Try B100? Not in your new diesel engine
by Sebastian Blanco on Apr 30th 2009 at 12:58PM 
Manufacturers of diesel engines make it clear that small amounts of biodiesel are usually fine (most say B5, or diesel with five percent biodiesel mixed in, is OK), but they won't make any promises about higher concentrations. Popular Mechanics has a good article that explains that these companies aren't just trying to make life difficult for plant-fuel lovers: there's technology in new diesel cars that doesn't play nice with biodiesel. The Environment Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board implemented new rules that required automakers to design cleaner diesel engines which resulted in diesel particulate filters (DPFs) being installed in new diesel cars. This is a good idea when you're burning petrol diesel - NOx and particulates are captured by the filters - but when you're using biodiesel, those same DPFs are a problem instead of a solution. The short version is that biodiesel's longer hydrocarbon chain means it doesn't act like petrodiesel in the fuel line, and dilutes the engine oil. Popular Mechanics has all the details and it's well worth reading.
Gallery: Daryl Hannah's Biodiesel El Camino
[Source: Popular Mechanics]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
MikeB 1:18PM (4/30/2009)
The post-injection problem was also described nicely in the May 2008 issue of Biodiesel Magazine:
http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=2290
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Phil L. 2:28PM (4/30/2009)
The Biodiesel Magazine article backs up its technical detail very well. Thanks for the link.
Tim 1:25PM (4/30/2009)
The fact that you can’t burn B-100 in the new diesels due to gov’t regulations is just more "unintended consequences" from the statist central planner morons.
The more they "plan" the worse it gets.
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Thehaymaketbomber 12:39PM (5/01/2009)
So.. you got a problem with that, Comrade?
Steve-O 10:12PM (4/30/2009)
Tim, you're right!
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Steve-O 7:52AM (5/07/2009)
Well, I have been anxiously awaiting the promised diesels here in the USA. If they can't use At least B50, then they can shove them.
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Carney 12:01PM (5/15/2009)
My preferred solution for diesel is di-methyl ether (DME).
Biodiesel (and I'm talking B100 here) emits about 25-30% less smoke, soot, and particulate matter (SSPM) than petro-diesel.
But DME emits no SSPM at all, zero.
Also, DME fits better into an overall plan to transition away from petroleum.
First, it is made from methanol - you just react methanol to itself. And methanol is also an excellent clean burning fuel for light duty (non diesel) vehicles such as cars, SUVs, minivans, and pickup trucks. So a synergistic effect there.
All the more so because DME in turn can be made into polypropylene or polyethylene, the two most common sources of plastics for industrial and consumer-grade plastics. Thus helping wean us from petroleum for not only fuel but also plastics.
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