B100 Biodiesel Demonstration Put Class 8 Over-The-Road Diesel Transport Trucks to the Test

One of the five trucks used in last year's B100 pilot program created a lot of buzz when it went on display at the 2021 Farm Progress Show August 31 to September 2. The pilot program had been conducted by the interesting cohort of partners including ADM, the Illinois Soybean Associations, Optimus Technologies, American Lung Association, National Biodiesel Board (NBB) and the Missouri Soybean Council. The objective was to demonstrate the feasibility of a new system that enables conventional diesel vehicles to operate on 100% biodiesel (B100). The five ADM Class 8 trucks, equipped with Optimus Technologies' Vector System, were used in daily fleet operations, traveling hundreds of thousands of miles on B100, even in the coldest temperatures of a central Illinois and Missouri winter.

In an August press release before the show, NBB technical director Scott Fenwick said, “We’re all looking for ways to enhance the sustainability of our transportation system, and last year’s pilot program was an important step in proving the viability of significantly wider use of low-carbon biodiesel in truck fleets. We’re collecting and analyzing the data from the past year and look forward to discussing the details soon."

The initial finding indicate that all went well in the B100 demonstration. The record lows that wreaked havoc across parts of the South this winter provided a good test for the five trucks, which came through with flying colors. "We’re excited by the opportunity," Fenwick said, "and proud to display one of the trucks used in this pilot at the 2021 Farm Progress Show.”

The cab was displayed outside ADM's exhibit at the corner of Seventh Progress Street and Central Progress Avenue.

According to the government's Alternative Fuels Data Center, biodiesel is a liquid fuel often referred to as B100 or neat biodiesel in its pure, unblended form. Like petroleum diesel, biodiesel is used to fuel compression-ignition engines. Biodiesel performance in cold weather, however, depends on the blend of biodiesel, the feedstock, and the petroleum diesel characteristics.

The reasons B100 is getting attention are because it is readily available, and it offers a high-performance solution for lowering carbon and tailpipe emissions from diesel vehicles. 

A study by Trinity Consultants showed how biodiesel burns significantly cleaner and reduces carbon emissions by 74 percent compared to petroleum diesel fuel. This was only the latest of numerous studies over the decades. The TC study found that "a switch to B100 would result in a variety of health benefits, including a 45 percent reduction in cancer risk amongst the transportation sector and an 86 percent reduced cancer risk in the heating oil sector in communities where B100 was used in place of petroleum diesel fuel and heating oil respectively."

Though this particular pilot program centered on B100 fuel throughout the winter, biodiesel specialist with the Illinois Soybean Association affirmed that B20 biodiesel has be used successfully year-round by following best practices for any fueling operation. This includes removing excess moisture from storage tanks and properly blending fuels with cold flow additives in advance of cold weather. 

The bottom line, and why this was such a big deal, is that the program proved the viability of implementing low-carbon, renewable biodiesel as a high-performance and clean-burning alternative that is known to offer superior cetane and lubricity when compared to petroleum diesel fuel.

You can find the full story here.

RELATED LINK: https://www.nbb.org/news-resources/press-releases/2021/08/30/truck-used-in-revolutionary-b100-pilot-to-be-showcased-at-2021-farm-progress-show

8 Diesel Power Innovations for Safe, Clean Trucking

Sometimes you have to toot your own horn to draw attention to your achievements. Why? Because there is so much other noise, and when the cause is worthy you want to draw attention to it, to be heard over the noise of the herd.

This seems to be one of the roles of the Diesel Technology Forum (DTF). They don't toot their own horn, but instead make known the achievements of others who are working to advance clean diesel technology. These achievements seldom get the attention they deserve, hence the DTF keeps beating the drum.

On August 27 they published a story about seven examples of innovation involving diesel engine technology. Diesel advances are being demonstrated that will serve our nation for decades into the future. The article is titled Trucking Into the Future with 7 Innovations in Diesel Power but it actually lists eight areas where improvements are taking place. We'll elaborate on these below.

Whereas electrification and hydrogen are currently being ballyhooed as the future of transport power, improvements in diesel have been taking place and will remain with us going forward. These improvements are both in the engine itself and the fuels of the future.

For years the Department of Energy has been partnering with the trucking industry to move the industry forward. The partnership produced a SuperTruck Program with teams of engineers from engine and truck manufacturers to improve emissions and energy efficiency, the same drivers that were initiated a half century ago. Today the program is in a new phase called SuperTruck II.

The three targets for SuperTruck II are:
--Greater than 100 percent improvement in freight efficiency (relative to a 2009 baseline.)
--Demonstrate a 55 percent or better engine BTE at 65 mph.
--Development of cost-effective efficiency technologies.

Here's one example of what the Cummins SuperTruck II team achieved. Brake thermal efficiency is used to assess how well an engine converts heat from a fuel into mechanical energy. Cummins realized a never before gain of 55 percent brake themal efficiency in a heavy duty diesel engine. SuperTruck II improved CO2 emissions by 50 percent and doubled efficiency.

