Farm Show Magazine - great info on biodiesel

[HoleshotHolset]

Since I subscribed to this magazine a few months ago, I've been reading at least one or two articles per issue regarding biodiesel. Great stuff.



The latest edition has an article that focuses on an operation where the farmer uses a Chinese-built press he bought to squeeze sunflower seeds to extract oil to run darn near everything on his farm. He powers the press with a small, slow-speed (1950's technology) diesel. In the future hopes to plant enough crop and buy additional presses to be completely self-sufficient in terms of making his own biodiesel. This isn't just a passing trend - you're going to see a lot more farmers doing this in the not too distant future.



I don't have a vested interest in this magazine or the gent who the article is about. I'm just a bigtime fan of this magazine...



http://www.farmshow.com/issues/30/04/300403.asp



Matt

 

[daveshoe]

Did you notice how he ''cuts'' the raw oil down to run it in a Diesel? In the summer,he makes a 10:1 mix of veggie oil and gasoline,and in the winter,a 5:1 ratio. He states that the gasoline enables him to leave the glycerin in the fuel,and the glycerine is the ''gunpowder'' that gives his '98 Dodge 30 perrcent better fuel mileage. [he also adds #2 Diesel to the mix]. The by product is a meal-cake that his cattle love to eat. 100 acres yields 11,000 gallons of fuel.

 

[Mr. C]

Wow, I don't think it's a very good idea to be compressing gasoline to the high pressures of the modern fuel injection system. I'll bet Rudolf Diesel is rolling over in his grave.

"Gunpowder" is a very good choice of words.



Regards, Mike

 

[Forrest Nearing]

Wow, I don't think it's a very good idea to be compressing gasoline to the high pressures of the modern fuel injection system. I'll bet Rudolf Diesel is rolling over in his grave.

"Gunpowder" is a very good choice of words.



Regards, Mike

lots of people cut bio/wvo/wmo/etc. with gasoline... what's the problem?

 

[cj hall]

what?

hello

why is this a problem,if there is a problem then tell us what it is.

the gasoline at 23000 lbs psi is not that big of deal its in a sealed unit that has no air or spark. yes if you have a leak then you have a problem but with a leak it not going to run

i would think that every part in the high pressure side of the fuel system is tested to four fold of the stated presure thats the way the SAE enginers like to rate things and to put thier name on it. if it was compresed air at 2300 lbs or gas/oil/water at 2300 psi i feel safer with the gas/oil/water.

just my 2 cents



cj hall

 

[Mr. C]

I missread the ratio above, I thought it stated a 50 percent ratio and that sounded way to high. I don't remember where it was i got the advice but I was told or read somewhere that gasoline was too volatile to run in a high presure environment. Didn't the father of the diesel engine have one blow up in his face under those circumstances?



Anyway this is all mute cause I thought the ratios were much higher, surely that would cause problems

 

[Msilbernagel]

Regarding the safety of gas under pressure in the HPCR engines:



In principle...



Diesels work by heating the air (oxygen source) via compression such that when the fuel enters under pressure it spontaneously ignites. The ability to do this is measured as 'cetane index' -- as in 100 would be identical to cetane's propensity to do so.



Gas engines work by resisting that very same tendency diesel has to ignite spontaneously, in favor of requiring a spark. That ability to resist heat/pressure detonation (until the spark arrives) is measured as 'octane' -- as in 100 rating for a given fuel would mean identical behavior to octane's ability to resist...



cetane and octane are the benchmark fuels and are on opposite ends of the 'spectrum' - that is, higher cetane translates to lower octane, and vice-versa.



So, since gas is LESS inclined to ignite spontaneously under heat/pressure than diesel and given that free oxygen and spark (!) is lacking in the high-pressure lines - I would argue in favor of gas being safer than diesel under pressure.



That's my reasoning d'jour, at least.



FYI - Mark

-

I missread the ratio above, I thought it stated a 50 percent ratio and that sounded way to high. I don't remember where it was i got the advice but I was told or read somewhere that gasoline was too volatile to run in a high presure environment. Didn't the father of the diesel engine have one blow up in his face under those circumstances?



Anyway this is all mute cause I thought the ratios were much higher, surely that would cause problems

 

[HoleshotHolset]

I think the general lack of lubricity inherent with gasoline is the bigger issue at hand...



Matt