Diesel and Bio Diesel

I would question the validity of this study, which you have neglected to mention or link to....

https://www.answers-to-your-biodiesel-questions.com/biodiesel-mileage.html

...."The power output of biodiesel depends on its blend, quality, and load conditions under which the fuel is burnt. The thermal efficiency for example of B100 as compared to B20 will vary due to the differing energy content of the various blends. Thermal efficiency of a fuel is based in part on fuel characteristics such as: viscosity, specific density, and flash point; these characteristics will change as the blends as well as the quality of biodiesel varies. The American Society for Testing and Materials has set standards in order to judge the quality of a given fuel sample.^[57]

One study found that the brake thermal efficiency of B40 was superior to traditional petroleum counterpart at higher compression ratios (this higher brake thermal efficiency was recorded at compression ratios of 21:1). It was noted that, as the compression ratios increased, the efficiency of all fuel types – as well as blends being tested – increased; though it was found that a blend of B40 was the most economical at a compression ratio of 21:1 over all other blends. The study implied that this increase in efficiency was due to fuel density, viscosity, and heating values of the fuels.^[58]"...

^..."Biodiesel has promising lubricating properties and cetane ratings compared to low sulfur diesel fuels.^[49] Fuels with higher lubricity may increase the usable life of high-pressure fuel injection equipment that relies on the fuel for its lubrication. Depending on the engine, this might include high pressure injection pumps, pump injectors (also called unit injectors) and fuel injectors.

The calorific value of biodiesel is about 37.27 MJ/kg.^[50] This is 9% lower than regular Number 2 petrodiesel. Variations in biodiesel energy density is more dependent on the feedstock used than the production process. Still, these variations are less than for petrodiesel.^[51] It has been claimed biodiesel gives better lubricity and more complete combustion thus increasing the engine energy output and partially compensating for the higher energy density of petrodiesel.^[52]

The color of biodiesel ranges from golden to dark brown, depending on the production method. It is slightly miscible with water, has a high boiling point and low vapor pressure. The flash point of biodiesel exceeds 130 °C (266 °F),^[53] significantly higher than that of petroleum diesel which may be as low as 52 °C (126 °F).^[54][55] Biodiesel has a density of ~0.88 g/cm³, higher than petrodiesel (~0.85 g/cm³).^[54][55]

Biodiesel contains virtually no sulfur,^[56] and it is often used as an additive to ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel to aid with lubrication, as the sulfur compounds in petrodiesel provide much of the lubricity."...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiesel

..."The petroleum industry uses API Gravity as an indication of the energy content of the fuel. As API Gravity increases energy content decreases. Since specific gravity is the inverse of API Gravity, a higher specific gravity means a higher energy content fuel. As Specific Gravity increases, power output and mileage both increase. The API limits for D2 Diesel are 30 to 45. That translates to specific gravities of 0.876 to 0.802."...

..."Vegetable oils typically have a specific gravity from 0.903 to about 0.921, depending on its fatty acid composition and temperature. The densities recorded in literature are at different temperatures. I have found three different temperatures for measuring density, 15.5C, 20C, and 25C. As the temperature increases the density decreases, for example, olive oil at 15.5 C ranges from 0.915 to 0.918. At 25C olive oil ranges from 0.910 to 0.920.

Biodiesel has a range of about 0.86 to 0.90. So, if you want to find out if your oil is biodiesel or vegetable oil, you can measure its specific gravity with a hydrometer, and anything above 0.90 is probably vegetable oil, and anything below 0.90 is probably biodiesel."...

http://www.make-biodiesel.org/Biodiesel-Chemsitry/specific-gravity-and-biodiesel.html

...type oil...........................F°.................................specific gravity

The mileage and power vary little between oils, and the blends seem to do the best....

..."As the chart below shows, fuel economy and acceleration were similar with all four fuels. The B5 blend turned in the best fuel-economy results. On the highway, it yielded almost 49 mpg while the regular diesel and B100 achieved about 45 and 44 mpg, respectively. The cooking oil recorded just 42 mpg."...

https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2012/05/diesel-vs-biodiesel-vs-vegetable-oil/index.htm

How is this possible? Palm oil is a solid at room temperature. I'm not sure what "Feed stock from Palm Oil" means...