Here are seven examples of innovation highlighted in the DTF article.

1. Combustion Efficiency: To be achieved by means of new metal components, cylinder and piston designs, bearings, rings, valves, camshafts and more including specialized coatings. (See yesterday's story that mentions Nanoslide cylinder walls.)

2. Engine Management: By controlling combustion events, engines can be optimized in accordance with driving and weather conditions. Some of the innovations here include dynamic skip fire and cylinder deactivation. Recent announcements tout modest reduction of CO2 emissions here.

3. Future Engine Configuration: Most engines today are inline V configurations. Achates Power is testing an opposed piston (OP) engine that some are calling a game changer. OP engines improve efficiency will simultaneously reducing NOx. California likes what is happening with the OP engine that it is helping fund this research which aims to reduce NOx by 90 percent.

4. Electrifying Engine Components: This is another means by which greater efficiencies are achieved. This move may lead to great hybridization in some truck segments.

5. Optimized and Integrated Powertrain: Improvements in the way engines and transmissions work together can also deliver greater fuel savings and reduce emissions.

6. Emission Control System Optimization: Selective Catalytic Reduction systems (SCR) and particulate filters continue to become more efficient.

7. Fuel Revolution: Experiments with biobased fuels have been taking place for decades. Biobased diesel fuels deliver proven reductions in emissions compared to Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel.

8. Synthetic E-fuels: Because a majority of internal combustion vehicles will be around for years to come (even decades), efforts are being made to improve their performance by means of fuels. E-fuels are created using clean electricity and purportedly have the potential to produce climate-neutral outcomes for the majority of vehicles. 

The bottom line: Diesel engines are "poised to continue to deliver the goods and the benefits in the decades ahead."

Read the complete story here:
https://dieselforum.org/policyinsider/trucking-into-the-future-with-7-innovations-in-diesel-power

Photo Credit:  Photo by Robson Hatsukami Morgan on Unsplash  

Whiskey Powered Diesel Trucks Add a Twist to the Notion of Drinking and Driving

Photo: Colin Smith. Wikimedia Commons

Human creativity and ingenuity knows no bounds it seems. Over the weekend there appeared a story from Edinburgh that was certainly unusual.  The Glenfiddich Distillery in Northeast Scotland now uses its whiskey bi-products to power heavy duty diesel trucks. The title of the article was Drink and drive: Glenfiddich uses whiskey waste to power its trucks.

The production process involves combining soaked barley grains with "a yellow, beer-like liquid called pot ale" and mixing in an anaerobic digester to produce low-carbon biogas. The resultant gas is essentially methane, which is stored at a location where specially adapted trucks can refuel.

The distillery's biogas now powers the distillery's converted trucks that are used to transport the distillery's whiskey and other products. You might even say that the full-circle use of whiskey for energy makes for a good marketing story, powering sales for the distillery as well. In short, it's a renewable energy story that is ultra-low carbon.

A spokesperson for the distillery said that each truck using the new biofuel saves around 250 tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere.

Evidently the concept of creating a biofuel from spent grains and liquid from stills had been announced in 2010 by researches at Edinburgh Napier University. Environmentalists hailed the idea, and now Glenfiddich Distillery has followed through on the concept.  

Another benefit of the technique is that alternative means of generating biofuels can cause damage to forests and wildlife habitats. The Glenfiddich success has many people believing that whiskey-powered cars would be quite feasible in Scotland's future, significantly reducing CO2 in Scotland's future.

At this moment in time only three of the distillery's trucks have been converted. Their aim is to convert all twenty of their trucks and then do a roll-out to the rest of the industry.

Glenfiddich's distillery director Stuart Watts notes that the lifecycle cost of buying and maintaining trucks running on biofuel is similar to straight diesel. The benefits are environmental. “This makes a compelling choice for companies such as ourselves to use the biogas truck rather than the traditional diesel truck," he said.

Whatever will they cook up next?

Looking West, across the Pacific, here's an answer to that question. The president of a transport firm in Southwestern Japan is now powering his trucks with biofuel partly made with ramen soup broth. The company, Nishida Shoun, mixes waste cooking oil with lard extracted from the broth. For what it's worth, the broth is made from pork bones.

The company is already using the biodiesel in some of its trucks and will have all 170 vehicles in its fleet converted by September.  

Both these stories are a good read. Maybe one of them will give you ideas on how to recycle your own waste bi-products while making the world a cleaner, safer place.

Links

Drink and drive: Glenfiddich uses whiskey waste to power its trucks

Japanese Transport Firm Makes Diesel Fuel Using Ramen Broth

Diesel Fuels Power the Workhorse Vehicles of Both Our Present and Future

This past summer there was an article in Diesel Forum that explained why diesel power will continue to power the U.S. economy. The article presents data regarding the extent to which diesel powers the economy in the present and a key insight as to why diesel will continue to be a workhorse in the future. 

