WSJ: ULSD to blame for gelling issues

Wall Street Journal, Thursday, February 8: "Clean Diesel Fuel Has School Buses Out Sick With Cold"

' "The problem doesn't lie with the individual schools," says Lynda Kuchler, transportation director for the East Allen County Schools [PA]. "The problem is with the fuel." '

'The problem comes during the refining process used to attain the ultralow-sulfur ratio. That affects the naturally occurring wax in diesel in such a way that it can cause the fuel to turn from liquid to gel more readily in cold temperatures.'

'...part of the problem appears to be confusion over the additives. Some school authorities said they weren't clear that special additives or ultraclean kerosene had to be added.'

So is the new fuel a part of the issue with the rash of fuel gelling we are seeing?

NO !

It's the distributor's / refiner's error in not having the fuel sufficiently treated for the conditions.

...and the rest of the 'problem' is that the fuel companies and fuel additive companies (the biggies - Lubrizol, Infineum, et al) don't know exactly how much additive to use, as this is the first year with this unique fuel.

That's why some of the folks here (some of which sell additives) have been suggesting an extra dose of anti-gel this winter only until the industry figures out their end of the puzzle...

I would guess that there is some truth to what AndyH has written. Then again those low volume stations may still have mostly non-winter in their blend. I would hope that would not have been a problem for school buses, but ...

I caught the article, too. For one thing, it been FREEKIN! cold throughout the Midwest of late (after what had been a rather mild winter up to this point) and the article is a bit hazy on how widespread the issue is/was. As I recall, it said one location had something like 30 busses running but 80+ that would not start. Question that comes to my mind is -- So how were the 30 that were running managing it? I'll grant it's probably additive related and the distributors' fault, but perhaps the maintenance crew had been a little lackadaisical....whatever, I'm sure the kids were all broken up about it

After reading all the very intelligent posts here I am beginning to suspect the culprit really is water being absorbed more readily by ULSD. It would explain some cars/buses/trucks running fine, while others don't. One thing's for sure, I'm checking my fuel filter for water once this cold spell passes!

DrSmile said:

After reading all the very intelligent posts here I am beginning to suspect the culprit really is water being absorbed more readily by ULSD.

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Or I might suggest absorbing it less well. A little water absorbed in the fuel is not a problem, it becomes a problem when it is not absorbed.

Gelling? My opinion is "no". Why is my 33% bio / 67% ULSD blend not causing problems for me?
Water separating and then freezing? "Maybe".
Perhaps my hydroscopic bio portion is merrily sucking up the condensation like a sponge before the water collects and freezes.

This past week I had the experience of fuel gelling for the first time in over 10 years of driving diesel vehicles....and this is the first winter using ULSD from a high volume truck stop.

Coincidence? My opinion is that is does have something to do with the ULSD, or the Exxon station I always buy for got a bad batch of fuel (not enough winterizer additives?)

Needless to say I am doing double doses of Powerservice until the weather gets above 20F.

There has been a good debate on USLD and this issue on another thread.

I've had two seperate Fuel providors (one who is very pro biodiesel blends..and who provides the City of Milwaukee all their biodiesel blends) have confirm that ULSD is also more receptive to moisture than LSD. They have been adding more additives and antifreeze additive to fuels from the refinerys.

I've been using alittle more PS and HEET diesel anitfreeze and we've been fine here in WI the past week. And it's been cold!!

I'm glad that I've added a double shot of PS w/anti-gel as well. We've had some unusually cold weather here lately, single digits during the night... Hopefully, this problem will be addressed by the refiner or at the distributer level very soon. It's one thing to sit at home & write about double dosing the additives, but it's another being stuck on the road in sub freezing weather with a gelled car.

For those who gelled up and got stuck, send the towing & repair bill to both the gas station who sold you the fuel and their companies corp office. Don't forget to utilize certified mail with return receipt. It costs a few extra bucks, but it gets the attention which you deserve at this point!

It sounds like we need to mix some kero or gas when purchasing diesel.

It's been a long, long time since I last drove a school bus. But the bus companies and probably most district-owned schoolbus operations have their own fuel tanks. Who is responsible for making sure there is no water in those tanks, or for making sure there is enough anti-gel additive?

I'm guessing the problems were not with company-owned buses but with district-owned buses. If an employee of the school district screws up, he's not going to point a finger at himself. He will blame ULSD, because that gets him off the hook.

