There are at least 3 ways to run a diesel motor on biofuel using vegetable oils, animal fats or both. All 3 are utilized with both fresh and used oils.

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

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

3. Convert it to biodiesel.

The first 2 methods sound most convenient, however, as so often in life, it's not rather that simple.

1. Mixing it

Grease is much more thick (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 easily 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 most, however still unclean enough, lots of would state. Still, for each gallon of

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

People use numerous blends, varying from 10% vegetable oil and 90% petro-diesel to 90% grease and 10% petro-diesel. Some people simply utilize it that method, begin up and go, without pre-heating it (that makes veg-oil much thinner), or perhaps utilize pure grease 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 a really hard and tolerant motor-- it won't like it but you probably will not kill it. Otherwise, it's not wise.

To do it effectively you'll require what totals up 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 requirement for the mixes.

Blends with different solvents and/or with unleaded fuel are "experimental at finest", little or absolutely nothing is understood about their results on the combustion qualities of the fuel or their long-lasting results 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 motor and their fuel systems are created.

Diesel motor are modern devices with really accurate fuel requirements, specifically the more contemporary, cleaner-burning diesels (see The TDI-SVO controversy).

They're tough but they'll only take so much abuse. There's no assurance of it, but utilizing a mix of up to 20% veg-oil of excellent quality is stated to be safe enough for older diesels, specifically in summer season.

Otherwise utilizing veg-oil fuel needs either an expert SVO solution or biodiesel. Mixes and blends are generally a bad compromise. But mixes do have an advantage in winter.

Just like biodiesel, some kerosene or winterised petro-diesel fuel mixed with straight vegetable oil reduces the temperature level at which it begins to gel. (See Using biodiesel in winter) More about fuel blending and blends.