It's a good trend that automotive manufacturers are now moving towards diesel engine powered cars and sedans (average of about 40+ miles per gallon / 17 km per liter). One of them would be VolksWagen and you can truly tell by their pretty aggressive advertising campaign. I even do notice more VW's (in general) running on the roads these days.
The reason why I brought this topic up is that it is part knowledge sharing should anyone be interested in going B100 (100% biodiesel) on diesel automotive engines (and in no part saying anything bad about VW TDI's, they are good products).
It would be great and also especially for the Big 3 (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) to keep those SUV's and Minivans, but have them run on diesel which is more fuel efficient and more power / weight ratio as demanded by the vehicle capacity.
VW introduced the post ignition injection technology in their TDI engines in order to burn away the soot in the collection area, and hence producing a cleaner exhaust for regular petrol diesel type fuel combustion. For regular petrol diesel (dino-diesel) or at max up to B5, the post ignition injection is ok and doesn't drip too much biodiesel into the bottom engine oil chamber.
For higher levels of biodiesel, what happens is that biodiesel is not as highly combustible as compared to dino-diesel, and the post ignition injection spray results in the wetting of the combustion chamber, and this is not needed especially if you are using B100 (no / very very very little soot), which results in the biodiesel escaping / dripping down from the cylinder walls into the engine oil below, and hence fouling up the cooling + lubricating system. This does lead to possible engine failure.
So if you are shopping for specifically VW TDI's, look out for these used year models which DOES NOT have the post injection technology in place:
The PD version were available in New Beetles (2004 - 2006), Jettas (2004 -2006), Jetta Wagons (2004 - 2006), Golfs (2004 -2005), B5 Passat (2004 and 2005), and the 2005 V10 Toureg. The PD found in the New Beetles, Jettas, and Golfs are rated at 100hp and 177ft.lbs torque from a 1.9l engine. The B5 Passat with it's 2.0l TDI pumped out 134 hp and 247 ft.lbs of torque. The king of power is the 5.0l 310HP V10 Touareg that puts out 553 ft.lbs of torque.
The above is quoted straight from this web site:
http://www.tdiclub.com/
Until they or someone figures out a way to disable the post injection electronic controls or substitute the post injection squirt with something else / blank air injection, your best bet would be to buy a young and in good condition slightly older models of the TDI's.
http://www.biodieselmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=2290&q=&page=all
http://www.biodieselsmarter.com/archives/2008/12/the_saga_of_the_09_tdi_and_its.php
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
2009 Earth Day St Louis (Muny / Forest Park) April 26th
I had a really good time meeting up with members from the St. Louis Biofuels Club who volunteered to work the biofuels booth. Many people had stopped by our booth to find out more and Maud (moderator of the St. Louis Biofuels Yahoo groups) prepared small batches of used waste vegetable oils for the younger audience to mix with methanol and lye and to be clipped on a retort stand for the final biodiesel + glycerol separation.
The demonstration unit was also displayed and powered on for washing for a prior biodiesel batch. The generator which supplied the power was fueled by biodiesel too.
It was interesting to meet many people from all walks of life from College Professors (Principia) to home brewers and others who are simply interested or have always been wanting to find out more about biodiesel production or looking for a forum to post and find out more information on renewable energy / biofuels. We even had a couple who were trying the cutting edge by growing a pilot oily algae system.
It was a pretty windy day and the portable tents had the tendency to fly away even though it was weighed down.
I did get a chance to visit other vendors and displays and there were other interesting booths and showcases of renewable energy, even the local Ameren UE utility company had a large display, tips for energy conservation and their hybrid utility truck on display.
http://s170.photobucket.com/albums/u264/bambi_seller/2009_04_26_Earth_Day_2009_St_Louis_MO_Muny/
The demonstration unit was also displayed and powered on for washing for a prior biodiesel batch. The generator which supplied the power was fueled by biodiesel too.
It was interesting to meet many people from all walks of life from College Professors (Principia) to home brewers and others who are simply interested or have always been wanting to find out more about biodiesel production or looking for a forum to post and find out more information on renewable energy / biofuels. We even had a couple who were trying the cutting edge by growing a pilot oily algae system.
It was a pretty windy day and the portable tents had the tendency to fly away even though it was weighed down.
