1. Rationale
In October 2008, D7467 was published by ASTM as a new finished product standard covering blends of biodiesel over 5% up to and including 20% with conventional diesel fuel. Since D7467 is a performance based specification, disclosure of the exact content of the biodiesel is not required in D7467. As long as the biodiesel meets D6751 prior to blending, and the blend level falls over 5% and up to and including 20% using test method D7371, the exact percent of biodiesel is not germane to overall engine performance. Previous balloting on D7467 expressed a concern that adding 20% biodiesel to diesel fuel already containing an un-disclosed amount of biodieselbut less than 5% and falling within D975may fall outside of D7467 if the parent diesel already contains some biodiesel. In order to blend more biodiesel fuel into diesel fuel, therefore, it is important to know if the resulting blend may fall outside of D7467. This issue is a real one, but is essentially a market issue and outside the purview of ASTM performance specifications. This concern was the subject of previous negatives votes during the B6 to B20 balloting, and these negatives were either withdrawn or voted non persuasive on that rational. While the issue appears to be outside the purview of ASTM, an informative note may help better inform buyers and sellers of this issue. This ballot, therefore, proposes the addition of a NOTE that outlines the need to insure that addition of biodiesel does not cause the resulting blend to be outside the allowable limit in D7467 of 20% maximum biodiesel content. A similar note is being added to the D975 standard based on similar comments from the market.
Keywords
biodiesel; biodiesel blend; diesel; fuel oil; petroleum and petroleum products; Fuel oils; Petroleum products; Biodiesel; Biodiesel blend;
Citing ASTM Standards
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