Do I dare mix vegetable oil into my diesel fuel??

[Junkman]

Do I dare mix vegetable oil into my diesel fuel?? I have been reading how some diesels are now running on vegetable oil in place of diesel. Some people here have said that running vegetable oil smells like fries (French vs. Freedom /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif). Can the two be mixed without disastrous results? Sure would improve the "smell" of diesel around here... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif I would only used fresh vegetable oil, not used that might be contaminated...

 

[beenthere]

Is that cheaper per gallon than diesel?

Let us know how it works, and if the diesel fumes smell better, please. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Junkman, I don't know the answer to your question, but I did see a TV show a couple years that showed a guy driving across country on USED deep fryer oil that he collected at fast food restaurants. I'm not sure how he processed it, but I do know that he ran it through a filter to take out the bits of chicken, fries, etc. He was not picky about using an specific brand of restaurant, and some did not use 100% veggie oil.

It seems to me that fast food placed PAY people to TAKE away their old oil. It might become a source of FREE, or nearly FREE fuel for tractors if it can be done. You might have to invest in some way to collect the oil, and certainly some way to filter it, and you'd have some time invested, but if you used enough diesel each year it would certainly pay for itself.

 

[cowboydoc]

I don't believe it is that simple. The vegetable oil has to go through a process to make it combustible.

 

[Darren]

Actually it is that simple. Vegetable oil has a higher BTU content than diesel. I posted elsewhere about an MIT thesis back in the forties which compared alternative fuels for diesels. If you've ever seen cooking oil catch on fire, you know a diesel won't have a problem burning the stuff. I ran Mazzolla once when I ran out of diesel and there were no service stations in the area that sold it. I stopped at a supermarket and bought three gallons of Mazzolla and went down the road. The exhaust smelled like hot fry oil. I think the price is around four dollars a gallon so it's not competitive.

I wouldn't try it in the winter.

 

[cowboydoc]

I stand corrected then. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif I know they sell a kit for converting the used vegetable oil to "fuel" ready. Is that just a purification system or does it do something else to the oil? I know alot of the newer systems with the specialized injector systems you can't use 100% biodiesel. The pickups and new tractors it's a definite no no. I would assume this would be the same for vegetable or maybe I'm missing something there as well.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Does anyone know about the viscosity of veggie oil versus diesel? Will if flow through the injectors, etc in the correct amounts without modification to the injectors? What about the lubricating principles of the oil.

I know that some oil, like Peanut oil, burns at a higher temperature than Olive oil. So is it safe to assume that SOME of the veggie oils are less suitable than others for burning in a tractor?

And does anyone else have the urge to go home and dump a bottle of your wife's best garlic flavored cooking oil in the fuel tank just to see what the exhaust will smell like? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[beenthere]

Not sure, but higher BTU content may be 'the' problem, as it may burn too fast in a diesel. I don't think gasoline in a diesel works very well, for that reason (maybe for a different reason, but I thought it was because it didn't burn slow enough, like diesel fuel).

Lots of alternative fuels were looked at in the 40's, as they were tough times.

Interested to hear more about the use of vegetable oil as a substitute.

 

[Junkman]

I have no need to do this on a regular basis, but I have about 1/2 gallon of vegetable oil in the kitchen that my wife won't use because the container has been open for a few months. She is very health / safety contious....... doesn't want any unintentional food born pathogens to poison me other than her cooking. I was thinking of putting it into the diesel tractor to burn it. I want to be certain that it won't do any harm to my engine...
The restaurants use a hot oil filter separator to keep oils from spreading taste and odor from the fries to the fried fish. It works amazingly well and when they are finished "cleaning" it, it looks almost as good as new. Only after a certain period of time when the oil starts to get a dark appearance, do they replace it.
I know that restaurants do give the oil away to people that have converted cars to burning it. In CT where one woman proudly displayed her car using vegetable oil for fuel on the evening news, the state immediately went after her for road tax. Seems that the tax man wants the money more than he want energy conservation. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[cowboydoc]

I sure wouldn't do it junkman. One injector problem would pay for that vegetable oil a 100 times over.