I'm looking for info on the bio diesel engine itself - most of the articals I see are about mixing "Green-Gas" with petroleum based fuels at a ratio of about 1 in 5 (20% biodiesel).

What I'm looking for is any modifications that would have to be done to run 100% Biodiesel.

I've heard the compression ratio is 17 to one, but that isn't substantiated in print anywhere.

Bio diesel is rendered using a mixture of methanol and lye apparently, so it's not pure vegetable oil as I first thought. The chemical process can be done just about anywhere using suitable containers and yields a certain amount of glycerin which settles to the bottom of the mixing tank in the process, and can be used for common soap.

I have no idea at this point what biodiesel would even smell like, but if it's possible to build an engine for straight biodiesel using a normal diesel engine and performing a few modifications I'm very interested in this indeed! From all I have seen so far, there are quite a few outfits lining up to become suppliers in just about every developed country imaginable including the UK and USA.

I also don't know if there are any unusual associated wear characteristics that affect the life of the engine itself due to differences in lubrication properties between green gas and petroleum fuels.

I'd like to ask here for any hard data that anybody has on this topic. It seems to me almost too good to be true, but if it really is workable, this could be the answer I have been looking for to get out from under rising fuel costs and ever tightening emissions standards...

Regards,

~Wolf

 

GWolf, have you searched 'alternative fuels' or biodiesel under a 'Google' search ? I'll bet you'll find an overwhelming amount of data. The MotherEarthNews has links on their page to sevearal veg-oil diesel projects. I think the engines can be unaltered, but some oils were harder on the injector pumps than others....and some pumps held up better than others. If my history teacher was correct, Rudy Diesel intended for his engine to run on soybean and peanut oil, and when Mr Ford began to mass produce cars, he intended for his spark ignition engines to run on ethanol (moonshine ). The petroleum industry hadn't 'invented' gasoline or diesel fuel yet. But, the petroleum industry was very ready to seize upon the oppourtunity to sell fuel for the new horseless carridges. The petro ind. was kind of in decline as less folks were buying oil for lights, because of increasing electrical availability, and they needed a new market. I'm sure they thought cars were a God-send. I've got a bible study in a few minutes, I'll come back and write more later tonight. DF

 

Hey Dutch, I've done a little research on this subjest.
Maybe the 4th post (links to sites) on this thread will help you out.


https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...=8921#post8921

 

Hmm, it seems some rubber parts have trouble with it.

That's the kind of thing I'm looking for. For one thing, it will need a fuel pump that won't go bad over time. The recommendation is to use 20% petro-fuel with it, but that's not what I'm after. The idea is to eliminate the use of petroleum completely.

Truthfully, I was more worried about rings and valve guides than anything else but I haven't seen any references in that direction.

I'll have to take this up later, I'm going to be gone again for another 4 or five days.

Thanks for the input, and keep your eyes peeled for anything by an engine builder on this topic - this has a lot of potential but I'll believe it when I have 100,000 miles on the stuff...


~Wolf

PS: Most of the articles are on the fuel itself. I think the target will need to be narrowed to "biodiesel injector pumps" or "biodiesel engine wear".

Also be aware that some diesel engines are two cycle, and depend on the fuel itself for internal lubrication - such an engine would not be suitable. It would have to be a four-stroke with its own lube system else I think it would suffer "Catastrophic Self-Disassembly" sooner or later...

(Most likely SOONER)

>=o)

 

This is my favorite topic.
I don't believe bio diesel has much different chemical makeup from petro diesel, it that they are both hydrocarbon strands and they are both organic. Petroleum is really not much more than biodegraded plant material.
It's great there's an interest in this technology, because these types of fuels represent an alternative to foreign oil and the affect it has on our nation. I will scour my resources for information, Greywolf, as long as you continue posting what you find!
BDV