The August 2020 article, titled Fuels That Work: Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel and Biodiesel Power the U.S. Economy, begins by noting that nearly half the sectors in our economy rely heavily on diesel. 

The author writes, Diesel fuel and engines are often described as the platform of work. Diesel fuel is the most energy dense transportation fuel available, and the diesel engine is the most efficient means to transfer this energy density into useful work, while gasoline is almost exclusively used in the fleet of passenger vehicles. 

That last statement refers to the U.S. pascar market, inasmuch as diesel has made much deeper inroads in the E.U.

When we think diesel, many people first think of over-the-road transport vehicles. The reality is that diesel engines power heavy duty trucks, buses, locomotives, marine vessels, ferries, ag and construction equipment and even stationary industrial engines.

KEY INSIGHT  
The article goes on to explain why diesel has an edge when it comes to the future of power. 

A key advantage to the use of renewable biodiesel fuels is that compared to competing alternatives, they do not require the purchase of new vehicles, equipment or engines nor do they require expensive additional investments in refueling or recharging infrastructure. Their benefits can be felt immediately across entire fleets of vehicles, rather than only in newly acquired vehicles dependent on new infrastructure.  Biodiesel fuels can be stored, used, pumped and handled virtually the same way as petroleum diesel products.

These are significant points. One can tout the benefits of an EV future, but how much cost and transition time will there be? The goal should not be an EV future but a Clean future. This means all options are on the table, and diesel will be part of it for a very long time. 

Here's another strong point the author makes. 

Driving a global economy requires a steady supply of available, affordable and diverse energy sources. As the prime mover of the global economy, diesel technology continues to evolve to use the fuels more efficiently and with fewer emissions. 

Diesel's ability to efficiently generate power, especially in the new generation of diesel engines, fuels and equipment, is the reason diesel will play a role powering the economy for years to come.

Read the full article here:
https://www.dieselforum.org/policyinsider/fuels-that-work-ultra-low-sulfur-diesel-and-biodiesel-power-the-u-s-economy

A guy walks into a bar and says……

"Does anyone know about Diesel Fuels?"

Diesel fuel is more efficient than gasoline because it contains 10% more energy per gallon than gasoline. But there are a few kinds of diesel fuel: Just as gasoline is rated by its octane, diesel fuel is rated by its cetane, which indicates how easy it is to ignite and how fast it burns. Diesel fuel is safer than gasoline because its vapors don’t explode or ignite as easily as gasoline vapors.

When exhaust from conventional diesel fuel was found to cause cancer, clean diesel engines were developed. Although conventional diesel fuel-burning vehicles are still on the road, states and the federal government enacted legislation that will eventually eliminate these older diesels engines.

Standard diesel fuel comes in two grades: Diesel #1 (or 1-D) and Diesel #2 (or 2-D). The higher the cetane number, the more volatile the fuel. Most diesel vehicles use fuel with a rating of 40 to 55.

You don’t have to worry about which type to use because all diesel OEMs specify Diesel #2 for normal driving conditions. Over the road truckers use Diesel #2 to carry heavy loads for long distances at sustained speeds because it’s less volatile than Diesel #1 and provides greater fuel economy.

Diesel fuel also is measured by its viscosity. Like other motor oils, diesel fuel gets thicker and cloudier at lower temperatures. Under extreme conditions it can become a gel, which limits flow. Diesel #1 flows more easily than Diesel #2, so it’s more efficient at lower temperatures. The two types of oil can be blended, and most service stations offer diesel fuel blended for local weather conditions.

If you plan to drive in very cold weather, choose diesel fuel rated at least 10 degrees lower than the coldest temperatures you expect to encounter. Consult your owner’s manual or engine builder for more specifics.

"Red" Diesel Fuel is exactly the same fluid as No. 2 fuel that's used in diesel pick-ups, heavy- duty trucks, buses and some cars on the road. The big difference is red fuel is used for engines that power off-road vehicles, as well as machines like tractors and bulldozers that are used on farms and construction sites.

Because of its price, which typically is much lower than the cost for No. 2 fuel, red diesel is subject to a rebated tax. Although red diesel certainly will "work" in our daily diesel vehicles, using it on the street is not allowed. You could face high fines and penalties for tax evasion if you are caught using red diesel on public roads.

Another type is Biodiesel. This diesel fuel is derived from agricultural materials and has the potential to provide a clean-burning alternative to petroleum.

Rudolph Diesel’s first engine was designed to run on peanut oil. Henry Ford envisioned plant-based fuel as the primary fuel for transportation, so he partnered with Standard Oil to develop biofuel production and distribution.

However, currently the only type of biodiesel fuel that can be used in vehicles in the United States and Canada without violating manufacturer’s warranties is B5, a blend of 5 percent biodiesel and 95 percent regular diesel. Most diesel engines run just fine on blends of up to 30 percent biodiesel.

The bartender looks up and says, "Is this supposed to be some kind of joke?"