Some free diesel fuel?

[will n]

I was talking to a buddy of mine over the weekend who is a marine engineer. We were talking about diesel's and their ability to run off of just about anything.

I brought up the idea of having an extra 5-10 gallon tank, with all stainless fuel lines, extra filters, and a valve to switch between this tank and the normal 40 octane diesel.

In this 5-10 gallon tank would be old engine oil, even cooking greases as long as it isnt something that would solidify, and anything else that will burn. These would of course be extremely well filtered before even being put in the tank.

He said that this work work fine as long as you start up your diesel on regular diesel fuel, let it get warm, then switch over, and then switch back to regular diesel 10 minutes before shutting it down.

Maybe this is not an original idea, but I sure like it and it is an easy way of getting rid of your old oil.

Has anyone done this or heard of it being done? And if so what do you have set up to make it work?

Will

[hellosailor]

Will, if you look at www.greasecar.com that's essentially what they have been doing in cars for years. Installing a second tank for "WVO" aka waste vegetable oil, the stuff the restaurants have to pay to dispose of. Yes, your diesel can burn anything "but". With used motor oil you have to worry about toxins in the exhaust. And with vegetable oils, they congeal when cool, so the greasecar folks use an electric heating line to make sure the second fuel tank gets heated nice and warm. You start on real diesel--when it is not hot out--and switch back to real diesel to flush the lines again before you shut down.

Herr Doctor Professor Whatever Rudolph Diesel invented his engine to run on PEANUT OIL not petroleum products, so this is not hard to do. If you've got the space for a second tank, and a little more human control for the switching.

And remember--that other oil source needs to be filtered VERY well.

[2divers]

Actually the trucking industry has been doing something similar for a long time. They use about 22 quarts of oil ( I think) a change. That would be a lot of wasted oil! They mix the old oil back in with the diesel at about a 1 to 50 ratio or so and burn it. The big difference between them and us is that they run the engine a lot longer and they keep the fuel more or less mixed in the tanks by the movement, stop and go. I think with a sailboat diesel it might settle out (may not depending on where you are on the hook)

I did a lot of reading when I researched Bio-diesel. A diesel engine will run on pretty much anything if you set the compression right and get enough heat. Some items have more energy than others (petrolium vs waste fry oil) but it still works.... Your buddy is right though, the real key is to get the engine good an hot and then burn your alternate fuel and then flip it back to diesel to get it running clean again.

The bad news is that unless it's been filtered you risk clogging your fuel injectors in a serious way...... Biodiesel can also clog your fuel injectors as a by product of it's use. The Biodiesel is a super solvent which disolves some of the crud from regular diesel in your lines and will pass it on the the fuel injectors where the will get plugged.... Can't win every fight.... I mix my 20 Bio to 80% diesel in my car. Runs great and I don't put as much cash in the oil companies pockets. (ok it's not a lot, but the only way I can vote there is with my pocketbook!)

2divers

[CaptainK]

Basic info on biodiesel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiesel

http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_winter.html