Biodiesel apparently causing problems

[monkeybusiness]

21 hours ago, GA Groundcare said:

We had a breakdown in our Defender a month or so ago. I was towing a Kubota tractor at the time. Got it into a layby luckily.

Got our service van out who picked up a new fuel filter on the way around and some fresh fuel. Couldn't get it running. Van took the trailer home and got the AA to drop the Defender back to our work.

 

Ended up with the tank off, as the pipework between the tank and fuel filter was full of black slime. Washed the tank out which again had loads of slime in it. Nice clean tank, filtered the fuel back in, new fuel filter and fuel filter head. Jobs a good un, back on the road. 500 miles later I noticed it didn't have quite the boost it did have, smoked a bit and felt a very slight misfire.

 

One injector was failing and also leaking oil. Just picked it up from the garage. Injectors seals, fire washers and a new injector. £500 later... Wonder whether it would of had the last issue if it didn't have the first issue....

The risks you take running on red..... 

[GA Groundcare]

14 hours ago, PeteB said:

Was with a SafeTrac today, recently had some running issues which seemed to clear once new filters had been fitted. I looked at the inline and it had black sludge in it! Advised the users to keep the tank full and keep filters in the van and at next service, pull and clean the tank! Wonder if I get this in my Ranger next when they finished sorting the Adblue issues!

The last two SafeTraks we had in for service & repairs this month, we took the filler necks off and cleaned the tanks out fully. Its surprising how much can still be inside a tank after undoing the drain bung and dropping the fuel. We have also found a sandy looking substance at the bottom of tanks lately too. Whether that's from jerry cans / fuel bowsers who knows!

 

With the risk of sounding old... Fuel ain't what it used to be! Plus engines are a lot more sensitive...

Edited December 12, 2019 by GA Groundcare

[timbernut]

I had problems last week: valmet conked our with half a tank, pick up in tank blocked with black crud (was properly cleaned out a couple of months ago and is kept full 90% of the time) didn’t make the connection til reading this thread, even tho Ag engineer was telling me a few weeks ago that most farmers ,round E Anglia, in particular have been having huge problems, with their machines, he said it was to do with the, compulsory, % increase in amount of palm oil added ( I find this very ironic as we seem to b discouraged from using products with palm oil!)

[wills-mill]

One local firm was making 100% biodiesel a few years back on a fair scale for commercial sales, something over 10,000 litres a week.

 

I did drop in and speak to them about getting an IBC or two to run some mill plant, and they did warn me that the pure FAME/RME bio is highly effective at dragging any carbon deposits out of the fuel system and clogging filters for a few rapid cycles until the pipework and pump are clean again. Their recommendation back then was to run on 1/3rd of a tank of bio with 2/3rds of pump fuel, then slowly change up the ratios while going through a few filter changes.

In the end I didn't go for it, but I wonder if the recent problems are actually 2 different issues together- firstly the greasy bacterial sludge from the bug, secondly the black carbon that has been released from the distribution and engine pipework.

Looks like similar ideas back in 2007, The Telegraph

 

"The chemistry of FAME increases its affinity with water, its conductivity, its reactivity and its bioavailability. For good measure, methyl esters are known degreasing solvents. They lift accumulated resins, gums, polymeric material, fuel additives and debris from storage tank walls and distribution pipework and carry them forward to block filters, or more worryingly, to pass through them. These may be filters on dispensers at service stations or fuel filters protecting your engine.

Being biodegradable might be good for the environment if there is a fuel spillage, but microbiological attack in storage tanks is not. Like humans, microbes need food and water. They live in the water and eat the fuel to grow. As they multiply they produce acid waste, which can corrode and perforate steel tanks. They form mats of slime that clog filters and plug fuel lines. To cap it all, microbial growth in biodiesel occurs at up to four times the rate in conventional diesel and is very expensive to expel. To date there have been outbreaks of microbiological infestations in biodiesel tanks in the North West, North East and South East."

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/green-motoring/2746598/Whats-in-your-tank.html