GTL fuel in old volvo's

GTL ... (Gas to Liquid) .... is a very 'clean' fuel and will provide excellent power / energy delivery - BUT it is also an excellent 'cleaner' ....

If you have an old engine that relies on the build up of 'coating' - GTL will not be a good fuel to use.

GTL - I have close connection with the Lead Developer and his team in Shell ...
It may interest some that GTL is development on from the German processing for Synthetic Fuels by the Nazis.

I also spent many months on reserach work to find ways to blend / winterise .. as GTL resists traditional winterise aditives. The solution was to winterise the normal diesel BEFORE addition of the GTL.

That gives you a clue that most GTL is not 100% GTL ... its not cheap to produce and has specific properties as I mention ...

I have the full documentation / history / chemistry but right at this moment - I cannot move from my chair - I'm plugged into a feeding drip for next 7hrs !! Otherwise I would give the info here ... later I will try remember to return here ..
 
ducked said:
IIRC its a thing for lubricants, offering an alternative to conventional true synthetic lubricant such as POAs
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????

GTL is a complete high parifinic 'diesel' fuel ... it has a higher Cetane Index and is a clean fuel .... BUT as I said earlier ... it 'cleans' engines ... which with older engines can lead to problems.
 
Refueler said:
????

GTL is a complete high parifinic 'diesel' fuel ... it has a higher Cetane Index and is a clean fuel .... BUT as I said earlier ... it 'cleans' engines ... which with older engines can lead to problems.
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I thought GTL was an acronym for Gas To Liquid, taking natural gas as a relativel pure snd simple feedstock and synthesizing liquids from it.

That being the case, you could also make lubricants from it, and i believe they do/did.

Why not?
 
ducked said:
I thought GTL was an acronym for Gas To Liquid, taking natural gas as a relativel pure snd simple feedstock and synthesizing liquids from it.

That being the case, you could also make lubricants from it, and i believe they do/did.

Why not?
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They do make lubricants and lots of other base oil chemicals for products. In Qatar Shell's Pearl GTL adjusts the various process parameters to create different products depending on market demands. Its one of the reasons it is such a high value, profitable processes.
 
RunAgroundHard said:
They do make lubricants and lots of other base oil chemicals for products. In Qatar Shell's Pearl GTL adjusts the various process parameters to create different products depending on market demands. Its one of the reasons it is such a high value, profitable processes.
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Using diesel as a wood treatment and penetrating oil at the moment and noticing it has much less of the sharp diesel smell that I remember. I suppose this could be specific depdorisation in the processing, and/or inclusion of less smelly compnents like GTL, boidiesel, dunno.

Or Im losing my sense of smell…
 
Refueler said:
If you have an old engine that relies on the build up of 'coating' - GTL will not be a good fuel to use.
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Could you please elaborate on that? I have a 2008 Yanmar 3YM30, and my mechanic recently warned me against using GTL diesel, claiming it could damage the engine. However, everything I have read online highlights only the benefits of GTL. Yours is the first opinion I’ve come across that aligns with my mechanic’s concerns. Why is it considered risky? Is there anything I can do to mitigate the danger? I’ve noticed that local marinas are increasingly switching to GTL, so I am worried this will become a significant issue if I really do need to avoid it.
 
Many older engines build up a 'layer' in the cylinders ... like a lacquer ... it aids compression. That's a non-tech way of explaining it ...

GTL is a high parafinnic fuel with higher Cetane number than your usual diesel fuel ... it will over time clean that 'lacquer' out ...

As to how long and the effect on your engine - no-one can tell ... it all depends on how worn your engine is and the 'lacquer' built up ...

TBH - because I seriously doubt that the fuel you are offered is anthing but a low % GTL blended in fuel ... I wouldn't worry ..

Its highly unlikel you have a high % GTL or full GTL fuel available as it is just not produced enough in volume ... it was a 'wonder fuel' that never really caught on .... my company spent over 6 months trying to solve the Winterisation problems of it when blending. We liased closely with the producers .... in fact I ended up friends with the main people running it....
 
Refueler said:
Many older engines build up a 'layer' in the cylinders ... like a lacquer ... it aids compression. That's a non-tech way of explaining it ...

GTL is a high parafinnic fuel with higher Cetane number than your usual diesel fuel ... it will over time clean that 'lacquer' out ...

As to how long and the effect on your engine - no-one can tell ... it all depends on how worn your engine is and the 'lacquer' built up ...

TBH - because I seriously doubt that the fuel you are offered is anthing but a low % GTL blended in fuel ... I wouldn't worry ..

Its highly unlikel you have a high % GTL or full GTL fuel available as it is just not produced enough in volume ... it was a 'wonder fuel' that never really caught on .... my company spent over 6 months trying to solve the Winterisation problems of it when blending. We liased closely with the producers .... in fact I ended up friends with the main people running it....
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Interesting.
So bearing in mind the risks, it begs the question of the OP - why bother with GTL rather than just sticking with familiar diesel?
 
dunedin said:
Interesting.
So bearing in mind the risks, it begs the question of the OP - why bother with GTL rather than just sticking with familiar diesel?
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This was one of the main topics that I had with the producers along with the Winterisation factor. It was basically a 'modern' fuel for 'modern' engines ... they took a lot of convincing to accept that public tend to not buy new cars etc as often - meaning that the market was not quite in line with it.

It has advantages in terms of environment as its cleaner burning .. less particulate etc ..

I tried to find the data write-up I made for CA and also RYA committee a few years back .. but I've changed computer since then ...

I have the full data / specs and trial evaluations conducted by the one of the largest producers and my team .. but I am held by NDA .. so I can only give you outline comments on it ...

The best I can say - is it is similar to when ULSD Diesel replaced high sulphur level diesel ... there was a range of older engines that did not like ULSD .. while later engines were fine on it ... solved by Lubricity Addition. Then along comes Bio ... again solved with additions.
 
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