An environmentally benign soybean derived fuel as a blending stock or replacement for home heating oil

The use of bio-derived materials both as fuels and/or as blending stocks becomes more attractive as the price of middle distillate fuels, especially home heating oil, continues to rise. Historically, many biomass and agricultural derived materials have been suggested. One of the most difficult problems encountered with home heating oil is that of storage stability. High maintenance costs associated with home heating oil are, in large part, because of this stability problem. In the present research, Soygold (R), a soybean derived fuel, was added in concentrations of 10% - 20% to both a stable middle distillate fuel and an unstable home heating oil. Fuel instability in this article will be further related to the organonitrogen compounds present. The soy-fuel mixtures proved stable, and the addition of the soy liquid enhanced both the combustion properties, and dramatically improved the stability of the unstable home heating oil.