Make your own Biodiesel Part 1

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There are at least three ways to run a diesel engine on biofuel utilizing vegetable oils, animal fats or both. All 3 are used with both fresh and pre-owned oils.

There are at least 3 methods to run a diesel engine on biofuel utilizing veggie oils, animal fats or both. All three are used with both fresh and pre-owned oils.


1. Use the oil just as it is-- normally called SVO fuel (straight grease);


2. Mix it with kerosene (paraffin) or petroleum diesel fuel, or with biodiesel, or mix it with a solvent, or with gas;


3. Convert it to biodiesel.


The very first 2 methods sound easiest, but, as so often in life, it's not quite that simple.


1. Mixing it


Vegetable oil is far more viscous (thicker) than either petro-diesel or biodiesel. The function of blending it or mixing it with other fuels is to decrease the viscosity to make it thinner so that it streams more freely through the fuel system into the combustion chamber.


If you're blending veg-oil with petroleum diesel or kerosene (exact same as # 1 diesel) you're still using fossilfuel-- cleaner than most, however still unclean enough, many would state. Still, for every gallon of


veggie oil you utilize, that's one gallon of fossil-fuel saved, and that much less climate-changing carbon in the atmosphere.


People utilize various mixes, ranging from 10% grease and 90% petro-diesel to 90% vegetable oil and 10% petro-diesel. Some individuals just utilize it that way, start up and go, without pre-heating it (that makes veg-oil much thinner), or perhaps utilize pure vegetable oil without pre-heating it, which would make it much thinner.


You may get away with it with an older Mercedes 5-cylinder IDI diesel, which is a really hard and tolerant motor-- it won't like it however you most likely won't eliminate it. Otherwise, it's not wise.


To do it appropriately you'll need what amounts to an SVO system with fuel pre-heating anyhow, preferably using pure petro-diesel or biodiesel for starts and stops. (See next.) In which case there's no need for the mixes.


Blends with various solvents and/or with unleaded fuel are "speculative at finest", little or absolutely nothing is understood about their impacts on the combustion characteristics of the fuel or their long-term results on the engine.


Higher viscosity is not the only issue with using grease as fuel. Veg-oil has different chemical properties and combustion qualities from the petroleum diesel fuel for which diesel engines and their fuel systems are designed.


Diesel engines are modern machines with extremely precise fuel requirements, especially the more modern, cleaner-burning diesels (see The TDI-SVO controversy).


They are difficult however they'll just take a lot abuse. There's no assurance of it, however utilizing a mix of as much as 20% veg-oil of good quality is said to be safe enough for older diesels, especially in summertime.


Otherwise using veg-oil fuel needs either an expert SVO service or biodiesel. Mixes and blends are typically a bad compromise. But mixes do have a benefit in winter.


As with biodiesel, some kerosene or winterised petro-diesel fuel blended with straight grease decreases the temperature level at which it begins to gel. (See Using biodiesel in winter season) More about fuel mixing and blends.

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