Edit: Check out this quote from the article.

Patrick Carnicella, transportation director for Westmoreland County schools just outside Pittsburgh, said bus problems caused schools to close Monday and Tuesday, reopening after he figured out the problem. He calculated that the additives cost about 37 cents a gallon, on top of the $1.93 a gallon the school system pays for the ultralow diesel.

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I'm not saying he was cutting corners before the deep-freeze, but it would make sense. School districts budget a certain amount of money for fuel each year, and if there's just enough money for fuel, but not enough for additives ... since it was so warm previously, he probably decided to skip the additives.

Then blame ULSD for the problem he caused.

Is anyone else paying 37 cents for additives per gallon of diesel? That sounds very high.

I paid $12.00 for the 96 ounce Power Service with anti-gel. This will treat 300 gallons of fuel. Do the math, it doesn't come close to 37 cents a gallon. I agree, something is off kilter in Pittsburgh?

TornadoRed said:

I'm guessing the problems were not with company-owned buses but with district-owned buses. If an employee of the school district screws up, he's not going to point a finger at himself. He will blame ULSD, because that gets him off the hook.

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Very good point. If you are ordering fuel from a refinery or distributor, you have to know what to order and you have to check the weather forecast to know how to order. You just don't order #2 diesel fuel, because that is what you will get. #2 diesel fuel that is not winterized. You must tell them what percentage blend you want and you have to have predicted the coldest temperature to figure the blend. And if you are dropping this order on top of fuel you already have, you have to adjust that into the percentage also! Lots of stuff you have to figure in when you order fuel! And we are at the mercy of those doing that type of figureing. Where I live the #2 diesel is blended with clear Kerosene. The blends vary from 15% to 40% depending on the temperature. I blame the guy ordering the product. But if he is properly ordering, well then something else is amiss.

But I am still somewhat concerned about the quality of the ULSD in some areas of our country. There appears to be some regionial problems. But they could be attributed to not strong enough blends or the like. It seems the even some here that are using various additives are having problems.

The fuels are different and the additives are mostly reformualted. And it's very cold in the midwest after many years of relativly mild winters. Mistakes are going to be made. The cold snap hit over the weekend, so many shool buses sat for days. Throw in some Biodiesel blends (and the 50% off-spec rate) and a shortage of ULS#1, and there will be problems.

It's not the ULSD fuel itself, it all the things that go along with it.

I had a jar of pure ULSD sitting outside my shop that clouded during our cold snaps.

stupid gelling question

I am a recent convert to diesel and moved here recently. I did not winterize and was out of town during the cold snap. My car has not started since and I believe it gelled up. I have an extra fuel filter, so I can change that out. Will it de-gell at 29 degrees as is the current temp or do I perhaps just coincidentally have a bigger problem.

Cheers

You may have a fuel leak at the injection pump.

RoB, He might, but what makes you think so? Nothing posted indicates any sort of leak. Sounds like a simple gelling issue.

Andy, At 29degF, any normal diesel will be 100% liquid. If you can get a hair dryer to the engine bay, try heating up the filter and the fuel lines for a few minutes, see if it doesn't fire up....

JettaJake said:

Andy, At 29degF, any normal diesel will be 100% liquid. If you can get a hair dryer to the engine bay, try heating up the filter and the fuel lines for a few minutes, see if it doesn't fire up....

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Yes, at 29°F gelling shouldn't be a problem. If there is water in the fuel, resulting in ice crystals clogging the fuel filter, it should be easy to melt this as the temps approach 32°.

My Bolens diesel tractor had been sitting for weeks. I thinking about how soon to pull the snowthrower off and reinstall the mower this (so far) nearly snowless winter.
It refused to start on Sunday when I moved it. The tank wasn't gelled, I could see liquid fuel inside, but there was a ring of ice crystal build up in the fill neck and on the underside of the fuel cap. I pushed the tractor out into the sunlight and let it soak up what ever heat it could while I went out for some diesel cetane boost / water absorbing / anti-gel voodoo juice and poured the whole pint into the 3 gallon tank. Another two hours later (air temp now just above freezing) it started up just fine.
Gelling? Not my hodge-podge mix of bio, petro diesel, home heat oil, WVO (and now black magic juice). I'm quite certain that it was solidified water in a line or in the water trap compartment of the fuel filter that was the cause of my non-start.