Biodiesel versus Diesel what is the difference? by Tony Green

Diesel is any fuel used in diesel engines. These engines are used in various machines with engines including cars and trucks. The fuels are produced from distilling crude oil which results in a mixture of carbon chains varying from 8 to 21 carbons in length.

Biodiesels can also be used in any engine where diesel is used without modification. The primary from differences from ordinary diesel is its origin and its composition. It is derived from reacting fats or lipids (e.g., vegetable oil, animal fat (tallow)) with an alcohol and composed of (FAME) Fatty Acid Methyl Esters consisting of long-chain alkyl (methyl, propyl or ethyl) esters.

Why do both fuel work in diesel engines if one is based on petroleum and the other from vegetable oil?

The answer is provided by examining the structure of these two materials. After being processed from feedstock of crude oil Diesel fuel is typically composed of cetane, or n-hexadecane (C₁₆H₃₄),

A typical molecule of biodiesel after processing from its feedstock of vegetable oils is composed of a long chain of carbon atoms, with hydrogen atoms attached, similar to the diesel molecule except the end grouping identified as an ester functional group.

The energy from both diesel and biodiesel comes from the carbon hydrogen (C-H) bonds which comprise both of the molecules.

Diesel engines can burn biodiesel fuel with no modifications (except for replacing some rubber tubing inside the automobile that may soften with biodiesel). This is possible because biodiesel is very similar in its composition to regular diesel, shown above. Notice diesel also has the long chain of carbon and hydrogen atoms, but doesn't have the ester group shown in blue above.

Diesel is used in general as is while Biodiesel is blended in various proportions with gasoline. Blends of biodiesel and traditional hydrocarbon-based diesel are products most distributed for use in the retail diesel fuel marketplace. Much of the world uses a system known as the "B" factor to state the amount of biodiesel in any fuel mix: fuel containing 20% biodiesel is labeled B20, while pure biodiesel is referred to as B100. Blends of 20 percent biodiesel with 80 percent petroleum diesel (B20) can fuel unmodified diesel engines. Biodiesel can also provide power in its pure form (B100), but may require certain engine modifications to avoid maintenance and performance problems.

The future will see more biodiesels being used in place of conventional diesel in many applications including jet fuel. The adoption rate will be faster if the price of biodiesel becomes comparable or less to that of ordinary diesel. The transition had already begun as many applications, since jet fuel is the structurally the same was diesel, are beginning to use biodiesel to power their airplane fleets.

Images courtesy of http://www.goshen.edu/chemistry and http://www.dreamstime.com

Troubleshooting by Tony Green

The scenario is along these lines. A complex electro mechanical system is not functioning. The system is not producing revenue by creating its designed product. A lot of money may be in jeopardy if the system is not brought back to normal operation in a short amount of time. Your job is to repair the equipment and return it to operation.

Where do you start? There could be an infinite amount of things which may be the cause of the problem. You realize the pressure cooker is about to begin unless progress is made.

You suddenly remember the seven step troubleshooting procedure you learned while you were in the Navy as a nuke.

You identify and elaborate on the symptoms, identify the list possible faulty components, and narrow down your list to the one you suspect is causing your problem and finally create a possible retest procedure after performing a root cause analysis.

Yet, the machine is still not working. You relax and try a few more things. As this process occurs you ensure you are thinking positive thoughts as in the past you initially been stumped yet were eventually successful. After a few additional adjustments to your list of what may be causing the problem you find your culprit and the system is brought back into operation.

A sigh of relief is breathed as the crisis has been averted and receiving kudos from management you reflect on how you got the job done once more.

In the end you used two things: a process of determining the problem and a true belief you would figure out the solution. Yes, with that you can fix anything…

The passing of a loved one by Tony Green

Everyone knows death is evitable, as no one lives forever, yet we are so stunned when it occurs to someone close.

Most people would suspect they would experience certain emotions upon the passing of loved one. However, when the time comes the real experience can be quite different from what you would expect.

A week ago my mother passed away with from complication with lung cancer. Her first bout with chemotherapy yielded successful results but she succumbed to later recurrence of her cancer.

