LBrown59
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Why not 1 blend that would be good year around?
WHY DO WE NEED A WINTER AND A SUMMER BLEMD OF DIESEL.
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dirtworksequip
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Winter blended fuel has less BTU's and therefore less energy per gallon.
Sincerely, Dirt
Sincerely, Dirt
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LBrown59
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I can see why not to run summer blend in the winter due to the gelling issue but I don't see what it would hurt to run winter blend in the summer.
If winter blend won't harm the engine in the winter why would it be harmful to the motor in the summer?
CurlyDave
Elite Member
To understand the real answer to this question you have to know a little bit about the oil industry.
A barrel of oil can be refined into a number of products, but many of them compete for the same components in the crude oil.
The highest and most profitable product to make from crude oil is jet fuel, which must contain hydrocarbons heavier than gasoline in order to reduce flamability and yet must not cloud or gel at the very low temperatures at altitude. These are the very same components which prevent diesel fuel from clouding and gelling.
Jet fuel is very close to diesel and except for the additive package can usually be substituted for diesel.
In the summer when diesel is unlikely to cloud or gel, less expensive, heavier components can be used to blend it and it not only works well, it has more energy of combustion and therefore gives better mileage.
In winter, when the fuel is exposed to low temperatures, the competition for feedstock with jet fuel becomes significant. what happens in the market is that the price of diesel and jet fuel both go up in winter. This price increase is frequently masked by overall changes in the price of crude oil, but it is real.
Sure, it is possible to burn winter fuel in the summer, but it will cost more than summer grade fuel.
So, the answer is really just simple economics.
BTW, even though most people will tell you that gelling is the problem, the real issue is "clouding". When diesel fuel is cooled, waxes crystalize out and the fuel becomes cloudy. The wax crystals plug the fuel filter, and this is what stops engines. At a lower temperatures, the fuel gels, but the problem of filter plugging occurs at a higher temperature than the gel point.
Gelling and clouding are similar, related problems but different enough that additives which suppress gelling are often not nearly as effective for suppressing clouding.
A barrel of oil can be refined into a number of products, but many of them compete for the same components in the crude oil.
The highest and most profitable product to make from crude oil is jet fuel, which must contain hydrocarbons heavier than gasoline in order to reduce flamability and yet must not cloud or gel at the very low temperatures at altitude. These are the very same components which prevent diesel fuel from clouding and gelling.
Jet fuel is very close to diesel and except for the additive package can usually be substituted for diesel.
In the summer when diesel is unlikely to cloud or gel, less expensive, heavier components can be used to blend it and it not only works well, it has more energy of combustion and therefore gives better mileage.
In winter, when the fuel is exposed to low temperatures, the competition for feedstock with jet fuel becomes significant. what happens in the market is that the price of diesel and jet fuel both go up in winter. This price increase is frequently masked by overall changes in the price of crude oil, but it is real.
Sure, it is possible to burn winter fuel in the summer, but it will cost more than summer grade fuel.
So, the answer is really just simple economics.
BTW, even though most people will tell you that gelling is the problem, the real issue is "clouding". When diesel fuel is cooled, waxes crystalize out and the fuel becomes cloudy. The wax crystals plug the fuel filter, and this is what stops engines. At a lower temperatures, the fuel gels, but the problem of filter plugging occurs at a higher temperature than the gel point.
Gelling and clouding are similar, related problems but different enough that additives which suppress gelling are often not nearly as effective for suppressing clouding.
Good answer Curly!
I also thought that blended #2/#1 was lower in lubricity than straight #2 and that would affect injectors and pump life.
Also, the Cetane number of diesel is higher in winter to get it to fire when cold. You don't need that in the summer. It's similar to buying 92 octane premium when you have a low compression engine that only needs 86 octane. There is no actual performance benefit, you just feel better making the rich richer.
I also thought that blended #2/#1 was lower in lubricity than straight #2 and that would affect injectors and pump life.
Also, the Cetane number of diesel is higher in winter to get it to fire when cold. You don't need that in the summer. It's similar to buying 92 octane premium when you have a low compression engine that only needs 86 octane. There is no actual performance benefit, you just feel better making the rich richer.
JESSE1
Veteran Member
Does the entire country switch to winter blend diesel during the winter season or is it limited to northern states? It's rare for our winter temps to get below 20degF so clouding and gelling should not be a problem here but naturally any long-haul truck that fuels here may be headed for much lower temps.
Untreated #2 has a cloud point of 40-45F. The degree of treatment does vary as they only have to treat to the expected low for the area. If you fill up in Miami and drive to Wisconsin, odds are you won't be using the same fuel the whole way. So treating to meet our -35F temps would be a waste.
jb
kevinj
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Curly,
Isn't jet fuel closer to kerosene than diesel. I cannot find my distallation chart to check.
Back when I was in fuel distribution I thought that it was in order of naptha, gasoline, jet/kero, #1, then diesel.
I found a chart at Chevron.
Distillation Column
Isn't jet fuel closer to kerosene than diesel. I cannot find my distallation chart to check.
Back when I was in fuel distribution I thought that it was in order of naptha, gasoline, jet/kero, #1, then diesel.
I found a chart at Chevron.
Distillation Column
Last edited:
CurlyDave
Elite Member
30 years ago when I learned this, there wasn't a lot of difference between jet, kerosene, and #1 diesel. There would be different additive packages, but the base fuel was essentially interchangeable. #2 diesel is what we buy at the filling station for diesel trucks and tractors.
These days there may be bigger differences because of the ultra low sulfur requirements for diesel.
And, as others have pointed out, each region got a different blend of gasoline and diesel. I spent some time with a guy from Chevron and he said that the region for a given blend could be as small as a county, but was usually several counties.