Vegetable Oil As Fuel, Is It A Solution?
Is Vegetable oil as fuel a real solution does it really work? Back in the 1900s during the World’s Fair Otto company showed an exhibit showing how engines ran on pure peanut oil. Rudolph Diesel himself studied at how vegetable oil could be used as an alternative.
Before you run down to the grocery store and start pouring vegetable oil into the tank of your diesel powered car, there are a few things which you should know. To begin with, the viscosity of vegetable oil is higher than that of diesel that means it’s thicker and won’t atomize completely when injected into the fuel system.
This incomplete atomization can cause problems with engine reliability. Incomplete atomization results in incomplete combustion, which results in heavy carbon, build up in the engine which leads to engine failure.
There have been a few different methods tried to fix this problem. Some have made use of vegetable oil by diluting by mixing it with diesel fuel or kerosene. There are companies which will gladly sell and organic solvent to those who plan on running diesel engine on vegetable oil. This solvent is designed to decrease the viscosity of the vegetable oil and allow for more complete atomization.
The most used method is by modifying the vehicle to use a two tank system. One fuel tank is filled with vegetable oil; the other is filled with diesel fuel. This method used a pre-heating system and three way valves to start the engine on diesel fuel then, using some type of heat exchanger to heat the vegetable oil to a temperature high enough to reduce its viscosity. When the oil is hot enough the three way valves switch the incoming diesel fuel off and switch the vegetable oil on.
Newer engines made to run on vegetable oils use a single tank system which involves the use of modified fuel injectors, more injector pressure, stronger glow plugs, and other engine modifications to provide seamless vegetable oil burning. Specially designed pre-heaters bring the vegetable oil to the optimum temperature prior to its being inducted into the fuel system. These new single tank systems are truly switch on and go, switch off and stop, even in cold temperatures.
So the answer to the question is that yes vegetable oil is an alternative to fossil fuel. With today’s new technologies it is becoming possible to run your diesel engine flawlessly on vegetable oil without the problems with the older systems. As well as fueling your car more economically it will also save you money in the long run and be better on your car than diesel fuel or gasoline. Don’t you want to be able to keep your car as long as possible?
To discover more about alternative energy, biodiesel fuel and using Vegetable Oil As Fuel be sure to visit: http://www.energysolutionshub.com
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Tags: alternative fuel, biodiesel fuel, Environmental, Vegetable Oil As Fuel