![National Biodiesel Board ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (20)
Viewers also liked
Similar to BIO3.1 Biodiesel Fleet and Case Studies
Similar to BIO3.1 Biodiesel Fleet and Case Studies (20)
More from Biodiesel Automotive
More from Biodiesel Automotive (19)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
BIO3.1 Biodiesel Fleet and Case Studies
- 1. Biodiesel Technical Training Course BIO3.1 Fleet Studies on Biodiesel Presented by the National Biodiesel Board
- 5. B20 Fleet Evaluation Team NREL/NBB B20 Bus Fleet Evaluation USPS Biodiesel B20 Cummins 1000 hr. Durability Test Health Effects in Keene, NH North Carolina Dept. of Transportation Todayâs Fleet examples
- 16. Fleet Management Experiences
- 23. Overhead Components Top of cylinder head No sludge deposits Bottom of cylinder head Deposits comparable to #2D Intake Valves Exhaust Valves Results are typical for this type of test with #2D diesel fuel
- 24. Power Transfer Components During teardown, the crankshaft was found to be in very good condition, and results were comparable to #2D diesel fuel test. Component Comments Cranckshaft Gear Meets rebuild spec Cam Gear Meets rebuild spec Cam Bushing Meets rebuild spec Fuel Pump Gear Meets rebuild spec Cranckshaft Meets rebuild spec Lower & Upper Bearings Normal wear Connecting Rod Meets rebuild spec Connecting Rod Bushing Meets rebuild spec
- 25. Power Cylinder Components Crosshatch visible in all six cylinders. Results comparable to #2D diesel fuel test. Ring Grooves Anti-Thrust Side Cylinder 1 Top Piston Piston Bowl Front Cylinder 1 Minor staining Component Comments Piston Normal light wear and deposits. Cylinder Liners Normal light wear. Top rings Normal uniform face wear. Top and bottom side look typical. Middle rings Normal face wear. Top and bottom sides OK, and light carboning. Oil rings Looked good. Very little wear.
- 26. Cooling and Lube Components There were no failures found on the cooling and lube components. The wear and deposits found on the parts were normal and consistent with findings found on parts that ran with #2 diesel fuel in similar tests. Bottom (Oil) Piston Rings Cylinder 1 Top Cylinder 6 Bottom Component Comments Oil pump No issues Oil cooler head No issues Oil cooler cover No issues Oil pressure regulator/bypass No issues Piston cooling nozzles No problems due to B20. Oil Pan Normal Oil suction tube Gasket showed good imprint of seal Turbo coolant/oil lines Normal
- 27. Air Handling Components Carbon deposit layer was generated on the passage and inside parts of the EGR valve , but thickness was very thin and condition was dry which is normal for this durability test. Component Comments Exhaust Manifold No issues. EGR Cooler No cracks, light coating of soot on inlet and outlet tubes. No soot in inlet diffuser. Findings good overall. EGR Valve Looked good. Normal soot accumulation. EGR gaskets, hoses, tubes, shield, mounting plate, crossover No issues found due to running with B20.
- 28. Aftertreatment Components Component Comments Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC) Looked good. No face plugging. Blockages found appeared like debris and substrate material. Debris was analyzed under Electron Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), and all debris found is expected in a typical DOC after 1000 hr of operation, whether fueled with ULSD or biodiesel. Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) Inlet face showed signs of ash build up, but similar to diesel fuel for this type of test. Outlet looked good with no signs of soot. No failure found. Inlet and outlet section Looked good. Gaskets Looked good.