Food-grade palm oil currently sells for somewhere between $!0 and $20 a gallon here in California. I have no idea how much non-food-grade palm oil exists, or what it may cost, but I can't imagine it competing economically with standard diesel.

My diesel VW Passat TDI got 46.9 mpg on a very recent trip of 637 mi, using standard California low-sulfur diesel fuel. That trip included some very windy roads and a total altitude gain of over 9,000 feet. That is 75.2 km/gallon, or 19.9 km/liter. The specified mileages of 9 and 13 km/liter are really poor!

I guess it depends on location...

https://www.biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2019/06/22/palm-oil-cheaper-than-diesel-fuel/

Seems to work much better as a blend, to many drawbacks with B-100...

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1110062117300119#f0010

He didn't say what type of vehicle the tests were run on. Might have been locomotives!

Well, biodiesel can be made from lard too, also solid at room temperature.

The last thing the world needs is Indonesia clearing more rainforest for the production of biodiesel from palm oil. Say goodbye to the orangutan and all the other animals and plants of the area.

9km/l on normal diesel - must have either been an older generation utility vehicle or maybe a light truck? Either way, i find this result a bit suspect - a 44% decrease in fuel consumption just by changing the fuel? I reckon there were other variables at play, or the study was not as scientific as it should have been. This should have made world headlines. The fact that it didn't - yeah, well...

As another poster said, please post us the link to the study!

BTW, I wonder if this has been tested on modern common-rail high pressure diesel engines? Low temperatures? My Renault Duster SUV (Dacia in some countries) averages around 15km/l. Warranty is over, just need to find some biodiesel and test! Palm oil, yummy, there goes our rain forests again (ok, off-topic, couldn't resist )

I would have liked to have been in on the Navy contract that charged over $26/gallon for biodiesel

https://www.naval-technology.com/features/featureus-green-fleet-a-new-era-of-naval-energy-innovation-4872289/

Thank you very much for all the comments and inputs.

Trials has been going on ISUZU 4WD and farm tractors. It was reported they are doing this trial for more than 2 years.

Average Records - 13.1KM per liter with B100 and 9.4KM per liter with Diesel ( 4WD )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbtV2Y4Srxs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpzPE_2eVt8

These Trials are conducted very professionally.

You are referring to government propaganda rather than a scientific study...the key word here is mandatory....

..."Why mandatory biodiesel use benefits Indonesia

Domestically, biodiesel use makes more sense economically as it not only boosts the demand of locally-produced raw material like crude palm oil, it also reduces the cost of importing fuel. From August 2015 to April 2018, the country has saved an estimated IDR 30 trillion because of reduced diesel imports by almost 5.88 million kilolitres."...

While forcing the use of domestically produced materials may be beneficial to the economy, it is a government sustained market...If it was as good as you seem to think, there would be no need to mandate mandatory use....A free market will tell you what works best...

https://goldenagri.com.sg/b20-biodiesel-mandate-a-lifeline-for-indonesias-palm-oil-sector/

Agreed. Indonesia still importing fuels.

My question ...How it can possible to have better fuel efficiency with B100? It has about 10% more mass the diesel base on s.g. It was reported Biodiesel normally has lower calorific value compared diesel.

I did post a similar or somehow related question before:

https://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/123831/100-Biodiesel-is-Safe-for-Internal-Combustion-Engines#newcomments

Speculation of methods used is useless and serves no purpose....it's enough to know that these results are suspect compared to existing research, of which there is no shortage...

Without doing any research, I would question these results.

However, of more concern to me is that I believe diesel, though very bad for the environment, is still better than palm oil. It's planting requires destruction of the rain forests, huge amounts of fertiliser, damage to the sea life due to run off and disgusting brown sea water on once beautiful beaches. (Lived on Borneo).