Is Biodiesel possible??

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by Pschoerrn

BTW does anyone of you want to recommend a good TV?? Anything in the SUV or Shortbed Truck Range?? Fueleconomy with our 29' is the most important point for us... We are a little spoilt in this point over here, as even the SUV over here reach 15mpg or much much better!! And if possible not more than the 6.9 liters...

Bjorn,
Check out the Jeeps, I know they supposedly have a full line of diesels availble on the European market. Currently the only one they offer over here with a diesel is the Liberty, which is a bit small for towing an Airstream much over the Bambi size. But from what I have seen of that little diesel they are offering is AWESOME! 27mpg over the road, trail rated 4x4, producing 160hp(120Kw) and a whopping 295 ft/lb(400Nm) of torque, from 2.8 litres. In the US it is rated for 5000# of towing capacity and I feel they are doing that to limit their liability, it should be able to handle that and more. But we would have some idiot hook up a 10,000# trailer 35' long and try to tow it, wreck and blame it on the manufacturer, sue and collect money

Aaron

[markdoane]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

. . . Also if I comprehend the politics of it the government will only subsidize a certain amount of alternate fuels in a year and currently the corn based ethanol is taking the lion's share of the subsidy.
Aaron

The Minnesota Senate passed a bill in February to mandate raising the amount of ethanol in gasoline to 20%. . .

. . . of course this is that same legislature that shut down the state last week because thay couldn't pass a budget.

We're still shut down. Not many people have noticed the difference, except the workers who aren't being paid.

[linc54]

Biodiesel as B20 has limited availability in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I live reasonably near one of the sources, and have been using it in my 2003 6-liter Excursion for about 6 months. I do not notice any difference in power or economy. I do notice that the engine is quieter (B20 has a higher cetane rating than petro diesel) and the exhaust aroma does not smell of petro diesel, but has a slight, unidentifiable smell. B20 has lubrication properties that petro diesel does not have, so it should be good for the injection system. Most emissions are reduced, and particulate emission is about 40% less (although smoke is not an issue with the latest generation diesel engines).

[LowellN]

I'm with Norby. I paid too much for my truck to mess it up with used frying oil. I have heard of several local persons running it in their trucks. Too risky for me. I would like to look into the whole biodiesel thing that Willie is talking about though. I did see part of that program that was referred to earlier.

[59toaster]

I have been looking at this as well. I am half heartedly looking for a old Diesel Chevy truck for the right price so convert.

There are a few different ways to do this. What was shown on Trucks was a chemical process that will let you burn the Bio-diesel straight. Most say that once processed this way that it is no more harmful then regular diesel.

The second way was sort of touched on. Its the dirty way of doing it and I am aware of a few people that have been doing this for a while that make periodic posts on another site I frequent.

Basically they filter the oil to remove any solids. Then they start the vehicle on regular Diesel. In the storage tank they have a heat exchanger so they can heat the oil off the engine coolant to keep it thin and prevent it gelling. Then they meter it into the motor with the regular diesel. The trick is keeping the oil hot before getting it to the engine.

Some of the folks I have spoken to are running as much as 80% Bio mix in the summer and around 60% winter one the oil is heated. One guy is reporting that he is getting effectively 70MPG. He's getting the oil for free. One other guy drove a Unimog from Chicago to Panama city with out a problem.

I think if I manage to do this is during the summer months I will probably do a filter mix just to make it easier and actually cheaper since I would not have to deal with the Methanol and processing step. Winter I may go and do the full process step for better winter use. My goal is to be able to handle either process on the vehicle instead of depending on a System being at home. That while I can be processing while driving between stops. Thats what the guy with the Unimog does. He has a pair of aux tanks where he can circulate and filter.

[silverback]

I've purchased B20 twice now from a reputable fuel wholesaler in Tucson. Both times I added about 10 gallons to my 26 gallon tank. I figure (means no actual math was attempted) that I've blended it down to about the B5 that the general says is OK. My truck loves it. The Duramax purrs and my MPG goes up due to the higher cetane content. Last time (April) I also got a soy fuels rebate that bought the cost per gallon down to around $1.62. I think that is an AZ thing. I would use it more often if there was a Phoenix dealer who sold B5 or B20. I would not use any backyard brews. Willie's got it covered.