- 29. Fuel System Pictures Stage 1 Plunger Needle No marks on needle surface or the edge. Plunger Needle â Top View Some slight staining. Stage 2 Plunger Needle has some wear, but normal for this type of aggressive test. Plunger Orifice not clogged with oil sludge or deposits
- 30. Fuel System Components Rail and fuel lines Rail â No abnormal wear. End Fitting â No unusual wear. HP Fuel Lines â No visible structural deterioration or cracks observed. Mechanical Dump Valve (MDV) No unusual wear, deterioration or sludge buildup observed on plungers, plunger seats or orifice. 1) Stage One Plunger â No wear visible on the needle surface or the edge. Some slight staining seen on plunger base. 2) Stage Two Plunger â Some wear, but normal. Plunger orifice not clogged with oil sludge or deposits. Injectors Injector performance test and photos indicate that the injectors were consistent with injectors that ran with #2D diesel fuel. Soft Lines No visible damage to any section of the internal wall of the used fuel tubes indicating that the tubing liner material is resistant to the B20 temperatures and pressures during the engine performance test. Overall There were no signs of severe or aggressive corrosion pitting damage on any of the surfaces.
- 32. Â
- 33. Â
- 34. Â
- 35. Â
- 36. Â
- 37. Â
- 38. Â
- 39. Â
- 40. Â
- 41. Â
- 42. Â
- 43. Â
Editor's Notes
- The industry has made great strides in fuel quality, and certainly fuel quality and meeting specification helps ensure performance. However, the proof is in the pudding, so letâs look at some examples of field durability studies that have been conducted on biodiesel over the last 7-10 years.
- There have been a tremendous amount of detailed studies that have been published and performed on B20 usage in the United States over the last 7-10 years. The US Postal Service, the St. Louis bus system, the Denver Regional bus system, Las Vegas Valley Water District, Clark County School District in Nevada, everywhere from Connecticut to New Hampshire, to North Carolina, to Cedar Rapids, IA etc, etc. The list is impressive indeed. In addition to having use in a variety of different types of equipment, youâll see that this list also contains a variety of different climatic conditions, both hot desert, cold winters and steamy hot summers in humid parts of the country.
- Even after the B100 specifications at ASTM were actually passed in 2001, after 8 years of intense research and balloting, some engine manufacturers were still not willing to recommend B20 to their customers. The NBB began an intensive effort to address any issues and concerns that OEMâs might have and formed a âB20 Fleet Evaluation Teamâ with the major OEMâs in the 2003 timeframe.
- The B20 Fleet Evaluation Team was to develop a fact based informed position on B20. Members from most of the major diesel fuel and fuel injection equipment companies agreed to participate on the effort. The first order of business was to use typical industry tools used to evaluate issues and risks and apply them to the use of biodiesel. A Failure Mode and Effects AnalysisâFMEA for shortâwas conducted for B20. This is a useful means to identify things that can go wrong with a product and how to prevent them from going wrong. Usually an FMEA is done with an engine part or component, but in this case the group applied the FMEA to using B20 in an existing engine. A prestigious group of engineers from the OEMâs detailed everything they could think of that might go wrong when fueling an existing diesel engine with B20, ranked each item based on the severity of the issue, how often it might occur, and how easy it is to detect the issue. Based on those rankings, a Risk Identification number was generated and a plan to address high RIN areas was developed
- Here is a listing of the companies and entities who participated in the B20 Fleet Evaluation Team. A virtual whoâs who of diesel engines in the US and even some from overseas.
- Interestingly enough, and to the surprise of some of the OEMâs in the group, the FMEA completed in 2005 pointed out that if the biodiesel met the ASTM specifications for B100, most of the âproblemsâ identified were eliminated. If the fuel met specs, most of the concerns with B20 evaporated. This served to validate the ASTM specifications, which was a key finding. The effort also identified several areas where additional study or information is needed as you can see from the slideâŚ.more information is needed on biodieselâs impact on after-treatment systems, more on stability/shelf life, more data from the fieldâespecially with materials compatibility and any issues that have surfaced that the FMEA didnât identify, providing the user some advise to help insure trouble free use of B20 blends. Each of these issues has since been addressed, either through additional testing or through updates of the ASTM specifications.
