MARKET DEVELOPMENT
Hauliers Call for Long-term B10 Tests
Hauliers Call for Long-term B10 Tests
05/07/2016 (New Straits Times) - The Association of Malaysian Hauliers (AMH), whose members are not receiving warranty endorsement from truck manufacturers on usage of B10 biodiesel, appeal to the government to conduct trials on prime movers and trailers to verify the impact on the engines.
Currently, Malaysia's 3,000-odd fuel stations are retailing B7 biodiesel. Introduced to fuel stations at Klang Valley in December 2014, the B7 blend saw a gradual rollout nationwide over 12 months until it was completed in December 2015.
The biodiesel B10 is a blend of 10 per cent palm methyl ester (PME) and 90 per cent regular diesel while B7 is of a lower blend of 7 per cent PME.
"We're worried because as of now, there are no trials on the long term impact of this B10 blend on prime movers and trailers. Truck manufacturers informed us that they don't encourage usage of B10," said AMH president Nazari Akhbar.
"We prefer to take a precautionary approach because our prime movers and trailers are our assets. Haulage is a capital intensive business and we cannot afford to take unnecessary risks when we're forewarned by automotive manufacturers. We may choose to fuel up with Euro 5," he told Business Times in an interview here recently.
Also present were AMH vice president R. Visnu and AMH executive secretary Mohd Hanif Abdul Ghani. AMH members, which represent 70 per cent of hauliers in the country, own some 13,000 trucks, moving cargo in and out of seaports.
"We were told that the B10 blend is of higher acidity and therefore too aggressive on the plastic and rubber seals in the engine. If our truck engines suffer bad damage from usage of B10 blend, who will bear the higher maintenance cost?" asked R. Visnu.
Additionally, diesel fuel injection equipment manufacturers – among them Robert Bosch, Denso Corp, Delphi Diesel System and Continental Automotive – have issued a common position paper stating all their fuel injection equipment is designed to work with a mixture of B7 biodiesel to EN14214:2009 standard.
Nazari also noted that truck manufacturers had forewarned on formation of injector deposits, injection invariance, reduced idling cycle stability and higher levels of water in the fuel, the latter causing component corrosion.
"We appeal to the government to carry out long term trials of the B10 blend before rolling it out nationwide. This is in view of automotive manufacturers telling us engine warranties will not be honoured on vehicles that run on biodiesel blends higher than B7," he said.
Over the last five years, the government via the Ministry of Plantation Industries & Commodities and its agency Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), had been taking a slow-and-steady approach in rolling out the B5 and then B7 blends.
The government was in consultation with automotive associations, looked into the revision of Malaysian Standards (MS) and are now in stakeholders dialogue sessions on engine warranty issue.
In its pioneering effort, between 1986 to 1994, MPOB conducted B50 and B100 trials involved 36 buses. Each of those buses covered 300,000km and the engine performance, fuel consumption, exhaust emission, repair and maintenance were satisfactory.
More recently, since January 2013, MPOB had stepped up B10 robust trials on 75 diesel engine vehicles of various makes such as Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Ford, Peugeot, etc.
So far, there are no negative effects such as engine oil dilution, fuel filter plugging and fuel injector clogging. Currently, some MPOB vehicles are also running on B20 without any of such problems.
Two weeks ago, the Ministry conducted a stakeholders meeting with the Malaysian Biodiesel Association (MBA), Malaysia Automotive Institute, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, the Malaysian Automotive Association and Japanese Automotive Manufacturers Association (JAMA).
In the spirit of compromise, the government had decided to suspend raising the mandate of nationwide biodiesel blend of B7 to B10. MPOB will continue to undertake further road trials and share the data with stakeholders.
When contacted, MBA president U.R. Unnithan acknowledged hauliers' concerns on the usage of B10 blend.
"We're open to meet truck and lorry owners to resolve any doubts. We are all stakeholders in this government driven policy. The way forward is the consultative approach."
At the recent stakeholders' meeting, JAMA had highlighted five technical specification for the B10 blend, of which MBA processing standard is able to fulfill. Already, MBA members biodiesel quality fulfil that of international specifications, namely ASTM D6751 and EN 14214.
"JAMA wanted a higher standard of 10 hours of B100 oxidative stability when the average biodiesel standard is eight hours. Our members are able and willing to produce PME to JAMA's higher than average requirement."
"Normally, the average biodiesel has monoglyceride content of 0.8 per cent. JAMA asked to lower it to 0.7 per cent. Again, our members are able to fulfill this," Unnithan said.
He then assured there is no issue with diesel engines using biodiesel blends higher than 7 per cent.
"There had been robust tests conducted by the government on diesel engine vehicles. Also, some plantation companies owning fleets of tankers and trucks have been using higher blends of B20. So far, there are no problems of clogged engine filters," he said.
Unknown to many, MBA had highlighted usage of B10 would prove to be cost effective because it improves the lubricity of Euro 5 diesel that has lower levels of sulfur.
Malaysia can draw reference from other developing nations that have implemented the sale of B10 and higher blends of biodiesel. So far, Indonesia is implementing B20 while over at Latin America, tropical weather Colombia and Argentina are on the B10 mandate.
Frequently asked questions
1. What is palm methyl ester (PME)?
Palm Biodiesel or PME is an alternative fuel processed from palm oil through a process known as ‘transesterification’. It can be used in compression ignition engines i.e. diesel engines without any modifications.
2. Can PME be used directly in diesel engines?
Neat Palm Biodiesel (B100) can be used as fuel without any engine modification. It can also be blended in any proportions with petroleum diesel. PME is biodegradable, non-toxic, safe to handle (flash point higher than petroleum diesel) and essentially free of sulphur.
