison between Amoco Premier and US Soy 50 Field Diesel!!!
 

RC

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 13, 2000
Location
Maryland`s Eastern Shore
TDI
Two White 96 B4 Wagons
Originally posted by Dorado:
[QB...Its possible that Biodiesel in very low concentrations will be the additive used across the US to deal with the lower lubricity of ULSD, whenever we get it. So you are definitely ahead of the crowd. [/QB]
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I believe that is what is going to happen also. We need to displace a certain amount of petroleum we use, particularly imported, and deal with the low lubricity in the ULSD coming in a few years and this is the obvious way to do it. The % blend is the thing that is up in the air.
 

fo fo weed

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2002
Location
Wisconsin
TDI
98 NB
bad info on Flint Hills website, there are no soy pumps in WI. I was pissed; I looped around an extra 80 miles today to fill up with it and I was met with "soy what? never heard of it". I called their distributer to get flint hills # and he had no clue what bio-diesel is. I guess it's my fault for trusting the info on Flint Hills webpage and not calling to confirm they had it; so saddly I'll have nothing to report on this.
 

Dorado

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2001
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
TDI
New Beetle TDI, 2002, Cool White
Hey, maybe it's on its way..!

There are three locations in WI listed as "Retailers" of US Soy Gold Diesel. They are all named "Tri-Par Qwik Stop" and have the same phone # (262/377-2300):

1) Saukville (One mile west of I-43 on Hwy 33), 2) West Bend (One mile south of West Bend on Hwy P Exit Hwy 45 at Pleasant Valley)
3) Slinger (Hwy 60 west of Hwy 41)

Did you check any of these?

There are a number of retailers listed for Minnesota also. Has any one here tried them??
 

fo fo weed

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2002
Location
Wisconsin
TDI
98 NB
Today I stopped at the Slinger and West Bend stations. At the 2nd one I called FlintHills regional rep in Milwaukee and he thanked me for pointing out the error on the web site. Then I thanked him for wasting my morning driving here for nothing; and because I figured on filling with the bio-D and there was none I had to fill up with thier regular stuff and my baby is running the worst it ever has since.

P.s. He said no plans for any pumps in WI
 

Dorado

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2001
Location
Pittsburgh, PA
TDI
New Beetle TDI, 2002, Cool White
That's terrible! I'm sorry to hear of your ordeal and that of your TDI!

What you can do for the moment is to get the best dino-diesel in your area and add the biodiesel yourself in low concentration (3-5%) like we do. You can use Soyshield, Soypower (we got ours from hiperfuels.com), Soygold (soygold.com), Worldenergy (worldenergy.net), etc. This will keep your entire fuel system clean, eliminate any smoke, and have the TDI running very smoothly.

Clean burning diesels rule!



[ January 31, 2002, 23:09: Message edited by: Dorado ]
 
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