- One of the pieces of follow-up was to provide the users guidance on what to do to have a successful B20 experience. This guidance is what the OEM and fuel system companies of the B20 Fleet Evaluation Team came up with as guidance to consumers using B20. It was presented by John Deere at the National Biodiesel Conference and Expo in 2006 and adopted by the National Biodiesel Board. It is still in use today and millions of customers who follow this guidance have had successful trouble free experience with B20. Each bullet should be read in its entirety.
- Each bullet should be read in its entirety
- Each bullet should be read in its entirety
- Each bullet should be read in its entirety. As you can seeâŚ.no rocket science here. Meet the specifications, buy from quality companies, take the precautions that are normally done with diesel fuel, be prepared to change fuel filters upon initial use if needed, monitor for leaks.
- In addition to all of those documented studies, many of which can be found through searches of the Society of Automotive Engineers papers, or through simple searches on the internet, there have been a variety of other useful summary documents which have been prepared and are available, which review biodiesel performance and use in the field. One such document is the biodiesel handling and use guidelines prepared by the Department of Energy, which covers a variety of experience with both B100 as well as biodiesel blends. It goes over engine performance, diesel emissions, materials compatibility, and all sorts of other useful data from all of the field experience which has been generated with biodiesel.
- The Transportation Research Board has also published a summary document from biodiesel use in transit fleets in which over forty different fleet experiences were summarized in this comprehensive document which is available on the internet.
- Additional information has been documented on biodieselâs use in cold weather. Of course, cold weather we know can cloud and gel any diesel fuel, including biodiesel, and users with B20 with No. 2 usually see a slight increase of the cold flow properties, about 2-10 degrees F colder than with normal diesel fuel. Similar precautions can be employed for petroleum diesel that are needed for biodiesel blends. Blends with No. 1 fuel use fuel heaters or parking indoors, or use a cold flow improvement additive.
- While the short nature of our training program doesnât allow us to go through the detailed results for individual fleet system, they certainly are available for your review. To summarize these, users with B20 show similar fuel economy as with conventional diesel fuel. Some users see a slight increase, some see a slight decrease, but usually itâs well within the range of normal variability of fuel economy. They see similar maintenance costs as with conventional diesel fuel. Initially, most users see some filter clogging when the system is being cleaned, although this is somewhat dependent on the condition of the fueling system and whether diesel fuel has left significant deposits over time. We do see users with some cold weather filter clogging, which is usually due to either inadequate blending or handling, or knowledge of the fuel. The normal type of diesel issues with filter clogging were water related issues, microbial contamination associated with conventional diesel fuel. We saw some poor quality of biodiesel or imposter biodiesels that caused some cold weather filter clogging. So some small incidents of cold weather filter clogging, but all can be handled by using the established guidelines to allow trouble free use. In general, studies showed a very positive driver and user experience. Most users note the decrease in smell, the decrease in smoke. A lot of technicians have noted that their eyes donât sting anymore, their lungs donât burn when smelling biodiesel exhaust. It doesnât dry out skin if spilled like conventional diesel does. There was a lot of positive driver, user and technician experience with B20.
- One of the reasons for that is some of the durability runs that had been done on B20 in existing engines. Itâs fairly typical for an engine company to run durability runs with diesel fuel to make sure the engines they put out are going to perform well in the field over time. They do that with an accelerated program plan, and in this case, Cummins ran a 1000 hour durability on B20, with the objective to operate the engine for 1000 hours using B20 fuel and do a comprehensive analysis of the engine that had operated on the fuel with the same type of conditions that they would use for No. 2 diesel fuel. You see the test plan here, looking at 1000 hour test plan, 125 hours of initial break-in, measuring emissions, and then running the engine for another 875 hours for a total 1000 hours. Then they run the emissions again to see how the emissions of the engine might have changed throughout its useful life. Most of the time, the engine is run on an accelerated high load durability cycle to stress the engine out again, stressing the engine as much as possible to gain maximum potential negative effects, should there be any on the engine.
