Make your own Biodiesel Part 1

There are at least three methods to run a diesel motor on biofuel utilizing veggie oils, animal fats or both. All three are utilized with both fresh and used oils.

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

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

3. Convert it to biodiesel.

The first two methods sound easiest, however, as so frequently in life, it’s not rather that simple.

1. Mixing it

Grease is a lot more viscous (thicker) than either petro-diesel or biodiesel. The function of blending it or blending it with other fuels is to lower the viscosity to make it thinner so that it streams more easily through the fuel system into the combustion chamber.

If you’re blending veg-oil with petroleum diesel or kerosene (like # 1 diesel) you’re still utilizing fossilfuel– cleaner than most, but still unclean enough, numerous would say. Still, for every gallon of

veggie oil you use, that’s one gallon of fossil-fuel saved, which much less climate-changing carbon in the atmosphere.

People utilize various blends, ranging from 10% veggie oil and 90% petro-diesel to 90% vegetable oil and 10% petro-diesel. Some people just use it that method, launch 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 might get away with it with an older Mercedes 5 diesel, which is a very tough and tolerant motor– it won’t like it however you probably will not kill it. Otherwise, it’s not smart.

To do it correctly 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 numerous solvents and/or with unleaded gas are “experimental at best”, little or nothing is understood about their results on the combustion attributes of the fuel or their long-lasting impacts on the engine.

Higher viscosity is not the only problem with utilizing grease as fuel. Veg-oil has different chemical residential or commercial properties and combustion qualities from the petroleum diesel fuel for which diesel engines and their fuel systems are developed.

Diesel motor are modern makers with very exact fuel requirements, especially the more modern-day, cleaner-burning diesels (see The TDI-SVO controversy).

They are difficult but they’ll just take a lot abuse. There’s no assurance of it, but using a blend of approximately 20% veg-oil of good quality is stated to be safe enough for older diesels, especially in summertime.

Otherwise utilizing veg-oil fuel requires either a professional SVO solution or biodiesel. Mixes and blends are normally a poor compromise. But mixes do have a benefit in winter.

Similar to biodiesel, some kerosene or winterised petro-diesel fuel blended with straight veggie oil decreases the temperature at which it starts to gel. (See Using biodiesel in winter) More about fuel mixing and blends.