A Short History of the Diesel Engine

The engine presented by Rudolph Diesel to the world at the 1900 World's Fair ran on peanut oil. After he died it was determined a petroleum byproduct could be used in a diesel vehicle. This fuel came to be known as diesel. Over the years the engines have been modified so they can only use fuel with the same viscosity as diesel fuel. So, to get vegetable oil to run in a modern diesel engine, the viscosity must be changed to mimic diesel fuel. This can be done either chemically (biodiesel) or by heating it (vegetable oil conversion).

Biodiesel

By adding methanol and lye to vegetable oil a new fuel is created, called biodiesel. Since this has the same viscosity as diesel fuel any ratio of biodiesel can be placed in a diesel vehicles fuel tank. If the blend has 20% biodiesel and 80% petroleum diesel it is called B20. If it is 100% biodiesel, it is called B100. Most often the engine and the fuel lines do not have to be modified at all. 100% biodiesel (B100) is a really good solvent along with being a really good fuel. Therefore, if there are any rubber fuel lines or gaskets that encounter the B100, over time they will break down. Supposedly, newer (since mid 1980's) vehicles do not have rubber anywhere in the system. While road tripping, if you cannot find biodiesel you can mix the biodiesel with diesel or just put straight diesel in an empty tank. But after running biodiesel in your vehicle, you will really notice when you go back to diesel. Biodiesel has a very pleasant smelling exhaust and it is a lubricant, so your engine will run smoother. When you go back to diesel (why would you!!!) your exhaust will smell bad and your vehicle will run rough compared to what it has been like with biodiesel.

Vegetable Oil Conversion

The other way to have vegetable oil work in a diesel vehicle is to heat the vegetable oil to a temperature where it will have the same viscosity as diesel fuel. To do this some minor modifications have to take place to the fuel supply system. Basically the fuel hoses have to be cut, a second fuel tank is installed, a solenoid is installed, a relay, and a switch are also installed. And some way of heating the oil must be installed. There are many ways to do this. One way is to use a 12-volt inline electric heater such as what is used in Neoteric's kit (www.biofuels.ca). This is the system I have and the one I prefer to install. It is clean, simple and relatively easy to install. The other main type of system uses the hot radiator fluid to heat the oil. Greasel (greasel.com) sells kits using this design. Most of the kits cost between $400 and $800 and cost $200 (or more) to have someone install it for you. However, this is quickly paid back since this system uses free waste vegetable oil (WVO) from restaurants deep fat fryers. So after the kits are installed it is free to drive the vehicles. To run the system the vehicle is started on biodiesel or diesel, soon after starting the switch is flipped and the solenoid takes the fuel from the vegetable oil tank. Before the vehicle is shut down, the switch must be flipped back to shut the vehicle down on biodiesel or diesel fuel (this is done so the vegetable oil does not congeal on the injectors after the engine cools down).

(From Neoteric's website)

Vegetable oil is renewable, can be produced from many plants and trees around the world, and is also available as used cooking oil. There are many millions of tonnes of used cooking oil discarded each year. This often goes to landfills, or into drains, and is not only wasted, but causes needless costs to municipalities. Emissions reduction is accomplished by using vegetable oil as diesel fuel. Vegetable oil is considered to be almost carbon dioxide neutral on a life cycle basis. Sulphur is virtually nil. There are no aromatics (VOC's). Particulate emissions (soot) are reduced by half."

If you want to know more I highly recommend reading the book "From the Fryer to the Fuel tank" by Joshua Tickell (you can buy it off of his website at www.veggievan.org) and reading the Waste Vegetable Oil/Biodiesel links on the link page. If you are interested in installing a vegetable oil system into your diesel vehicle please email me at rainsystem@yahoo.com I live in Portland, OR so if you live far away from here I recommend contacting the people who sell the kits and asking them if they know anyone willing to install the systems in your area. Good luck. Brad