- The test engine used was a Cummins prototype 2007 ISL engine, six cylinder, 8.9 liter with 330 brake horsepower at 1150 ft lb of torque at 1300 rpm. It was outfitted with a diesel oxidation catalyst and a diesel particulate filter. That filter used the in-cylinder post injection for active regeneration. It had variable geometry turbocharging, exhaust gas recirculation with an inner cooler, and the Cummins proprietary fuel injection system. So it really had the latest bells and whistles on a prototype engine with both EGR and a diesel particulate filter. There were no NOx controls on this particular engine.
- The test cycle that was used had about 70% of the durability cycles at full load, so it accelerates through high load in a transient cycle, it varies the load and speed, and then it repeats those cycles anywhere from peak torque power to high idle to low idle to peak torque, and goes through that cycle over 1000 hours. The emissions testing that was done was according to the Federal Test Procedure. One cold start transient FTP test and then three hot starts, and then one set of Ramped Modal Cycle.
- The results for that engine are shown on this slide. Approximately 17,000 gallons of B20 was used during the test. The test went well and was successful. There were no biodiesel related failures during the test, no reported significant changes in performance of the engine. The engine performance was essentially the same when it was tested at 125 hours and at 1000 hours after the accumulated durability operation. The emissions results indicated that the hydrocarbon, CO and PM levels were not significantly different between the B20 and the ULSD in this particular test. We do see PM, CO and hydrocarbon levels on non particulate trapped engines, but with the particulate trap, the B20 didnât provide that much more than the ULSD alone did. On the emissions also, the B20 was slightly higher in NOx, but is within the range that we expected to see for this particular test cycle and this particular engine. We may see lower NOx, in other applications or if a chassis dyno was used rather than an engine dynomometer. The fuel consumption was observed to be about 3% higher than the 2007 certified ULSD, which was within the expected range. That is about the expected range of the BTU content of the biodiesel.
- Here are some pictures of the components. We see the top cylinder heads had no sludge deposits. Deposits were comparable on the bottom of the cylinder head between diesel fuel and No. 2 diesel fuel. Both the intake and exhaust valves were typical for this type of test run on conventional No. 2 diesel.
- For the power transfer components, the crank shaft was in very good condition, with the results comparable to No. 2 diesel fuel, and at least in this particular case, no adverse impacts on any of the engine oil related areas. All of the components from the crank shaft gear to the cam bearing to the bushings, fuel pump gears, connecting rods, etc all looked normal and meet the traditional rebuild specs that we would expect for this engine operating that long.
- The power cylinder componentsâthe crosshatch was still visible on all six cylinders, the ring grooves similar, the top of the pistons similar.
- Everything looked normal, and the same situation with the cooling and the lube components. No issues, no problems, just all around a clean bill of health.
- The same with the air handling components. There was a little bit of soot in some areas, but in the areas where there was soot, we would expect that with normal diesel fuel as well. So nothing out of the ordinary.
- The aftertreatment componentsâthis was something that was of interest, because one of the questions was whether or not it would have an impact on aftertreatment, and in this particular test, the diesel oxidation catalyst looked good. There were some blockages found, but thatâs normal for what weâd expect with diesel fuel. On the diesel particulate filter, and this was one of the runs with the diesel particulate filter after 1000 hours of operation, that looked good. And the gaskets looked good, as well as the inlet and outlet section.
- Here you see some pictures of injectors, plungers, etc. No issues to note there.
- The other fuels system components had no issues noted there either.
- In summary with this engine, it was a Cummins 2007 prototype with a particulate trap that was in-cylinder post injection for control with EGR and variable turbo charging, was operated successfully. No biodiesel related failures, engine performance with the same, emissions were the same. A thorough engine teardown analyzed pretty much all the parts that we could look at, and there were no failures related to B20, and the wear and deposits were consistent with what weâd see with diesel fuel. So a good bill of health, and really show that the ASTM specs and for biodiesel meeting those specs, even in this new prototype engine, is going to perform well for users in the fuel system.