Vegetable oil as diesel fuel?

Question

Has anyone actually done this? Not theoretically, but actually, can this really be done and is it cost effective for a company with a 5 truck home service fleet? We spend $6000 per month on fuel so this cheap fuel thing sounds to good to be true.

Answer 1

biodiesel...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiesel

you would have to buy new trucks or re-fit them with new engines, which would be a huge cost though.

willie nelson uses it in his tour bus...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11131407/

Answer 2

Yes, this can be done and can also be cost effective if done in quantity. At the moment, all biodiesel is done on a relatively small scale as compared to diesel fuel and gasoline. The major problem is impurities in the vegetable oil. I have a friend using biodiesel in hhis truck (he runs a small organic farm) and it does cost him about 10-15% less than the farm diesel he bought previously. However, the impurities can be a killer. His truck smells like french fries! At least it isn't the black noxious clouds he used to have. My friend is doing this on a small scale compared to what you propose, but I suspect you could achieve the same 10-15% saving as he does. One last thing, the heat content of the fuel. Biodiesel has a slightly less heat content per pound, so, the diesel has a lower peak power output under load. He noticed the difference on the freeway under heavy load, going up a steep hill, but otherwise, the slight loss of power output is not significant.

Answer 3

Rudolf Diesel's original engine ran on a vegetable oil! The oil companies got involved and the rest is history. As a diesel owner I can tell you that NO engine changeouts are necessary as one poster said.

Part of the conversion is to be able to keep the oil warm in the winter. A fella I know routed his heater core lines thru his external vegetable oil tanks and then routed his fuel line along one of the lines and voila! TOTAL independence of fossil fuels


However fuel line modifications are a must. Vegetable oil is hard on rubber. Also it acts as a solvent and literally cleans things from the tank all the way thru the engine. The first task of preventive maintenance after conversion will be to chnge your fuel filters as they will clog probably after the first tank

Answer 4

it's biodiesel
What is a biodiesel blend?
In most cases, biodiesel is mixed with conventional diesel because of the higher cost of biodiesel, engine compatibility issues, and cold weather operating concerns. Common blends are B20, or 20% biodiesel and B2, or 2% biodiesel. The environmental benefits of using biodiesel scales with the percent of biodiesel contained in the blend.

B100 – 100% biodiesel offers the most overall environmental benefits. Use of B100 may require engine or fuel system component modification and can cause operating problems, especially in cold weather.
B20 – 20% biodiesel offers about one fifth of the environmental benefits of B100, but can be more broadly applied to existing engines with little or no modification.
B2 – 2% biodiesel offers little environmental or petroleum dependence benefit and could be potentially used an environmental marketing tool.
What are the main issues when switching from conventional diesel to biodiesel?
The main operating issues are cold weather operability, engine and fuel system compatibility, and the solvency properties of biodiesel. B100 does not flow as well as petroleum diesel in cold temperatures, and requires special additives or fuel heating systems to operate in colder climates. B100 may cause rubber seals and gaskets from engines older than 1994 to wear faster or fail. Biodiesel also acts as a solvent, which can dissolve sediments in diesel fuel tanks and clog fuel filters during an initial transition from petroleum diesel. Despite these issues, some fleets are successfully using B100. Berkeley, California is successfully running 100% biodiesel in 90% of their public diesel fleet vehicles including fire trucks.1 Using B20 minimizes or eliminates most of the concerns with B100 and is therefore more widely used.

Answer 5

http://www.biodieselamerica.org/blogger/ Check this link out. There are many links to articles and suppliers. Also several questions have already been asked on here concerning this. Simply do a search on bio diesel (or perhaps biodiesel) in yahoo answers or even google. Be prepared to spend hours reading.

The information is there and one source I found even gave a formula and cost comparison.

Good Luck. Hope this helps.

Answer 6

Yes, people do it. Do a search on "biodiesel" and you should get some info. You can't just pour in regular vegetable oil; it needs to be processed. You can do it yourself, but there are biodiesel fuel vendors out there and probably somewhere in your neighborhood.
Maybe start here: http://www.biodiesel.org/buyingbiodiesel/guide/

Answer 7

Yes, such a thing is possible, but only on a SMALL scale. The sclae needed to power all the cars in the world or the USA will far outstrip the space available to produce it. Also don't forget EROEI (energy returned on energy invested). If it takes more energy to make the SVO than you get from burning it, the entire process is pointless...

Answer 8

Used extensively in Europe - called bio diesel.
These lorries' exaust smells like burning pommes frites fat.

Its only cheaper because the tax on bio diesel is smaller.

Answer 9

i have one it works great i get my oil from restaurants and i filter it then heat it up to get what little water might be in it out then pour it in a tank in my trunk i drive my car for about 1 mile then flip a switch and i can drive the rest of the day on vegetable oil i deliver pizza so i save a lot of money with it if you have any questions feel free to ask me

Answer 10

http://www.biodiesel.org/
Go to this site. Yes, it is being done as we write. All diesel engines will burn biodiesel.
http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_make.html
Here is a site telling you how to make your own.

Answer 11

Yes, But is not very efective like diesel.