i was watching "scienec shack" on beeb two last night ( daughters homework!), during the show they had a section on running a car on "bio diesel" ie cooking oil. the guy was driving a big merc around. He mentioned a "conversion kit" that is needed. Unfortunately, no details were given of what thsi was, where to get it from etc,
Any body got any ideas?
he reckoned that it was costing about 40p/litre, as he still has to pay tax on the stuff that he puts in the car.
newbs
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If you grew a field of rape seed and made your own bio-diesel, Brown still wants fuel duty from you.
Seen the Veggie Van?
www.veggievan.org/
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Or you could say nothing and pop over to Agritechnica in Hanover the week after next. Two years ago I got chatting to a chap selling crushing equipment for extracting oil from rapeseed and other vegetable sources. Cheapest was around £150 but for electrically-driven extractors you will pay quite a bit more for the extra efficiency and throughput. Then you can do what some Europeans do and run your diesel engine on the stuff provided you have somewhere store the seed (it's horrible tiny seed, incidentally) or can simply pick it up when needed from a friendly farm. Better idea might be to buy two crushers and sell one to the farmer.
Interestingly, while I was on this stand a couple of Colombians turned up seeking a quote for 50 of these machines. Obviously they grow a lot of oilseed rape there.
David
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Bio diesel is sold all over europe at about 20pence cheaper than normal diesel ,all car manufactures have given it the green light on new models ,older models need a bit of looking at to see if the pump is ok.
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Mike - was there any mention of the emissions from 'Crisp&Dry' fuel? It sounds like it might be smoky?
Andy.
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Also look at geasecar.com
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Mike
The guy said that the conversion cost £300 but, you're right, there were no details. He also said that it ran on ordinary supermarket cooking oil, or used oil from a fryer - no hint of treatment, other than filtering out the chips!
Interesting...
Ian
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Most diesels will run on veg oil. Indirect injection ones are best for the raw stuff, but they'll all work fine with a mixture. The big problem is waxing. I bet the "kit" is actually a system for heating the fuel either in the tank or in the fuel supply pipe - not necessary in summer. Very environmentally friendly, since the fuel is more or less CO2 emission neutral. If Andy Bairsto is around he'll confirm that the Germans do this a lot.
Chris
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Most diesels will run on veg oil. Indirect injection ones are best for the raw stuff, but they'll all work fine with a mixture. The big problem is waxing. I bet the "kit" is actually a system for heating the fuel either in the tank or in the fuel supply pipe - not necessary in summer. Very environmentally friendly, since the fuel is more or less CO2 emission neutral. If Andy Bairsto is around he'll confirm that the Germans do this a lot.
Chris
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Why don't we all run on it then ?
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thanks for the replies,
one thing he said was that he used old cooking oil, I live about 20 miles from two Walkers crisp factories, and i hnow they get through thousands of gallons of the stuff. They must keep changing it, as it gets contaminated and makes the crisps taste funny
the other intersting thing is that we should then pay shithead brown some fuel duty, even though we are recycling old stuff, and helping his so called CO2 balance.
the question is, how does mr brown know what i'm doing?
is it just an honesty thing?
what about mpg, any ideas on what it's going to drop to?
newbs
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Fuel consumption should be about the same, I think. As for why we're not all running on it - what incentive do the oil companies (and oil-producing countries such as the UK) have to promote it? Apart from destroying the market for oil, Biodiesel would restructure the world economy by giving third-world agricultural economies a product they could sell to the developed nations. And we wouldn't want that, would we? I still think it will happen, if only because it's cheaper than the research into new engine technologies.
Chris
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OK, been to look at the veggie van site, it all looks too easy to me. get some oil cooking oil, mix it with a bit of alcohol, and it is nearly the same as normal diesel, does the same mpg, can be mixed in the tank with normal stuff, smells nicer.
there must be a catch, so i've ordered the book from the site to see if its true.
i supose you need the space and time to do the mixing, but apart from that it looks pretty good.
newbs
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A very good argument for investing in a diesel car if ever I saw one. I sure as hell wouldn't be writing cheques to my friend Gordon B if I was producing my own diesel. If the book is any good/it looks feasible will you come back and let everyone know? I might have to invest myself!
Cheers
Dan
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thanks for the replies.
as usual with our government, the only reason for not using it is money. how big is the oil companies pressure group? a bit bigger than the Bio Diesels i think!
of course good old incompetance comes into it as well, no joined up transport policy etc.
it is possible to make BD in your garage, but its not easy, not v difficult, but not a 5 minute job.
still, i might have a go, in time for the next fuel shortage.
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i shall get back to you all on this.
i'm thinking of doing something with my company along the the lines of a small biodiesel plant for home use.
not sure yet, depends on a few things, like having some spare time!!
now if i could sell "people spare" time, i think i'd be quids in!
newbs
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