UPS Reports on Renewable Diesel Performance, Calls for Bio-Crude Advancements to Increase Production

by Tom Quimby (Hard Working Trucks) With both Ford and Chevy recently announcing diesel engine options for their 2019 ½-ton pickups, it’s safe to say that the nation’s oil-burners, despite ongoing emissions controversy, are not going away anytime soon.

And interest in alternative diesel fuel is not showing any signs of slowing either. One of the growing stars in that market, renewable diesel, offers lower emissions, higher cetane values and, according to the City of Oakland, reductions in maintenance.

UPS, the nation’s largest consumer of renewable diesel, took the time to answer some questions about the fuel which can be derived from a variety of plant and animal sources.

UPS’ responses followed a study on renewable diesel that it completed with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Among its findings, NREL noticed an average drop of 4.2 percent in carbon dioxide emissions when compared to conventional diesel.

Special thanks to Mike Whitlatch, UPS’ vice president of global energy and procurement, for taking the time to answer the following questions.

Whitlatch: Renewable Diesel is a pure hydrocarbon fuel that contains virtually no sulfur, aromatics or oxygen. As a result, RD is slightly less dense than petroleum diesel but exhibits a higher heating value on a mass (pound for pound) basis.

UPS conducted a study with NREL to test RD under a variety of conditions and operating scenarios. In lab testing, MPG comparisons varied with duty cycles.

However, our study did not consider the positive impact on diesel particulate filters and the likely thermal efficiency benefits associated with RD’s higher cetane rating.

Since we are comingling RD with petro-diesel across operations, it is difficult to discern material mileage differences.

Whitlatch: RD is an advanced generation bio-fuel that meets or exceeds petroleum diesel ATSM D975 standard. This means that RD is a drop-in fuel that can be used in any vehicle that uses diesel fuel and ensure it is covered under manufacturer warranties.

Most importantly, RD offers superior cold weather performance and can be shipped on the U.S. refined product pipeline systems allowing for comingling with petroleum diesel at downstream terminals.

However, we are optimistic that the same technology applied to RD may also be used in the future to produce a bio-crude from renewable feedstocks. If successful, “bio-crudes” could be co-processed in existing large scale petroleum refineries to produce a wide variety of fuels with renewable content on a much larger scale only limited by feedstock availability. READ MORE