In the week afterward I felt profound sadness as expected. Furthermore I experienced headaches, lack of appetite, extreme difficulty in waking up even though you received the proper amount of sleep, and intermittent irritability. Later research on Google would indicate these as symptoms of mourning.

At the time, the loss seemed total. For me, as many African American men in large urban cities grew up with single mother. Mom was really a mother and father as I grew up in West Philly looking back in retrospect. She successfully guided my brother, my sister and I so that we could have decent lives.

After I went graduated college and I moved far away from where my mother had relocated. I tried to get back to visit with my family whenever I got the chance but often times it was never enough to satisfy her. Grandmothers want to see their grandchildren as much as possible.

Her nickname of “Sisty” was especially appropriate as she was the matriarch of her three children and her four grand children and an older sister to many of her nieces.
We will all miss her as her teachings have shaped the people we became as adults. The true legacy of how she is will be remembered will be how we live our lives. Hopefully, she will approve of the lives once we meet her in heaven. I will be waiting.

This posting is dedicated to my late mother, Joan A. Green March 17, 1942- December 19, 2009

A new type of Blog Comment by Tony Green

I maintain a blog because anyone can publish content on the Internet so shouldn’t I? To be honest, it is something I enjoy as it provides insight to what I may be thinking at a given point in time and into my past experiences which is the basis of many of my postings.

Since I am not blogging to make money in an internet marketer point of view or blogging to drive my business how to measure the success of effectiveness of your blog?

One was I would imagine is number of readers who read my postings and the other would the amount of comments I receive. I am aware if you receive a comment from a posting then at least five people have read the posting and thought of the same thing but did not take the time to comment. If a blog has prompted someone to take time out to leave a remark after reading I consider the blog successful.

Most of the comments I receive are positive or neutral while many others are informative. Once in a while a scathing comment from someone who disagrees with my view or disputes the accuracy of what I posted. For some reason most of these send these comment incognito. (Thus eliminating a chance for me to respond)

Upon checking my comments a few days ago, I had a first occurrence where someone left a bunch of links to everyone’s favorite on line medications, Viagra, etc. After I chuckled to myself I deleted because if you blog can be seen by the public someone checking might not get the best impression. I thought these types of messages as a rule entered into spam filters never to reach the intended persons inbox.

In short, perhaps this is a new method’s for spammers to send messages no one wants
to see. Let’s face facts, I did read the “comment” and took the few minutes to write this blog.

With that said, I will move past my temporary annoyance and look at the big picture. At least someone took the time put to comment on my blog.

Another veterans day by Tony Green

Today is Veteran’s day 2009. On this day every year all Americans including veterans to take time out to think about the serviceman who died in service of their county as well as those now are placing themselves in harm’s way.

I wanted to wear my pin of the U.S. Flag which I purchased after 9-11, and then on second thought I decided to do something a little different this year.
During a newscast on television a young lady, for some reason, happened to be wearing a pair of dog tags. I found it difficult to tell the reason why she had them on. Perhaps her significant other was a service member, or maybe she thought wearing them was fashionable.

For those of you who are not aware, these are issued to you once you join the military in the event you are killed in combat as a method of identifying you. The ovular shaped piece of metal identifies your name, social security number, blood type and religious preference. As a rule, a G.I. is given two pairs of tags which you are supposed to wear in any combat situation.

I served my enlistment in the service in between the two Gulf Wars (1991 & 2003) and I had not worn them since saw them for the first time in basic training over 15 years ago.

I thought it would be a good idea to wear them for old time’s sake as tribute to the guys who were wearing their tags in the event of something unfortunate happened, which is a fact of life for any military personnel in particular those in a combat situation.

The thought of wearing them prompted me to look in my place where I keep all of my effects from my time in the military. In time I found them.
When I put them on they felt strange at first as the cold metal rubbed against my chest but once I got accustomed to the clanging sound (I had lost my rubber silencers a long time ago) wearing my old tags proved to be no problem at all.

Today is Veteran’s day after all. It is the least I can do.

Image courtesy of dreamstime.com