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Quality Concerns Resolved - 12/08/06
Whole Energy Fuels has carefully assessed the recent cause for concern with biodiesel products currently in inventory and has implemented a solution involving additional fuel analysis on incoming products and an advanced cold filtering process.
We have relied on our quality assurance process to both diagnose and address this problem. Having retained samples from all customer pickups, we were able to retest and confirm that all the products we have sold meet or exceed ASTM D6751 specs. Since the problem was not related to the ASTM specifications we started to analyze other constituents.
We were able to eliminate conjectures that include sterol concentration, excess glycerin, saponification, and microbial growth through validated testing. We currently believe that the specific issue we have addressed is wide-spread in our industry and has been reported by all manufacturers we have dealt with and is not otherwise correlated with quality of product.
Our current hypothesis is that this precipitate is formed from interactions of multiple components of biodiesel fuel. These components could include, saturated fatty acid methyl esters, monoglycerides, sterols and water. We have tested numerous post-treatment methods and have validated a process that will dramatically reduce the likelihood of precipitate formation, therefore assuring our customers the highest quality products available.
We have implemented and tested a cold filtering process and combined this with our previously established winter program. This solution will provide biodiesel users with a truly winterized fuel for their needs that exceeds the capability of any product available in the Pacific Northwest and goes well beyond the ASTM standard. We also have established further guidance for biodiesel storage and handling that goes beyond current industry handling practices. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact your sales associate or call our general number at 360.933.1553
B99 Retail at Food Pavilion:
Whole Energy Fuels will resume retail sales of B99 at the Food Pavilion in Bellingham WA on Saturday December 9th from 10am-3pm. Please note that we will resume Friday B99 sales
beginning December 15th.
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