Petrochemical Noob question! (ULSD)
 

A new gas station opened up here, and I actually went around and asked different gas stations of their Sulfur content in the Diesel fuel.

Everyone sells reg Diesel, but this new station is seling 0.05Max ULSD...

this is the only gas station open after 10:00 and I JUST FILLED UP WITH ULSD FOR THE FIRST TIME...........Sorry,

ehem...where was I, ahhh, yes....

With a tank of ULSD for the first time, what can i expect?

Call a tow truck! Your engine is going to blow up!

well ive heard good and bad things of ULSD.

The main problem i see is lubrication. Which is wat ULSD lacks, if i were you id pour in half a gallon of veggie oil or biodiesel to suppliment as the lubrication. Powerservice or other additives may work as well but of course bio is better. Also ive read many threads on the TDIclub that ULSD has less BTU then low sulfur diesel so it may or may not drop your MPG.

There was a thread on the tdiclub that i guy had notice a decrease in his MPG with ULSD. He had mileage records on all his diesel vehicles and it was comfirmed that he had been dropping in mpg's now that he is on ULSD.

Not only that but its a lower cetane fuel, so you may notice power down a bit. I got the opposite on my 87, ive noticed an increase in power. But did mix in a half a gallon of biodiesel so id get that cetane up and the lubrication.


So far the passat has been doing fine on ULSD from the local chevron. But we did get a clogged fuel filter which seemed strange. From my understanding i dont really need that lubrication in the passat since its a PD meaning it has no injector pump to lubricate. But i still add powerservice to up the cetane.

Here we go again!
 

You should not see any extreme changes after using ULSD, though your rubber fuel lines may weep because of the absence of sulfur, the same thing happens when you switch to high blends of biodiesel. ULSD actually has higher cetane than the old fuels contrary to what the last post stated, you might get better fuel mileage depending on the energy content, and it will burn cleaner and more completely.

You don't need to add any additives either. Additives have already been added to the ULSD to help with lubricity, which shouldn't be a problem in the first place since our IPs are lubed with engine oil. Theoretically, you could run on fuel with no sulfur, and our engines would be fine.

I wish, then that way I have a reason to spend $3000 rebuilding it :D

Ok, sounds good, I hope I DO see an increase in MPG, tho I havn't REALLY been chasing it...

so, H-townbenzoboy, you're opinion with that comparison with B100, is that the ULSD has similar solvent properties as B100? if that's the case, then aside from the loss of lubricity, ULSD should promote clean combustion chambers and injectors?

Somehow knowing I'm burning ULSD appeals to me....I don't know why, can't explain it......

I'd still take the old 500ppm sulfur diesel any day.

drops of mpg's with ULSD...

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=146108&highlight=ulsd

And as stated in a thread i started a while back. The letter my dad recieved from the olympian and shell station stated that we are supposed to add our own additive because they are not going to. My dad is a fleet manager at my old job so he is in-charge of the trucks. Ive told him to add powerservice since biodiesel isny readily available. I dont know if he has i should ask him.

Also its been discussed many many times on the tdiclub. So much its disgusting but ULSD HAS lower cetane then LSD or biodiesel. Its rated at a minimum of 40cetane from ASTM specs. And many tdi members have felt the power loss. Since those things sure are sensative to any fuel you put in them.

My MB will accept crap diesel from the beacon station just fine. The passat smokes more and is slower with their diesel, and is the reason we pay a little extra for the chevron diesel instead of the beacon diesel.

I doubt we will see any real effects from ULSD. The lubrication, heat rate, and cetane will still meet the ASTM specs for diesel fuel. Additives will probably do as much or as little good as they do now, so do whatever makes you feel good. If you think you need BD to increase the lubrication above the specs for the fuel, have a ball. BTW, the cetane rating has nothing to do with the amount of BTU/pound in the fuel, that is the heat rate. I'm sure some brands of fuel may work better than others in your car, just like they do now.

Don't worry about it. ;)

But acid rain gets everything so nice and stripped-down clean.

I wouldn't be surprised at all to find out ULSD is really about 75% of the way between old-fashioned diesel and kerosene. It's thinner, whiter and smells different.

And costs more, of course.

From what I can tell, a lot of stations have switched over to ULSD but have not changed the labeling on their tanks. They are trying to clear out the LSD residue from their tanks with a few rounds of ULSD so they can be sure of meeting the specs of ULSD during an inspection.

The sure sign of this is the price jumping about 15 cents overnight. And the different smell.

:)

Ken300D

Better or worse? I hate the smell of diesel, raw and cooked.

Not so much. B100 is so strong that it cleans out your fuel tank and causes you to change fuel filters ad nauseum for a while. ULSD shouldn't do that. ULSD is just cleaner burning, which will mean less smoke. The only similarities between the two regarding our cars is that use of either of them might cause you to change your rubber fuel lines much sooner. The fuel lines are used to that sulfur in the fuel. When you start using a low or non sulfur fuel, the fuel lines will start to deteriorate faster and weep.

yea man.. we already have cat piss quality Low Sulfer Diesel.. now we get even worse.. wtf are they trying to do away with diesels...