Ensuring Fuel Quality

As the use of biofuel blends grows, ensuring high fuel quality is essential to continuous operation and maintaining equipment performance. In this short video series, Kelsey Erickson, team lead of commercial quality, and Dave Slade, principal biofuels scientist, explain the factors Chevron considers when delivering customers with high-quality fuel, and share what customers can do to ensure they are purchasing high-quality fuels.

The role of feedstocks

Feedstocks are the fats, oils and greases utilized to produce biodiesel and renewable diesel. These fats and oils come from biological plant and animal sources including canola oil, soybean oil, distillers corn oil, beef tallow, choice white grease and used cooking oil to name a few. Each feedstock has a variety of characteristics and qualities that are taken into consideration as they are utilized in the biofuel production process.

“Impurities in individual feedstocks determine what amount of that feedstock is utilized at each of our production facilities to ensure the finished product yield and quality meets Chevron’s high standards,” said Erickson. “Mitigating the amount of impurities during the production process ensures the finished fuel and co-products meet our high standards.”

Quality is crucial for fuel blends

Incorporating blends of biodiesel and renewable diesel into your fuel portfolio can help customers lower their lifecycle carbon dioxide emissions, as compared to petroleum diesel. Customers who are new to implementing lower carbon intensity fuels may not know that successful blending of biodiesel and renewable diesel depends on using high-quality biodiesel.

Renewable diesel is a nonpolar material, meaning it can push out the impurities or minor components in lower-quality biodiesel after the two fuels are blended together. These minor components can end up settling in the bottom of a fuel tank or plugging filters in equipment and fuel dispensers, impacting equipment operation and maintenance. Using high-quality biodiesel when blending with renewable diesel helps users avoid this potential problem.

Additionally, the cold weather properties of renewable diesel must be monitored just as carefully as petroleum diesel and biodiesel. Diesel users in areas where renewable diesel is sold may already be noticing that a higher cloud point or higher freezing point of low-quality renewable diesel has been coming into the market recently. This is a result of new renewable diesel producers taking advantage of lower-cost production methods that don’t reduce the fuel’s cloud point during production as thoroughly as first-generation renewable diesel producers do.

“Chevron does extra work in the production process to ensure their fuels exceed the minimum standard in the industry,” Slade said. “That includes a lower cloud point for our renewable diesel. Unfortunately, not all of the industry has that capability, so there is lower-quality renewable diesel being produced today, which is why it’s important to consider all aspects of fuel quality when you are purchasing these new fuels.”

Trust your partner

As lower-quality biofuels enter the market, it’s crucial to trace the fuel back to its original manufacturer and obtain a certificate of analysis to know exactly what you’re buying.

“Never assume your renewable diesel is a low cloud point, winter-grade renewable diesel,” Slade said. “Connect with your fuel provider to ensure you know what the cloud point is. Buying from a fuel producer that will provide all that information to you, like Chevron, will help ensure you will receive a high-quality product from the start.”

For more information on fuel quality, and how Chevron stands apart from other producers, contact our sales team.