If it was me, I'd buy a $500 car, convert it to run on used vegetable oil, and run it for a few years before I'd think about putting it in a high tech., sophistocated, expensive machine like a 3rd Gen CTD.

But if you've got the money and the time, go for it! I'd love to hear the results. You will probably smell like McDonalds all the time, but who cares if you are not trying to impress anyone. You also might want to think about the convenience factor of backing up to a grease vat, and funneling fat into a tank (sloshing a little over the side, and on your clothes, etc.) on your way to work, church, or whatever vs. fueling at a gas station. There's also a chance you will have varmints in your driveway looking for the pizza crust or left over hamburger bun that may have fallen off.

 

Hey guys lets be clear here: Bio-Diesel and vegetable oil are not quite the same thing. Bio-Diesel is really diesel fuel that the source of the hycrocarbons (oil) is vegetable based. Vegetable oil is usually discarded from the food service industry.

Vegetable oil (and I believe we are all talking about discarded deep fryer oil) is listed as a commodity called "Choice White Grease". Most Choice White Grease is partially hydrogenated. This inhibits it from going rancid (breaking down), but this also raises the melting or flow temprature. Depending on the vegetable source of the oil, and how much it is hydrogenated, the melting point can be qhite high. This is not a problem for the deep fat frier as they attain tempratures over 285F. But it can be a problem for your truck (and your arteries). It is best if you can let the oil set and let the non-liquid portions settle to the bottom, and take the room-temprature liquid portions. You have to be careful with lubricity, your injection pump probably can handle it but, you are running the risk of pump failure. Don't let this set in the tank for very long either as it will break down (bacteria will break the hydrocarbons down into shorter chains), it will have less power and lubricity rather quickly.

Biodiesel is really vegetable oil, reacted with an alcohol that has spiolage inhibiters and lubricity modifiers. This should burn pretty much the same as fosil fuel with lower mileage. Essentially with Bio-Diesel someone else has done the work, turning vegetable oil into diesel.

The problem is that vegetable oils are not that cheap, and machinery (that runs on fosil fuels) are needed to harvest the oil. So when fosil fuel prices go up so do bio-sourced fuels.

 

Straight Vegi Oil, BAD for Direct Injection Diesels.

I have been doing a very substatial amount of internet reaserch on this over the last several months. I am no expert but this is what i have read..

SVO that gets directed directly into the cylinder will spray right onto the middle of your pistons. And becouse it is substantially more viscous, it will stick. Not all of it will combust and that little bit that sticks will attrackt more, and more, and more.

At work we have a special pot for pop corn, It is very black from hot oil sticking and burning, But makes GREAT pop corn.

Eventually that glob on top of your piston will heat up and melt a hole. BAD.. Aswell, the oil residue can glew up your valves.

Bio diesel is closer to dino diesel than SVO. After vegi oil has been repeatedly cooked over and over it acumulates carbon. #2 diesel is around 12 carbon mollecules, and cooked vegi oil can be around 32 carbons. (i am not a chemist, this is just what i have read) Which is more or less what 69D100 just wrote!

I did read somewhere that a Univesity out west did a study on the Lubricity of Bio. thier conclusion was that even a 5% blend of bio would significantly increase lubricity.

My owners manual says i can run kerosene and jet fules only in emergencies for short periods of time. Adding bio to the kerosene significantly raised the lubricity and would make it viable as an alternative fuel, I would think..

I reacently made some Bio Diesel. VERY EASY.. Look up the DR. Pepper methode to bio diesel on google.

I took a teaspoon of Draino crystals, mixed with 250ml of methanol, gas line antifreeze, Added that when completely mixed to 1 liter of lightly used vegi oil, let sit overnight. In the morning the mixture had seperated, and the methanal draino mix turned part of the oil into glycerin and sank to the bottom. And the bio fuel floats on top.

I do not plan to run this through my ctd until i test a few batches through the oil fired hot water tank, and furnace. If they run on it without trouble


But comercially availible Bio is made just the same way with new oil. So it costs more. You should be able to make bio for around $.70 /gallon. with free used oil.

Personnally I would check with your local KFC, They clean thier oil with a water remover and you could probobly get it from them without the sludge..

If you read the Bio Forums there are many people running both bio and SVO in thier vehicles. And both believe thier system is better for various reasons.

BTW if you do make this stuff yourself, make sure you research it first. The combination of chemicals here are very caustic, and toxic. BEE VERY CAREFULL. and do it outdoors away from ignition sources obviously....

I know this is really long, but i think its a great way to recyle a commercial waste.

The local KFC produces between 10 and 15 gallons of waste oil very day, Thats almost 4000 gallons per year..

That is just one store, I currently heat my water and house with nat gas and wood, But if this works out well I will be buying a new furnace and hot water tank..

Good Luck.....

 

Just a maritimer's take on bio diesel. Wilson's a Nova Scotia petroleum distributor announced last year that their diesel can contain up to 20% bio diesel from processed fish oil. These diesel motors are going to be healthier than the drivers! K.S.

 

If everone starts using vegetable oil to run their cummins will they start using diesel to make our fries

 

The City of Denver, CO is doing an expirement on their diesel fleet using BIO-D as an additive, i think 30% mix. There is a station 5 miles from me that has it at the pumps, but local news reports it to be .70 cents more per gallon than deisel. No incentive to use it.......yet.

 

a friends bio-diesel project

http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_processor4.html