Biodiesel - ahhh Sort of

[MMoyle]

Hey Guys,



Have you ever heard or seen the following:



http://www.dieselsecret.com/index.htm



I am very skeptical. Let me know if any of you ever used or know anything about this product.



Thanks

Mike

 

[Grey Wolf]

Well I read about using the VO back in the '70's during the last oil problems, however I don't know anything about the present system that is mentioned here.....

 

[Sri Ram]

Huh?

No, I've never heard of anything like that before. The website smells like a rat, if you ask me. I'll ask a buddy of mine who's a bio-guru…

 

[Headshot zod]

I've seen that site before... ... not quite sure about it.

 

[Cooker]

This stuff has been discussed quite a bit over the last couple weeks. Try a search for some reading material.

 

[TKirby]

Question is, what's in their additive? You have to buy their additive for the fuel to work in its intended way...

 

[HonkinDiesel]

A group of us found this site a little while ago and my buddy contacted them for info but they gave no real information.



From what we were told you have to keep buying their product plus a few off the shelf products to make the veggie oil directly usable.



Your skepticism is well founded this is not biodiesel. Biodiesel requires conversion from the veggie oil to biodiesel. The only way biodiesel is made is by homogenization, pyrolysis or Transesterfication. Transesterfication is the only way we home do-it-yourselfers can make it most easily and reasonably. The other processes are too industrial, complex and expensive to make. I ain't stickin just anything into my engine.



Dropping a couple chemicals into a batch of veggie oil won't do it! It's just snake oil. From my understanding all that they are doing is keeping the veggie oil viscosity similar to that of regular diesel.



WVO is very complex. pH can vary from as low 4 to 6. 5 which means it is acidic. It contains many other compounds (like residual water, starch, bread crumbs etc) and needs to be properly filtered and you need to get rid of that glycerin molecule stuck in there so it needs to be converted, to be directly compatible and be called biodiesel. Biodiesel when made properly has a pH of 7, which is neutral.



I'm getting too winded here... . Their is acres of info on making biodiesel located all over the web and the info is free. Just do the search and prepare for lots of reading material. A biodiesel processor will cost you between $500 to $4000 depending what access to parts you have at hand or whether you by one off the shelf.



Sorry guys no short cuts or easy button to push here!

 

[MMoyle]

HonkinDiesel,



Thanks for the reply and I agree with you 100%. I happen to come across this site and figured it was BS. Like you said - Ia in't stickin just anything into my engine.



With fuel prices on the rise, I am going to really start looking into a biodiesel processor. In fact, maybe if I get enough people in the Phoenix Arizona area to spread the costs of the processor, it may be worth it in the long run..... Something to ponder... mmmm...

 

[R C Cola]

Bio-Diesel ?

Not sure that is the correct term for this product. The farmers in the Mid-West are at work big time to help us out with a workable fuel from veg source and seems to mix well up to about 50% ratio with regular diesel.

I met a young man this summer who was on a trip from Ca. to Toronto (i think) and back. I ran into him on the Cont. Divide in Montana had his wife and baby with him in the school bus conversion. He picks up veggie oil from restaurants, filters it as he travels and transfers it to his running tanks.

He has a site with full story (fairly complicated) great reading, I'll see if I can find the address.

The conversion he uses was complex enough that I decided against it for my commercial needs. RC :{