Observations: B-100 from WVO vs. Virgin Soy

[hheynow]

At first I ran B-100 from WVO (Commercially processed and ASTM) then the other day I found B-100 (Commercially processed and ASTM) from Virgin Soy. The WVO B-100 exhaust smells better (french fries/onion rings) but the Virgin Soy biodiesel has really quieted the engine. Performance and fuel economy are equal, but the Virgin Soy B-100 is $.24 less per gallon. Anyone else notice this quieting with Virgin Soy B-100?...or am I

 

[dpantazis]

chemicaly it makes sense

WVO is a hodge-podge of stuff: triglycerides and Free Fatty Acids and who knows what else was made chemically due to the heat and water present during frying. Its these FFA, 'free radicals' that make the soap in the reaction.

SVO is almost pure triglycerides, no excess water or FFA's.

Remember, the bioD reaction is knocking of one of the triglyceride chains from the glycol molecule and sticking it onto a methanol molecule 3 times.

Think of it this way- the difference between single malt whisky and blended wiskey. The single malt is made from only one fermentation. Blended is made from blending many single malts. The SVO is the single malt, the WVO is the blended.

As far as which one is 'better' who knows. I would run the one that made the truck happiest and my pocket book happiest.

 

[Tx_Atty]

My supplier has been selling someone else's WVO based bio while he waits on his permit to sell his virgin oil (cotton and corn) bio. He said last week he was expecting his permit that day so I'll soon switch to the fresh stuff. I'll try to remember this thread and post my observation with it.

Are you getting the fresh through the coop?

 

[hheynow]

Are you getting the fresh through the coop?

No...too pricy there but its from SVO. My new source is http://www.baybiodiesel.com for $3.26

 

[hheynow]

As far as which one is 'better' who knows. I would run the one that made the truck happiest and my pocket book happiest.

That's a no-brainer!

 

[dpantazis]

remember ASTM is a four letter word

That's a no-brainer!

In my haste, I left out a part of my thoughts:

ASTM is a 4 letter work like OSHA... so is beer for that matter. Maybe 3.2 vs. 5.0 beer might have been a better analogy. Both are beer. Smell the same, taste the same. They don;t perform the same.

Remember, these are perfomance standards, NOT product specifications.
see this page- http://superdutydiesel.com/wiki2/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=28

So both WVO, SVO and Animal based bioD meet the STANDARD, they should perform equally. As far as ASTM is concerned, they do not care what goes in, as long as at the end, the stuff coming out does XYZ.

That being said, they won't, and hheynow has already noticed that. Smells different, quieter, etc... based on the base stocks.

EVEN though the ASTM standard is (or was) lax on TOTAL impurities, I think I would choose the SVO based bioD over anything else- SVO is a purer reactant and therefore, theoretically, have fewer impurities- free methanol, glycerine, unreacted oil, etc..., all things that are NOT covered in the ASTM spec. Purer reagents, better conversion, hopefully fewer nasties to muck up a fuel system.

 

[roosterdiesel]

...or am I

....I know somepeople think I'm

I'm still burning the last of the WVO from Brownfield Biodiesel like Txatty. We'll see what the VVO product that I'll get next does. I don't know if I'll get their stock piled soy based since they've only switched to cotton seed oil here in the last 2 weeks. I have seen their lab results from the soy VVO product...0 free glycerine, 0 methanol, and WAY below ASTM on mono-glycerides, di-glycerides and tri-glycerides. Cetane was 57 and sulfur was at 5PPM.

I'm gonna miss the french fry smell.