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Below are most frequently asked questions concerning BioHeat fuel.
Q.
B-100 is a clean burning alternative fuel produced from vegetable oils and animal fats through a chemical reaction and meeting ASTM D 6751. B-100 contains no petroleum, but it can be blended at any level with heating oil. It can be used in home heating oil systems safely with no modifications to the fuel tanks, pumps or burners in concentrations up to 20% biofuel with only minimal precautions. For higher B-100 blends than 20% biofuel, special precautions are needed.
Pure biofuel is also referred to as B100. In the transportation fuel market where ASTM D 975 is the standard for petroleum-based diesel, biodiesel blends are designated ‘BXX’, where XX is the volume percent of B-100 meeting ASTM D 6751 with conventional petrodiesel. B20, which is 20% biofuel and 80% petrodiesel, is a common blend for fleets and buses. The heating oil market is focusing on BioHeat fuel, which is a 2 to 20% blend of B-100 with heating oil.
Q.
Bioheat fuel is the industry-accepted term for any blend of pure B-100 with conventional high or low sulfur home heating oil. The heating oil must meet its specification, ASTM D 396 and the biofuel must meet its ASTM specification, ASTM D 6751, before blending them together. Rice Bioheat fuel meets both of these specifications.
Q.
NO. BioHeat is conventional heating oil containing B-100. Biodiesel is diesel fuel containing B-100. Some companies use the term Biodiesel to refer to pure B-100 as well.
Q.
All known oil tanks and systems are compatible with Bioheat fuel at blends of 20% or less. For higher blends, up to and including 100% B-100, compatibility will depend on the materials (metals, plastics, and rubber parts) in your tanks, pumps and fuel lines. For blends higher than 20% B-100 only steel, mild steel, stainless steel, aluminum, fluorinated polyethylene fluorinated polypropylene and fiberglass vessels are recommended. Use of tanks or lines made of brass, bronze, and copper or lead, tin, and zinc (i.e. galvanized) may cause high sediment formation and filter clogging and are not recommended.
Q.
All known gaskets, seals, hoses and O-rings are compatible with blends of less than 20% B-100.
For higher BioHeat Blends than 20% B-100, up to and including 100% B-100, compatibility will depend on the materials they are made from. For BioHeat Blend concentrations over 20%, fluorinated polyethylene, fluorinated polypropylene, Teflon, Teflon lined, or Viton components are recommended. Use of other types of materials in BioHeat Blends over 20% B-100 such as nitrile, natural rubber, or Buna-N type rubbers may cause leaks, plugged filters (due to dissolved material) and eventually complete gasket, seal, hose or O-ring failure (i.e. a great big mess on the floor!).
Q.
The same exact standard storage and handling procedures used for heating oil should be used for BioHeat fuel. The fuel should be stored in a clean, dry, dark environment. If storage life enhancing additives (stabilizers) are not used, it is recommended to use BioHeat fuel within 6 months of receipt.
Q.
To date, no manufacturers have written position statements applicable to BioHeat fuel. However, over 40 million miles of positive, trouble-free experience with up to B20 blends in the on-road market provides a level of confidence that there should be little or no issues with equipment if the B-100 concentration is at the 20% or lower level.
Q.
The major differences between large commercial boilers and electrical generation units and home heating oil applications are the gallons per hour being combusted. Large or small-scale boilers or electrical generation systems all have the same fundamental considerations as home heating applications. All the same advantages, and precautions, apply to these applications as they do in home heating applications.
Q.
BioHeat fuel has similar cold weather properties as the heating oil with which it is blended. Our BioHeat fuel percentage of blend may increase the cold flow less than one degree Fahrenheit from the base heating oil it is blended with. If cold weather handling and usage are a concern with regular home heating oil, they will be a concern with BioHeat fuel. Cold flow properties can be enhanced by implementing the same solutions used with heating oil: blend the fuel with kerosene, use pour point depressants, or plan your storage accordingly utilizing inside protection or tank heating elements.
Q.
Yes. The B-100 in BioHeat fuel goes completely into solution with heating oil and once it is blended it does not come out of solution and will not separate.
Q.
There are a number of important reasons for our country to be using biofuels. Perhaps the most important and most debated is that no one knows how long our world’s petroleum resources will last. But we do know that petroleum is finite, and when the supply has been depleted we must have alternatives ready to keep our country moving. Because B-100 is made from renewable sources, developing the technology to produce them now will ensure an ample supply of transportation and space heating fuel in the future, and provide assurance against the uncertainty surrounding the petroleum resource timeline.
There are a number of benefits to using B-100 aside from guaranteeing the longevity of the supply system. First, B-100 are produced domestically, and the feedstocks for them are grown domestically. This helps reduce our country’s trade deficit and creates jobs in our country, both of which are good for our economy. Our agricultural community especially stands to benefit, since B-100 is made from crops and agricultural residues, providing options for new valuable crops and new uses for existing crops and residues.
Producing our fuels domestically also improves our energy security; we become less dependent on the strategic, political, and economic whims of other countries. And with continued Middle East turmoil it is important to remember how vulnerable we are and how heavy our reliance is on imported oil. Key among the reasons for rising oil imports is the limited domestic resource base of crude oil.
Finally, producing and using biofuels is much better for the environment than burning fossil fuels. Biofuels produce fewer harmful emissions during production and combustion and they contribute virtually no carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, which is very important for reducing the build up of greenhouse gases.
Download a BioHeat fuel brochure from Rice Oil and Propane, click here.
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