3. What will happen to the engine if we revert to regular diesel after using PME?
There is no problem with the engine because PME and regular diesel can be blended in any proportion
Currently, Malaysia's 3,000-odd fuel stations are retailing B7 biodiesel. Introduced to fuel stations at Klang Valley in December 2014, the B7 blend saw a gradual rollout nationwide over 12 months until it was completed in December 2015.
The biodiesel B10 is a blend of 10 per cent palm methyl ester (PME) and 90 per cent regular diesel while B7 is of a lower blend of 7 per cent PME.
"We're worried because as of now, there are no trials on the long term impact of this B10 blend on prime movers and trailers. Truck manufacturers informed us that they don't encourage usage of B10," said AMH president Nazari Akhbar.
"We prefer to take a precautionary approach because our prime movers and trailers are our assets. Haulage is a capital intensive business and we cannot afford to take unnecessary risks when we're forewarned by automotive manufacturers. We may choose to fuel up with Euro 5," he told Business Times in an interview here recently.
Also present were AMH vice president R. Visnu and AMH executive secretary Mohd Hanif Abdul Ghani. AMH members, which represent 70 per cent of hauliers in the country, own some 13,000 trucks, moving cargo in and out of seaports.
"We were told that the B10 blend is of higher acidity and therefore too aggressive on the plastic and rubber seals in the engine. If our truck engines suffer bad damage from usage of B10 blend, who will bear the higher maintenance cost?" asked R. Visnu.
Additionally, diesel fuel injection equipment manufacturers – among them Robert Bosch, Denso Corp, Delphi Diesel System and Continental Automotive – have issued a common position paper stating all their fuel injection equipment is designed to work with a mixture of B7 biodiesel to EN14214:2009 standard.
Nazari also noted that truck manufacturers had forewarned on formation of injector deposits, injection invariance, reduced idling cycle stability and higher levels of water in the fuel, the latter causing component corrosion.
"We appeal to the government to carry out long term trials of the B10 blend before rolling it out nationwide. This is in view of automotive manufacturers telling us engine warranties will not be honoured on vehicles that run on biodiesel blends higher than B7," he said.
Over the last five years, the government via the Ministry of Plantation Industries & Commodities and its agency Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB), had been taking a slow-and-steady approach in rolling out the B5 and then B7 blends.
The government was in consultation with automotive associations, looked into the revision of Malaysian Standards (MS) and are now in stakeholders dialogue sessions on engine warranty issue.
In its pioneering effort, between 1986 to 1994, MPOB conducted B50 and B100 trials involved 36 buses. Each of those buses covered 300,000km and the engine performance, fuel consumption, exhaust emission, repair and maintenance were satisfactory.
More recently, since January 2013, MPOB had stepped up B10 robust trials on 75 diesel engine vehicles of various makes such as Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Ford, Peugeot, etc.
So far, there are no negative effects such as engine oil dilution, fuel filter plugging and fuel injector clogging. Currently, some MPOB vehicles are also running on B20 without any of such problems.
Two weeks ago, the Ministry conducted a stakeholders meeting with the Malaysian Biodiesel Association (MBA), Malaysia Automotive Institute, Ministry of International Trade and Industry, the Malaysian Automotive Association and Japanese Automotive Manufacturers Association (JAMA).
In the spirit of compromise, the government had decided to suspend raising the mandate of nationwide biodiesel blend of B7 to B10. MPOB will continue to undertake further road trials and share the data with stakeholders.
When contacted, MBA president U.R. Unnithan acknowledged hauliers' concerns on the usage of B10 blend.
"We're open to meet truck and lorry owners to resolve any doubts. We are all stakeholders in this government driven policy. The way forward is the consultative approach."
At the recent stakeholders' meeting, JAMA had highlighted five technical specification for the B10 blend, of which MBA processing standard is able to fulfill. Already, MBA members biodiesel quality fulfil that of international specifications, namely ASTM D6751 and EN 14214.
"JAMA wanted a higher standard of 10 hours of B100 oxidative stability when the average biodiesel standard is eight hours. Our members are able and willing to produce PME to JAMA's higher than average requirement."
"Normally, the average biodiesel has monoglyceride content of 0.8 per cent. JAMA asked to lower it to 0.7 per cent. Again, our members are able to fulfill this," Unnithan said.
He then assured there is no issue with diesel engines using biodiesel blends higher than 7 per cent.
"There had been robust tests conducted by the government on diesel engine vehicles. Also, some plantation companies owning fleets of tankers and trucks have been using higher blends of B20. So far, there are no problems of clogged engine filters," he said.
Unknown to many, MBA had highlighted usage of B10 would prove to be cost effective because it improves the lubricity of Euro 5 diesel that has lower levels of sulfur.
Malaysia can draw reference from other developing nations that have implemented the sale of B10 and higher blends of biodiesel. So far, Indonesia is implementing B20 while over at Latin America, tropical weather Colombia and Argentina are on the B10 mandate.
Frequently asked questions
1. What is palm methyl ester (PME)?
Palm Biodiesel or PME is an alternative fuel processed from palm oil through a process known as ‘transesterification’. It can be used in compression ignition engines i.e. diesel engines without any modifications.
2. Can PME be used directly in diesel engines?
Neat Palm Biodiesel (B100) can be used as fuel without any engine modification. It can also be blended in any proportions with petroleum diesel. PME is biodegradable, non-toxic, safe to handle (flash point higher than petroleum diesel) and essentially free of sulphur.
3. What will happen to the engine if we revert to regular diesel after using PME?
There is no problem with the engine because PME and regular diesel can be blended in any proportion