RED diesel question?

[Henro]

<font color="blue">and in the case of red dyed much higher in sulfur concentrations. All of these parameters are the hallmark of low quality diesel fuels found in your region. </font>

I don't have enough interest in the subject to do more than ask a question and stand there and look dumb...but...

I thought from reading posts here in the past that for tractors, higher sulfur was desirable in diesel fuel, and it was my impression that having it in there would be a positive, not the negative that "low quality" implies... /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[SkyPup]

Sulfur is a contaminant of diesel fuel, high grade sweet crudes are low in sulfur to begin with and low grade sour crudes are high in sulfur and require treatment to remove to a legal level. Sulfur is on the way out from all onroad and off-road diesel fuel soon anyway, so it no longer will ever be an issue.

 

[Henro]

Skypup,

I'm not sure if that is a yes or a no.

It was my understanding that the sulfur lubricated the injector pump, and that while it might be a contaminant in the eyes of some (or maybe everyone) it still would be desirable if not banned by whoever had the power to ban it.

Is this not the case? I really don't know...just one of those things I came to believe at some point...

 

[cowboydoc]

Give it up Skypup I tryed to go down this road awhile back and couldn't convince people either that the grades of diesel are very different. If you really want to know go get yourself a bottle of your diesel and send it in for analysis. The results may shock you.

 

[SkyPup]

Sulfur is one of many elements that are not desirable in diesel fuel and has nothing to do with lubricity, the lubricity comes from the long chain paraffinic hydrocarbons, which is just another reason that high aromatic content is undesirable as well.

High sulfur sour crude is way cheaper per barrel on the international market relative to low sulfur sweet crudes because it costs so much money and materials to remove the sulfur contamination prior to retail sale of the refined middle distillate product. If the international low sulfur sweet crude barrel quote is around $50 (which it is now), then the low grade high sulfur sour crude is around 1/2 that because it is undesirable.


BTW, Canadian diesel is historically way worse than the worst of the US since it is all hydrocracked from sour crude and high in aromatics to lower its cloud and pour points due to the ambient temps encountered there.....

 

[MadReferee]

So the REAL bottom line here is that it makes no difference what kind of diesel you run in your car, truck or tractor. They don't care and will run no matter what flavor diesel you put in them. It's just that they may smell a little more/less and polute a little more/less.

Big deal. Let's get on with life and tractoring./forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[sparkkky]

So I have been trying to find out if here in Oklahoma, does the red always have a higher sulfer content?

 

[Junkman]

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[MikePA]

<font color="blue"> As I stated, the PADD districts were designiated after WWII as a matter of national defense to delegate the distribution of natural resources. I am surprised you are unaware of this fundamental fact about petroleum products. </font>
And why would 99.999% of the population be aware of this?

 

[MadReferee]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( So I have been trying to find out if here in Oklahoma, does the red always have a higher sulfer content? )</font>

The only way to find out is to ask your distributor. They can tell you the composition of the fuel you are buying since they know the actual source of their fuel (or they should know).

High sulpher, low sulpher, it doesn't matter. Your tractor will run fine with either. If you are a disbeliever and hesitant to use off road, then use Power Service additive.