KL

[72 tradewind]

Diesels were originally designed to operate on corn, soy or peanut oil (I can't remember exactly which one ) then when the diesel was bought over to the states, someone with an intrest in the refinerys got ahold of it and we have petroleum diesel. We own a 2000 Beetle tdi and the owners manual says explictly not to use cooking oil or twill void the warranty!

[tamis]

Hi, I was reading about Bio Diesel a couple of weeks ago. Here's a site that might be of intrest.
http://www.biodieselwarehouse.com/
T.

[wahoonc]

We have people in our area using B100 in farming equipment, the soy based smells faintly of roasted peanuts or toasted sunflower seeds, not objectionable at all...in fact it could make you hungry We also have a guy down the road that has been running SVO(straight vegetable oil) for several years in a Diesel Rabbit pickup....he claims he hasn't bought dino diesel in over 15 years. I do know that he gets his used fryer oil local, filters it to get the chunkies out. The VW has been heavily modified to burn the SVO. To me the most intriquing part of biodiesel is the renewablility of it, and the availbility from multiple sources, soybeans, rapeseed, sunflowers and I suppose corn if you you processed it properly. Anything we can do to reduce dependency on foreign oil and keep jobs in America is okay with me. The only issue that remains to be dealt with is the road tax that the federal government and the states expect to collect...In my case it is not an issue in that we will be burning the diesel in farm equipment. I do know that in NC the basic tax on a gallon of road fuel is around $.49 per gallon.

Aaron

[Pschoerrn]

mmmmhhhhhmmmmhhh this threat developes to a very interesting thing. Thank you all for posting!!

The first big difference between the US and Germany, that I see is that burning old fyer oil seems to be more common in the US than here... and that the homemade biodiesel is even more common than here...

Another big difference is the Tax on fuel... In Germany the Government gets 3/4 of the fuelprice at the moment i.e. $5.60 per Gallon for Gas - $4.20 for the Government and $1.40 for the fuelcompany and the filling station guys...
Do you know why the Government collects the 3/4?? They want people to drive less and switch more to bus, tram and railroad... Did it work?? NOOO, well ok Yes but not as much as expected...
On the other hand they also charge us for diesel engines between $18.37 and $44.72 in Car Tax per begun 100ccm of the engine size (can you guess why most (diesel) engines are so small over here?). These taxes have to be payed every year... Taxes on gas engines are much less, but the gasprices are much higher so people who drive many miles per year choose the diesel engines.

There was the chance to register your SUV or MH as a truck which was taxed by weight not by engine size, but that is not possible anymore...

This Infos just for those of you who didn´t know why people overhere shake their heads when it comes to the discussion why the 8.1 liter engine is better then the 6.6 liter...

Bjoern

[Pschoerrn]

Originally Posted by norbert

how much does "dave" weigh? the tv question will be easier to answer that way.
norby

Norbert,

I am with you on the fryer oil!!

I don´t know the exact weight of Dave. The Manual says 7100 lbs, but we have a weightlimit on Traveltrailers in Germany/Europe that sets an upper limit at 7700lbs. AS we have to change the axles anyway we probably switch to the higher rated axles, but upper limit stays at 7700 lbs. Hitchweight is 590 lbs and shall be reduced to around 550 lbs...

Bjoern

[norbert]

bjoern,
your comment on taxation and engine size adds to the conundrum. maybe some other folks can weigh in on this issue.
norby

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by norbert

bjoern,
your comment on taxation and engine size adds to the conundrum. maybe some other folks can weigh in on this issue.
norby

Norbie,
Different tax stucture, I believe Canada has a similar one...IIRC you are taxed yearly on the size or horsepower output of your engine, the thought being that a smaller engine is more effecient and produces less pollution. Kind of like the gas guzzler/luxury car tax that was going around the USofA a while back(not sure if it has been repealed or not) at one time I had a Chevy Malibu wagon with the "Canadian" small block in it. It was a 267 cu in V-8 IIRC it was destroked 327. Same basic components as the 350 just smaller to get around the Candian tax laws.

Aaron

[DustyDevil]

Oregon just got it's first Bio Diesel Plant, the news said it is recycling fryer oil. They also said there are more in the works here. Now if we could just get hydro-power kits for gasoline engines, someday!