Greenie inanity

[MikeBjerum]

To me putting biodiesel in an expensive diesel engine, is like drinking recycled waste water after the piss and $h!t has been cleaned out of it. I know with today's technology it can be done, but I'll let someone else do it and tell me how wonderful it is.

Bio is better for your engine than petroleum.  Better lubricity and less contamination of oil.  Also, no practical loss of power.  Farmers have used, tested, and experimented with this longer than it has been on the open market or required by the government.

The biggest issue is getting it well blended for a uniform percentage (if they separate you will get changing percentages as you go through tanks of fuel), and breakdown of waxes (so you don't plug filters in cold weather).

If your vehicle or equipment is set up, and your operating procedures are based to run #2 year round, you could run pure bio oil year round.  Running biodiesel is no different than running methane, alcohol, LP or CNG.  It is all about your equipment and the operator.

While we are in the midst of a like/hate fuel argument:  Who's fault is the lack of compatibility of some small engines and alcohol blended fuels?  Is it the fuel, or is it the manufacturers, who after decades of blended fuels, refuse to move away from obsolete materials in their products?

[PegLeg45]

Just throwing this out there, but diesel engines are not called that because of the fuel but because of Rudolf Diesel who was one of the chief developers of the engine type. He originally developed the engine to run on  coal dust and experimented with vegetable oils and peanut oil. Diesel fuel that was distilled from petroleum came much later in diesel engine development.


Side note: When my younger son was in FFA, they had a small bio-diesel making unit that was a big enough deal that the governor came to view the process. The process involved used vegetable oil mixed with methanol and lye in a multi-step process. If the process went as planned, you got diesel. If it went wrong, you got hand soap (and yes, we had several gallons of hand soap that was the consistency of GoJo at home). 

[Big Frank]

I've got bad news for you Bill. Almost every single molecule of water on Earth has been drunk by a dinosaur, passed through its kidneys, and been pissed out into the same water supply we still have. It's all toilet-to-tap at some level.

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Biodiesel is Fatty Acid Methyl Esters, a type of fatty acid ester made by transesterification of fats with methanol. That's why it has Methyl in the name of it. Using a catalyst, the glycerine molecules break off and each of the three fatty-acid chains combines with a molecule of methanol. It's not oil mixed with methanol, and the methanol isn't just an emulsifier, it's part of each molecule of biodiesel. They start out with vegetable oil and gets turned it into biodiesel. It's no longer vegetable oil at that point. It really is that simple. Whether methanol is used to blend it with diesel fuel after that, I don't know. Biodiesel can be used by itself as long as it's not cold out. It doesn't need to be mixed with diesel fuel because it is fuel, not a fuel additive.

[PegLeg45]

You're pickin' nits when it comes to the terms here.
I've witnessed the process myself, live and in living color in a machine similar to the one in the video... and burned the stuff in a tractor.

Here's an over-simplified video.

[Timothy]

Search for Mike Rowe Dirty Jobs on the subject.  Guy was brewing bio on saved Mexican restaurant oils.

His lil pick up drove down the road smelling like tacos!

[Sponsor]

[Big Frank]

Search for Mike Rowe Dirty Jobs on the subject.  Guy was brewing bio on saved Mexican restaurant oils.

His lil pick up drove down the road smelling like tacos!

I may have seen that one but can't be sure. I saw a TV show where some guys didn't actually make biodiesel, but strained and filtered used cooking oil from restaurants. They converted a diesel engine to run on it and drove their van around smelling like fried chicken. I think they drove across the country, but it's been too long to remember. People have converted diesel cars and trucks too.

A bunch of college students went 10,000 miles in 12-ton diesel bus converted to run on vegetable oil. They had to start it up on diesel fuel to warm up the engine and the oil first, then switched over to oil they got from restaurants. If they used biodiesel instead they could have just filled the tank and drove around without converting the engine, but they were trying to prove it could be done.

[billt]

And just what exactly is all of this "Bio Diesel" supposed to save?

[MikeBjerum]

And just what exactly is all of this "Bio Diesel" supposed to save?

Using a readily available surplus or waste product in place of a product that is in high demand and has limited availability.

[Timothy]

Using a readily available surplus or waste product in place of a product that is in high demand and has limited availability.

Which you can brew yourself for far less than pump fuel with no further taxes to the scum sucking gubmint...

[billt]

When I had my Volkswagen Rabbit Diesel back in 1979, the thing I loved about it was the smell of the diesel exhaust. I wouldn't want the thing to smell like the inside of a McDonald's.