I did get a chance to visit other vendors and displays and there were other interesting booths and showcases of renewable energy, even the local Ameren UE utility company had a large display, tips for energy conservation and their hybrid utility truck on display.
http://s170.photobucket.com/albums/u264/bambi_seller/2009_04_26_Earth_Day_2009_St_Louis_MO_Muny/
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Reposting from green Jobs now / wecansolveit.org
http://www.wecansolveit.org/page/community/post/biodiesel2008/BxW
I believe that the future for America is to adopt distributive generation and switching to diesel powered automobiles. Distributive generation is based on powering a house or a block or more of houses locally and this cuts down on transmission line losses. Home heating oils are nothing more than "dino-diesel" which contributes to additional carbon emissions into the atmosphere.
Biodiesel is derived from either used or new vegetable oils, and hence it's combustion does not contribute to the net carbon emission unlike petroleum based fuels which should have stayed underground.
With help from local leaders and Washington, financial incentives are needed to help encourage the adoption of clean and renewable power generation. For now, already thanks to www.renewmo.org we have the legislation of Missouri grant net metering whereby excess energy generated from clean sources may be reversed on your electric meter, and hence you only pay the net actual usage of electricity.
What I envision in future is that Americans are almost completely weaned off gasoline from the middle east, consume more biodiesel and be energy dependent free. What I know I can contribute is my knowledge and experience with biodiesel and biomass.
I urge anyone who is considering starting a biodiesel company to consider my services and expertise, or if you are wanting to do research and are looking for a Mechanical Engineer who has a passion for biodiesel and biomass power generation, do not hesitate to contact me.
The idea that I have is based on the fact that 60% or more of household energy is used for refrigeration, heating and cooling. Why not produce the fuel and have an integrated system which takes care of that and also for your diesel vehicle? It's never too late, but the sooner we adopt it, the better.
I believe that the future for America is to adopt distributive generation and switching to diesel powered automobiles. Distributive generation is based on powering a house or a block or more of houses locally and this cuts down on transmission line losses. Home heating oils are nothing more than "dino-diesel" which contributes to additional carbon emissions into the atmosphere.
Biodiesel is derived from either used or new vegetable oils, and hence it's combustion does not contribute to the net carbon emission unlike petroleum based fuels which should have stayed underground.
With help from local leaders and Washington, financial incentives are needed to help encourage the adoption of clean and renewable power generation. For now, already thanks to www.renewmo.org we have the legislation of Missouri grant net metering whereby excess energy generated from clean sources may be reversed on your electric meter, and hence you only pay the net actual usage of electricity.
What I envision in future is that Americans are almost completely weaned off gasoline from the middle east, consume more biodiesel and be energy dependent free. What I know I can contribute is my knowledge and experience with biodiesel and biomass.
I urge anyone who is considering starting a biodiesel company to consider my services and expertise, or if you are wanting to do research and are looking for a Mechanical Engineer who has a passion for biodiesel and biomass power generation, do not hesitate to contact me.
The idea that I have is based on the fact that 60% or more of household energy is used for refrigeration, heating and cooling. Why not produce the fuel and have an integrated system which takes care of that and also for your diesel vehicle? It's never too late, but the sooner we adopt it, the better.
Reposting from Green Jobs now 2008 expo in St Louis MO
Original posting: http://www.wecansolveit.org/page/community/post/biodiesel2008/BCy
Repost:
http://events.greenjobsnow.com/greenforall/reports/5376
More pictures can be seen here:
http://s170.photobucket.com/albums/u264/bambi_seller/2008_09_27_green_jobs_now/
It was good to see the amounts of individuals with renewable solutions and educational / demonstration units, renewable energy vehicles etc. There were some companies which offered solar and wind renewable energy consultation and installation, and many advocate organizations.
Although it's good to see people taking initiative on renewable energy, the only low point about the event is that it just shows me that the Mid West and America in general is seriously lacking in aggressively encouraging renewable energy initiatives and efforts.
Picture below is landscape and you may click it to see the full picture.
Repost:
http://events.greenjobsnow.com/greenforall/reports/5376
More pictures can be seen here:
http://s170.photobucket.com/albums/u264/bambi_seller/2008_09_27_green_jobs_now/
It was good to see the amounts of individuals with renewable solutions and educational / demonstration units, renewable energy vehicles etc. There were some companies which offered solar and wind renewable energy consultation and installation, and many advocate organizations.
Although it's good to see people taking initiative on renewable energy, the only low point about the event is that it just shows me that the Mid West and America in general is seriously lacking in aggressively encouraging renewable energy initiatives and efforts.
Picture below is landscape and you may click it to see the full picture.
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