Biodiesel blended with ethanol additive

Abstract

The invention provides a blend of biodiesel with an alcohol-based fuel such as ethanol as an additive. The blend improves the biodiesel's cetane number, improves its cleaning ability, and also helps provide antigel protection at low temperatures. The blended biodiesel with ethanol is typically then further mixed with diesel fuel, often in a one to four ratio of biodiesel to diesel. The improved biodiesel fuel is easy to make and the ethanol mixed therein is preferably derived from recycled beverages and/or syrups.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A blend of biodiesel fuel and alcohol-based fuel comprising: 
 biodiesel fuel blended with an alcohol-based fuel as an additive to the biodiesel fuel.    
     
     
         2 . The blend of  claim 1  wherein the blend consists essentially of biodiesel fuel and alcohol-based fuel.  
     
     
         3 . The blend of  claim 1  wherein the fuel consists of at least 80% biodiesel fuel by volume.  
     
     
         4 . The blend of  claim 1  wherein the fuel consists of at least 85% biodiesel fuel by volume.  
     
     
         5 . The blend of  claim 1  wherein the fuel consists of at least 90% biodiesel fuel by volume.  
     
     
         6 . The blend of  claim 1  wherein the fuel consists of between 93% and 95% biodiesel fuel and between 5% and 7% alcohol-based fuel by volume.  
     
     
         7 . The blend of  claim 1  wherein the biodiesel fuel comprises between about 80% and 95% by volume , and the alcohol-based fuel comprises between about 5% and 20% by volume.  
     
     
         8 . A fuel blend of biodiesel fuel mixed with alcohol-based fuel with about 80% diesel fuel, the fuel blend comprising: 
 about 20% by volume of a biodiesel based fuel comprising biodiesel fuel mixed with an alcohol-based fuel, and about 80% diesel fuel by volume, wherein the fuel blend has a cetane rating of at least about 62.9.    
     
     
         9 . The fuel blend of  claim 8  wherein the fuel blend consists essentially of diesel fuel, biodiesel fuel and alcohol-based fuel.  
     
     
         10 . The fuel blend of  claim 8  wherein the biodiesel based fuel consists of at least 80% biodiesel fuel.  
     
     
         11 . The fuel blend of  claim 8  wherein the biodiesel based fuel consists of at least 85% biodiesel fuel.  
     
     
         12 . The fuel blend of  claim 8  wherein the biodiesel based fuel consists of at least 90% biodiesel fuel.  
     
     
         13 . The fuel blend of  claim 8  wherein the biodiesel based fuel consists of between 93% and 95% biodiesel fuel and between 5% and 7% alcohol-based fuel.  
     
     
         14 . The fuel blend of  claim 8  wherein the biodiesel based fuel comprises between about 80% and 95% biodiesel fuel by volume, and the alcohol-based fuel comprises between about 5% and 20% by volume.  
     
     
         15 . A method of making a blended biodiesel fuel comprising the steps of: 
 obtaining a biodiesel fuel and obtaining and alcohol-based fuel and mixing the biodiesel fuel with the alcohol-based fuel as an additive.    
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the alcohol-based fuel is mixed with the biodiesel for improving the cetane rating of the biodiesel fuel.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the blended biodiesel fuel consists essentially of biodiesel fuel and alcohol-based fuel.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the blended biodiesel fuel consists essentially of at least 80% biodiesel fuel by volume.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the blended biodiesel fuel consists essentially of at least 85% biodiesel fuel by volume.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the blended biodiesel fuel consists of at least 90% biodiesel fuel by volume.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the blended biodiesel fuel consists essentially of between 93% and 95% biodiesel fuel by volume and between 5% and 7% alcohol-based fuel by volume.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 15  wherein the blended biodiesel fuel consists essentially of the biodiesel fuel which comprises between about 80% and 95% by volume, and the alcohol-based fuel which comprises between about 5% and 20% by volume.  
     
     
         23 . The blend of  claim 1  wherein the alcohol-based fuel comprises ethanol.  
     
     
         24 . The fuel blend of  claim 8  wherein the alcohol-based fuel comprises ethanol.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 15  wherein in the step of obtaining, the alcohol-based fuel obtained comprises ethanol.  
     
     
         26 . The fuel of  claim 1  wherein the amount of biodiesel is at least about 50% by volume.  
     
     
         27 . The blended fuel of  claim 8  wherein the amount of biodiesel fuel in the biodiesel based fuel is at least about 50% by volume.  
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 15  wherein in the step of mixing, at least about one part by volume of biodiesel fuel is mixed with no more than about one part by volume of alcohol-based fuel.  
     
     
         29 . The blend of  claim 1  wherein the alcohol-based fuel is an additive for enhancing the cetane number of the biodiesel fuel.  
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 15  wherein in the step of blending, the alcohol-based fuel is added for enhancing the cetane number of the biodiesel fuel.  
     
     
         31 . The blend of  claim 29  wherein the alcohol-based fuel is also an additive to improve the cleaning ability of the biodiesel fuel.  
     
     
         32 . The fuel blend of  claim 8  wherein the alcohol-based fuel is also an additive to improve the cleaning ability of the biodiesel fuel.  
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 30  wherein in the step of mixing, the alcohol-based fuel is added for also enhancing the cleaning ability of the biodiesel fuel.