Navigator
Member Since: 17 Mar 2010
Location: Stay at Home. One of the lives you save could be your own.
Posts: 5104
  
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The British Standard for Diesel fuel BS EN 250:2009 is now in effect, and replaces BS EN 590:2004 which has been withdrawn. A major change is it permits the inclusion of up to 7% by volume of bio-diesel. Specifically, it permits up to that 7% to be Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME) complying with EN 14214.
Now, FAMEs are unstable in temperature and oxidation. They are solvents and can free residues and detrius from tanks and pipes. They can also absorb water which is present from contamination or condensation, as in vehicle tanks. As well as the undesirable presence of the water, certain microbes thrive in these conditions, and can excrete acidic products that can damage storage tanks and clog filters.
There is also now a requirement under the Petroleum Regulations for the amount of bio-diesel that might be in a fuel to be shown at the point of sale. There must be a statement on the dispensing pump, but apparently there is no requirement as to how large this statement must be. The actual amount of bio-diesel in a given brand at a given outlet can therefore vary up to the 7% (B7), as can the composition of the bio-diesel content as it may not all be FAMEs.
LandRover have stated (including in my copy of the Owners Handbook) that “The maximum allowable Bio-diesel mix is 5% ….†for the 2.7 TDV6 engine, and possibly also all others. Perhaps they are just being cautious. The reaction of my local Dealer was somewhat quizzical, based on “if it’s legal to sell it then it must be OKâ€. They are supposed to come back to me with an “official†answer.
If you have had any information from Land Rover on this subject, could you please pass it on here? A vaccine does not stop you catching a virus, or passing it on, or getting ill from it, really ill. It does reduce the likelyhood of you dying when really, really ill. Stay Alive - KEEP AWAY FROM PEOPLE.
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 28th Apr 2010 1:35 pm |
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stapldm
Member Since: 11 Sep 2006
Location: Swine Town
Posts: 2330
  
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Although I'm looking forwards to reading any official responses to this, somewhere in my gut I can feel a "Land Rover must give me a new engine free of charge to cope with this" post brewing somewhere in someone's head somewhere down the line...start stopwatch 
There was always talk that "one day" new seals would be available for the high pressure pump and associated bio-diesel sensitive components. I'm fairly sure that 7% instead of 5% is probably within the engineers spec and they just said 5% to keep the incidences of stupid percentages down, but it will be interesting to see how this pans out.
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the FAME the residue that lazy processors don't bother to remove from the end product and the reason why the more fastidious home producers create better quality fuels? In my uneducated head this seems more of a corrosion risk to delicate components than the upped max percentage. Dr. Ian Malcolm:
"Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."
Transgenic tomato anyone?
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| 28th Apr 2010 5:23 pm |
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pom
Member Since: 10 Feb 2008
Location: Worcestershire
Posts: 1790
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if you fancy brewing your own, this guy has a top system that produces safe cheap fuel.
If you can do basic plumbing building a system is not that hard.
Pom
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| 28th Apr 2010 5:29 pm |
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