Cool - I thought you guys were talking about running bio-diesel through a
gasoline engine.... There was a comment in one of the postings about a
catalytic converter getting stopped up and I got all confused.

Yeah I am a lurker on the Bio-diesel list. Lot's of excellent info.

I'll be looking into that if I move away from a gasoline vehicle towards a
diesel burner.

At 09:20 PM 3/26/02 -0500, you wrote:
>Chris,
>
>Actually, there are several of us on the list who have been 'researching'
>alternative fuels.  I have been reading about them quite a bit over the
>past year.
>
>To answer your question, any diesel engine can run on vegetable oils.  One
>would wonder why, if that is the case, why it isn't more widely
>used.  Actually, there are several:
>
>1. Cost.  Vegetable oil is more costly to produce at this time than plain
>old diesel fuel.  However, you can run a diesel on 'pre-used' vegetable
>oils, like the stuff out of the drums behind McDonald's.  Usually, it is
>free, but you must carefully filter it.
>
>2. Vegetable oils are only combustable once the engine reaches operating
>temperature.  There are systems available (www.greasecar.com,
>www.greasal.com) that allow you to install a second tank and special
>valves that allow the vehicle to start on diesel, then run on straight
>vegetable oil.
>
>3. The polyunsaturated fats in vegetable oils begin to crystalize at
>temperatures below 0 degrees, clogging fuel lines and injectors.  It is
>possible to filter the polyunsaturated fats by bringing the oils to -15
>degrees and remove the crystals.  But, the polyunsaturated fats are what
>mostly gives the oil it's combustability.
>
>However, there are other alternatives.  Bio-diesel is becoming more
>popular as an alternative fuel.  Bio-diesel is made from 'pre-used'
>vegetable oils and then processing it with lye and methanol (both over the
>counter products).  The result is a fuel that can be used without having
>to be concerned with the crystalization problems or cooler
>temperatures.  There are companies that manufacture a form of bio-diesel
>under the moniker 'b-20' or 'b-40'.
>
>Here is a company, based in Ohio, that make bio-based lubricants,
>including a high performance motor oil used by some NASCAR drivers:
>http://www.renewablelube.com/
>
>To get recipies to 'brew your own' bio-diesel, visit:
>http://www.journeytoforever.org
>
>Both Penn State and The University of Saskatchewan (Canada) have done
>extensive research on the subject:
>http://www.ems.psu.edu/info/explore/VegeFuels.html
>http://www.arts.usask.ca/policynut/emixes.htm
>
>There are also some interesting articles on the Science News site:
>http://www.sciencenews.org/sn_arc98/12_5_98/Bob2.htm
>
>While there are several drawbacks to using vegetable oil or bio-diesel as
>a fuel, the main dispute appears to be lack of convienence.  Since you
>can't drive up to you local gas station and pump it into you car (or
>Vanagon), people don't want to use it.
>
>Personally, I'd like to see the old diesel vanagons back on the road using
>bio-fuel as opposed to scrapping them for conversion parts.
>
>(Thanks to John for a lot of the links)
>--
>Brian
>'85 Vanagon 7-passenger GL
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>
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Chris M. <Busbodger - "TEAM SLOWPOKE">
Cookeville, Tennessee

ICQ# 5944649
scm9985@tntech.edu

'78 VW Westfalia (67 HP -> that is...67 Hamster Power)
'65 Beetle - Type IV powered
'99 CR-V AWD station wagon
'81 CB900 Custom moto-chickle
2.5 Corvair engines for my Trans-vair Conversion