Wherever you mount this extra hardware will probably be cramped, so, once again, the ratcheting wrenches save a lot of time normally wasted on realigning a wrench after each fraction of a turn. Wire an automated controller or manual switch to manage fuel selection.
Bleed the air from both fuel systems and the coolant system; test the WVO lines first with diesel fuel. New Cars. Buyer's Guide. Type keyword s to search.
Today's Top Stories. You can run a diesel vehicle on vegetable oil. Vegetable oil can power your vehicle, but the effects on the environment are still unclear. This may sound strange, but you can run a diesel vehicle on vegetable oil and nearly eliminate your use of traditional gas or diesel.
For certain people, veggie oil could lead to major savings. Called veggie cars or grease cars, these vehicles have fuel systems modified to burn both diesel fuel and straight vegetable oil. The idea is actually a modern twist on the original intention for the diesel engine.
But even proponents say veggie oil is not for everyone because of the extra work it requires. These people are drawn to this alternative fuel because it saves them money, gives them more control of their transportation fuel needs and makes a difference for the environment. All this may sound too good to be true, and in some ways it is. Is it the most environmentally friendly alternative fuel? Should new vegetable oil or used grease be used? So, before you start hoarding Wesson Oil, there are a few things you should consider.
To get a sense of how this works, consider the example of Ty Martin. On Thursdays and Sundays the Lawrence, Kan. As he eats with friends at the bar, kitchen staff fill a tank in the back of his truck with grease that was used to cook food just the day before. An hour later, truck and driver head home, both smelling faintly of burnt peanut oil. For Martin, burning vegetable oil means more than maintaining a dual fuel system.
Whatever your motivation might be, if you have a diesel engine, it could run on cooking oil. In fact, in the s German inventor Rudolf Diesel originally designed his engine to run on vegetable oil. Vegetable oil works best when it is hot — ideally degrees — and it thickens like butter when it is cold. That means the engine has to be warmed up before it can run on vegetable oil, and the veggie oil must be flushed out before the engine cools down.
Otherwise, you will have clogged fuel lines when you next try to start the car. To convert a diesel engine to run on veggie oil, you have several options. The conversion hardware can be bought in kit form from a variety of manufacturers.
Lovecraft also sells a one-tank system. Some people custom build veggie cars. Finding just the right car to burn vegetable oil can be more challenging. First and foremost, it has to have a diesel engine. The best cars to convert tend to be older models, according to Lovecraft. The exception appears to be the Volkswagen Jetta TDI — even more recent editions can be converted easily.
Among the better older models for veggie conversions is the Mercedes SD, particularly model years to Greasecar, on the other hand, says the majority of its kits go in newer domestic trucks or Volkswagen cars. Diesel trucks get plenty of power out of vegetable oil. Martin said his Dodge Ram pickup made the switch without slowing down. Lovecraft and Greasecar both said the Ford F diesel models from to are well-suited for conversions.
These trucks easily accommodate the necessary plumbing changes for burning vegetable oil. Vegetable oil enthusiasts love the idea of free fuel, so they take used cooking oil restaurants would otherwise throw away. Learn about collecting used vegetable oil by reading this article Negotiating For Waste Vegetable Oil. For converts less concerned about saving money, or perhaps skeptical about using waste oil, brand-new vegetable oil is another option.
A company called Smarter Fuel , based in Bethlehem, Pa. The cost of the new and refined oils does translate into fewer headaches than burning free used vegetable oil, which can have bread crumbs, water, even the occasional chunk of catfish in it. But there are different schools of thought on how clean used vegetable oil needs to be before you burn it in an engine. One restaurant prefilters the oil for Martin and Markoulatos to clean it up a bit, and then the two tinkerers pour the oil into a gallon plastic drum with a spigot 6 inches from the bottom.
They let the oil sit for a week before drawing off everything above the dregs. Before they pour that into their trucks, they filter it again.
Pollution-wise, the differences between burning new and used vegetable oil are less stark. William Kemp, in his book Biodiesel Basics and Beyond says that new and used oil just about tie on soot and nitrogen oxide emissions, while waste oil puts out more carbon monoxide, and new oil puts out more carbon dioxide.
When comparing vegetable oil emissions to petrodiesel, the results are more mixed. Diesel exhaust puts out more soot than veggie oil, while putting out about 10 percent fewer hydrocarbons. You have to grow plants to produce vegetable oil so the carbon dioxide emitted by burning it is captured as a new crop of oil plants grows.
It is available, usually blended with petrodiesel, at hundreds of filling stations across the country. Biodiesel proponents say veggie oil fuel, particularly waste oil, will always be a low-volume, backyard enterprise. The SVO concept distracts from the huge potential of the biodiesel industry. There are numerous fans of veggie oil fuel, though, who have come to the opposite conclusion and feel just as strongly.
These contrasting perspectives are but one example of the contentious and evolving debate about the short- and long-term feasibility of biofuels. For more on their potential compared to other energy options, see Harnessing Solar Energy Power. With all this in mind, the decision to use vegetable oil for fuel is one to consider carefully.
Concerns about taxes and EPA regulations are significant. And for many people, filtering the veggie oil and the potential for mechanical problems would be inconvenient. But for those who can embrace these challenges, veggie oil is a fun and empowering solution. Excited about the idea of running your car on veggie oil? Maybe even free waste oil? Biogas biomethane, CH4, usually with some CO2 and hydrogen sulphide present can be produced through anaerobic without oxygen digestion of organic waste, animal manure and sewage sludge, or dedicated crops such as maize, grass and crop wheat.
It also produces fertiliser. Anaerobic digestion is becoming popular but has a high up-front cost and needs a reliable, year-round supply of feedstock. The biogas produced may be used to generate heat and electricity, or upgraded to biomethane by removing the other gases. It can be injected into the natural gas grid or used as fuel in natural gas vehicles. The numbers of natural gas vehicles NGV have started to grow rapidly, particularly during the last decade.
Bio-SNG is processed from biomass using gasification, which produces a mixture of gases. To generate biomethane from bio-SNG, it needs to be cleaned, filtered and processed further, using advanced catalytic and chemical processing techniques; these will ultimately combine the hydrogen and carbon monoxide in the gas to form methane.
This article is published in collaboration with the Sustainable Cities Collective. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum. To keep up with Agenda subscribe to our weekly newsletter. The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum. Four experts share how we can support, sustain and speed the energy transition by tackling hard-to-abate sectors, areas not often targeted for green investment, and more.
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Explore context. Explore the latest strategic trends, research and analysis. Diesel motors run better, burn cleaner, emit less SOx and last longer on biodiesel fuel. Reusing cooking oils It is possible to run some diesel engines on vegetable oil, new or reused.
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