There are at least three methods to run a diesel motor on biofuel utilizing vegetable oils, animal fats or both. All three are utilized with both fresh and secondhand oils.

1. Use the oil simply as it is-- usually called SVO fuel (straight grease);

2. Mix it with kerosene (paraffin) or petroleum diesel fuel, or with biodiesel, or mix it with a solvent, or with fuel;

3. Convert it to biodiesel.

The very first two approaches sound most convenient, but, as so typically in life, it's not quite that easy.

1. Mixing it

Vegetable oil is far more viscous (thicker) than either petro-diesel or biodiesel. The function of mixing it or mixing it with other fuels is to decrease the viscosity to make it thinner so that it streams more freely through the fuel system into the combustion chamber.

If you're blending veg-oil with petroleum diesel or kerosene (like # 1 diesel) you're still using fossilfuel-- cleaner than many, however still not clean enough, numerous would state. Still, for every single gallon of

vegetable oil you utilize, that's one gallon of fossil-fuel conserved, and that much less climate-changing carbon in the environment.

People use numerous mixes, ranging from 10% veggie oil and 90% petro-diesel to 90% grease and 10% petro-diesel. Some individuals simply utilize it that way, launch and go, without pre-heating it (which makes veg-oil much thinner), or perhaps use pure veggie oil without pre-heating it, which would make it much thinner.

You may get away with it with an older Mercedes 5-cylinder IDI diesel, which is an extremely difficult and tolerant motor-- it will not like it however you most likely will not eliminate it. Otherwise, it's not wise.

To do it appropriately you'll require what amounts to an SVO system with fuel pre-heating anyhow, ideally using pure petro-diesel or biodiesel for starts and stops. (See next.) In which case there's no need for the blends.

Blends with different solvents and/or with unleaded gasoline are "speculative at finest", little or nothing is understood about their effects on the combustion qualities of the fuel or their long-term impacts on the engine.

Higher viscosity is not the only problem with utilizing grease as fuel. Veg-oil has various chemical residential or commercial properties and combustion qualities from the petroleum diesel fuel for which diesel engines and their fuel systems are created.

Diesel engines are high-tech devices with extremely precise fuel requirements, specifically the more modern-day, cleaner-burning diesels (see The TDI-SVO debate).

They're tough however they'll just take a lot abuse. There's no warranty of it, but utilizing a blend of approximately 20% veg-oil of good quality is said to be safe enough for older diesels, specifically in summer season.

Otherwise using veg-oil fuel requires either a professional SVO service or biodiesel. Mixes and blends are generally a poor compromise. But blends do have an advantage in winter.

Just like biodiesel, some kerosene or winterised petro-diesel fuel blended with straight grease decreases the temperature at which it starts to gel. (See Using biodiesel in winter) More about fuel blending and blends.