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The basic diesel engine
will run on just about anything, vegetable oil, used
motor oil, scotch, you name it, if it has enough
stored btu's then the diesel engine will get you
where your going.
In order to efficiently
operate a diesel engine on vegetable oil and expect
any sort of longevity from the engine, the
viscosity of the vegetable oil should be as similar
to diesel fuel as possible. This will put less
strain on the pumps and other critical mechanical
parts of the engine and let the injectors atomize
the oil well enough to have an efficient combustion
mixture.
The two most common
methods to achieve this are chemical and thermal.
The chemical method
uses methanol and a catalyst to pull the sticky material out
of the oil resulting in biodiesel (monoalkylesters) and glycerin (a byproduct used in soaps animal foods
etc.).
The thermal method
uses heat to reduce the viscosity of the oil until it is as thin as petro-diesel
(between 160 and 190 deg). Both of these processes will be explained in more detail
as time permits.
That's it, no brain
surgery, no rocket science just get the oil as close
to the viscosity of petro-diesel as you can.
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