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THE FUEL PICTURE Operators' views
Page 60
Page 61
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Autorecovery Services, based in Leeds, bought 5,0001itres of biofuel from D1 Oils to run a controlled test. The fuel was from a mixture of feedstocks, as D1 was deliberately testing the qualities of different bases. Driver Mike Wilkes lost no time in trying out his 30-tonne Iveco Eurotrakker Cursor recovery vehicle on a 50% mix. It's a left-hooker with four 20-tonne winches, which can run simultaneously, and a 35tm crane. The company warned me I may experience some slight loss of power, or slightly lazier starting, but it has been great. I could see a slight difference between the fuels in the barrels but it has made no difference to the running. It has the same mpg.
"This rig weighs 30 tonnes unladen and 74 tonnes with an artic on the back. I would detect even the slightest loss of power pulling that kind of load, but there's nothing."
Wilkes was so impressed he weaned his truck onto 100% biodiesel. "The truck's out of warranty so it's our decision how we handle the engine. But it runs beautifully. I've burned 1,000 litres a week for six weeks and I'm impressed." There are 30 vehicles in the fleet and Wilkes says that others, including three plant motors, are running on the fuel. Clearly a six-week trial is not long enough to answer Iveco's concerns about the corrosive effects of biodiesel (see opposite), but Wilkes is a fan. "There's only one problem,' he says. "You smell chips all the time. It's hard enough to stay away from truckers' cafes, but this vehicle makes me hungry."
KW Devereux has been running its 110-strong artic fleet on a 5% PetroPlus blend for a year. Managing director Ken Devereux says the product performs exactly the same as standard fuel and the move has caused no operational problems. The fuel is bought in bulk and bunkered on site.
"There's no difference in price —the biodiesel itself is slightly more expensive than normal diesel but attracts less duty, so it works out about the same. But we use it because we think we should, for environmental reasons,"
Devereux sticks to the warrantyfriendly 5% limit, but wouldn't be averse to running a higher proportion if the engine manufacturers agreed. -If there were a higher limit then we would have to run a proper operational trial, but in principle I see no reason why we shouldn't run a higher proportion of biofuel. Lakehaven Removals driver Yorkie has been running his Volvo FH12 XL Globetrotter 420 at 44 tonnes on pure used vegetable oil for more than a year.
The system was developed by local company FutureTech Developments and I've been running it on test for about 200,000 miles. I have a small 50-litre diesel tank, which we use to start the engine. You press a button and it switches to vegetable oil, and when you're done you flush the system with straight diesel again. We haven't needed any engine modifications as such. There were a few cold-weather problems so we wrapped a pipe from the radiator round the base of the intake pipe, which sorted it out."
He is insistent that the truck has come to no harm. "Vegetable oil isn't a solvent just a natural lubricant." By the way (and prepare for an eye-watering pun), Yorkie reports that his workmates have nicknamed his wagon Tefal short for Deep Fat Flier.
Manufacturers' views ive GO says: ''High pressure common-rail diesel engines will not tolerate concentrations of biodiesel above 5%. Engines with unit injectors will run with concentrations of up to 30% biodiesel but the effect on maintenance intervals caused by the corrosive effects is severe, with distances halved, and special materials are required for filler cap seals and hoses. If vehicles are to be inactive for long periods, the fuel system must be flushed through by running on at
least one full tank of normal diesel fuel otherwise the pump injectors may become corroded. Clearly there are warranty implications with all of this
DaimlerChrysler and Cummins are looking at 20% biodiesel mixes for specific engines.
Renault Trucks has a clear and surprisingly lenient position on the use of biofuels. Provided the fuel meets standard EN14214 and the user complies with a few basic operational suggestions, warranties are guaranteed even for 30% mixes with Euro-3 and above engines. The company maintains that engine oil change intervals must be halved and that repair and maintenance costs will probably increase because predictive maintenance will no longer be suitable. The fuel must be carefully stored because of the risk from bacterial contaminants, and night heaters should run on pure diesel.
It also emphasises the need to use a specialist supplier and not simply mix vegetable oil methyl esther with diesel on site. It is important that the quality and cold pour properties of the oil can be guaranteed, and in the event of engine failure the user will need an audit trail.
Renault also warns that the calorific value (ie energy provision) of biofuel is about 8% less than standard diesel, so performance and fuel economy may suffer.