HVO / Renewable Diesel?

[Chainbreaker]

Anybody following the HVO (aka: Renewable Diesel) situation? I was not aware of it until I recently stumbled across a couple of articles on it by accident:

What is the difference between renewable diesel and traditional biodiesel - if any? | Neste

Audi's V6 Diesel Engines Can Now Run On Renewable Fuels | The Drive

I like the 30% higher Cetane rating they allege!

Of course, the real ? is what will it cost, as compared to conventional Biodiesel blends B5-B20. Since its 100% non-dino based diesel is it going to cost less or more?

Sounds promising... but time & cost will tell if its a successful dino/blend diesel replacement fuel.

 

[cbrTodd]

My knowledge is a bit dated but before all the current price increases it was roughly double the cost of petroleum based diesel. It is made from the same feed stocks as biodiesel but doesn't have the hygroscopic tendencies of the biodiesel. It's a good fuel, but it's not cheap.

 

[MAdams]

We have HPR diesel here in So Cal. They call it bio mass, not bio diesel. HPR has really high cetane, its clear, no smell and no foaming. I cannot tell the difference when driving but...

 

[williamh]

There’s been several posts lately on the moisture and corrosive nature on these fuels , other issues with long term storage or mostly vehicles that have long sitting storage building up algae.

 

[87cr250r]

We'll be switching our tugboat fleet to the stuff next year. There will be a ~5% loss of power. I expect a similar reduction in fuel economy.

Previously I had tried running the Propel bio fuels in my CUCV. The tank is relatively small at 20 gallons. I could get a full 5 day commute on a tank of regular diesel. On the propel fuel I had to refill every 4 days. It certainly wasn't worth the lower price. It caused no issues otherwise.

As for corrosiveness, look for ASTM D130 to compared the corrosiveness of fuels. All hydrocarbon fuels will grow bacteria if you've got water in the tank. Don't put water in your tank. The older high sulfur fuels would grow a sulphate reducing bacteria that accelerated corrosion in tanks but that's almost non-existent with the new fuel blends.

 

[WillWagner]

I have been forced to use it here. First, the price of "diesel"....not gonna call it real diesel, cause it aint'....here in So Cal is STILL + $6 a gallon, almost $1.50 more expensive than low grade gasoline. Second, it stinks coming out the tailpipe. I have noticed almost 1 MPG less over the last tank but the truck seems to have a bit more power. The smoke out of the tailpipe on a hard, loaded acceleration, like an on ramp, is brownish, kinda like a car with a plugged filter or one that has been driven by a little old lady and needs a good blow out. The truck runs hotter, oil and coolant temps are the same as usual, but the engine smells hot, like hotter exhaust. Diesel isn't too hot coming out of the cylinders, I am concerned about increased exhaust temps and what they will do to expensive and difficult to change, expensive parts like the variable vane/VGT turbine end. As it was, on a Cummins, when the turbo sticks and disassembled for inspection, the vanes that slide through the diffuser plate showed melting on the leading edge, that's what causes the turbo to stick and start logging actuator faults. I wonder what it is going to do to the swing vane types like used on Ford and GM products. I am gonna be pissed if this stuff kills the turbo on my shi*box, they are NOT fun to do.

 

[Karl kostman]

I live in ND and we still have REAL diesel fuel here, thankfully! I live on the border of ND and MN and you can sure tell the semis that came out of MN and likely fueled up with bio-diesel from MN, they are the ones parked along the interstate with gelled fuel systems. This really starts to pick up after -10 degrees and just keeps going to worse as the temps drop. IF I am forced to fill a truck with bio-diesel in the winter my standard practice is to triple the amount of Anti-gel solution I add to the tanks and that has worked for me. IF I can possibly get real diesel I will do that every time!!