Blending Technology

What is Biodiesel Blending?

When an alternative fuel such as biodiesel is blended with petroleum diesel, it produces a fuel that is compatible with diesel engines. Blending low levels of biodiesel with conventional diesel fuel is an important option for displacing imported petroleum consumption and reducing harmful emissions.  Low blends of biodiesel can be defined as blends containing 5% and below.  Even low blends of biodiesel provide a greater lubricity than standard diesel fuel alone.  These blends usually consist of 2% biodiesel mixed with 98% diesel (B2). Any blend of up to 5% biodiesel is considered an additive volume (B5 is 5% biodiesel/95% diesel)

Several of the large commercial petroleum companies have geared their marketing efforts around the positive benefits of biodiesel as a component within their premium diesel products.  These products claim that biodiesel blended with standard petroleum diesel will provide the fuel with greater lubricity, making up about half of the total fuel volume.  These types of marketing messages have confused the biodiesel consumer regarding actual percentages of biodiesel contained in the finished blend.  Dosing rates for these types of additives are typically at a maximum of .25%.  If biodiesel makes up about half of the premium diesel blends, a customer could reasonably expect the finished biodiesel blend to contain about .10% – .15% biodiesel (about one-tenth of one percent) B5 meets the ASTM specification for diesel fuel, D 975.  This applies to blends of up to B20 as well.  As the blend concentrations increase there is a higher chance for distortion of some of the test method results which were designed for diesel fuel rather than biodiesel.  For this reason, all biodiesel must meet ASTM standards (D6751), prior to blending with diesel fuel at any level.

Why Blend Biodiesel?

With the rising cost of energy and the increased focus on environmental issues within the global market, today’s oil companies are seeking to capitalize on the expansion of blended biofuels at the road loading terminal.  By utilizing biofuels at the load rack level, companies can become less dependent on multiple storage tanks while maximizing load rack flexibility by creating variable product load arms.

SRS’ Biodiesel Blending Skid Technology allows biodiesel to be blended with petroleum diesel and with diesel additives to increase the storage life of the blended product.  These blending skids take into consideration the biggest issue in adding biodiesel blending capabilities to the load rack.  This small footprint biodiesel blender facilitates:

• The accurate specification of static and dynamic seals
• The special requirements for accurate volume measurement of the materials being blended
• The varied communication interfaces into the existing load rack
• The flexibility of varying blend ratios

SRS’ Biodiesel Blending Technology offers:

• Advanced mixing technology
• Up to 10 stages of mixing
• Mixing to submicron levels
• Reduction in reaction time
• Improved product stability
• Increased shelf life and quality
• Reduction in bacteria levels
• No moving parts (eliminates vibration and maintenance)
• Reduction in fouling leads to higher thermal efficiency
• Reduction in operating  costs (and maintenance)
• Improvements with cold flow properties
• Water droplets encapsulated in the diesel fuel
• Instant emulsions with micro to nano particle sizes
• Decrease in viscosity, increase in cetane number
• Small footprint
• Available in all stainless steel

Our unique system is a continuous flow mixing reactor.  This reactor contains no moving parts and can be held in the palm of your hand.  The system is also fully automated allowing the user to produce quality blends on demand with the touch of a button and interact with existing control systems.