100 MPG on Vegetable Oil

this should turn out better than the steam project

But you probably don't want to go straight veg, you don't have room for a 2nd tank for diesel

or do you?

I don't really have the room, so I am using a blend of 90% Canola and 10% pump diesel to thin it out and make it easier to start. I am trying to find a non-fossil fuel based additive to increase the fuel's viscosity though.

Looking forward to future instalments.
Del

Ive always wanted a work bike that ran on diesel, or an "enduro", hard to find a mfr.

do you have the contact for the engine mfr.

Spacecannon

Hi Lynn,

diesel motor

I would say the tranny would be the tricky part. a nice pre unit Triumph or Norton rolling chassis would be a good starting place

here's a user group

& another discussion

Garth, thx, GA,

I used an HD300D engine that i bought on Ebay. A gentleman in California imports them in bulk from the factory in China, and they go for $379 plus shipping.

Hey don't hold out tell us more

I was thinking these guys could help

http://www.duropower.com/index.asp

I used one of those generators at the top of the page for a while, I could start it with the pull cord no problem when it was cold, a bit harder once it ran for a while. We ran it on Biodiesel

on the veg oil thing, I wondered about cutting it with ethanol?

A guy with a truck stop on the top of the grapevine [outside LA], would cut regular diesel with 5-10% ethanol so he could get a little excise tax relief. it would help a bit with cold flow, epa thought it made for cleaner burning...

Ha! No, I'm not holding out :-D I would have included a link, but he doesn't have any up at the moment. His Ebay business is called "brightspaces" if you want to check him out. Just type in HD300D and, if there are any up, it will find it.

any thoughts on ethanol as an additive

of course I like mine with some ice, maybe a little water or soda

I wouldn't suggest methanol, having seen a few biodiesel makers who have lost a bit of eyesight, from handling methanol.

an ocifer and a gentleman.

I thought adding ethanol was only used in racing diesel engines for the extra power but was hard on the engine.

Im probably wrong, diesel is not my specialty.

Another possibility

how about an ethanol tank & inject it into the fuel system [pump & injectors] at start up & shutdown ?

Does ethanol actually have more energy than Diesel, I would be surprised if true.....

In the UK, special dirt track bikes need long stroke, high compression and a very rich mixture to burn in alcohol engines and produce high power outputs.........

It may be needed to "cool" the burn and let the motor run cooler, now that is a possibility that would fit in with my knowledge......although I must admit I have not checked out its energy level, but I do believe it is less than of petrol......which is less than diesel....

Hopefully my memory is working OK.....

The issue with running straight vegetable oil in a diesel,

is viscosity at start up & to keep from carboning up the piston

Common practices are to

start up & shut down with diesel [dino or bio]

preheat the oil with engine heat to have lower viscosity oil to avoid problems with the fuel pump & injectors

a motorcycle presents unique problems

a diesel is at a weight disadvantage, for outright horse power to weight

When I was making Biodiesel, we would leave some of the excess methanol [you could also use ethanol] in the fuel to ease starting in the winter

We had discussed doing a Harley diesel conversion, a promotional chopper

our thought was to run it on un dryed bio & a little less compression

unfortunately we closed the doors before we got to that point

GA Garth

Have you ever heard of a bike from a mfr called Rokon?

I think they have a diesel option, but its not street legal.

Andy,

Correct, methanol doesnt have more energy per cubic centimeter, but like gasoline it will preignite in the cylinder before the piston reaches the top so you can get a Knock and sometimes blow a hole in the piston head or blow the head gasket. The ethanol will ignite in the cylinder before the diesel, thats another advantage to its use at start up.

Spacecannon

I thank you kind Sir!

Garth,

Thats a possibility, it could be misted into the intake like NOS.

Spacecannon

You can see a HD300D diesel engine being started and run at:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm4WfH6v004

Way cool idea! Keep us posted! If you use recycled veg oil, make sure you filter it well, and have an easily changeable fuel filter in line right before the injectors.

Since heating the house with self made biodiesel for 3 years I have briefly explored a similar project of converting my cheesy old gas run lawn tractor to run either bio or veg oil. This may inspire me to continue to explore the possibility of such a conversion. Can't wait for the next segment.

Neat as a technological feat. And bravo as a better commute vehicle as opposed to a full-sized vehicle. But I'd rather see food products feeding someone rather than powering something, that, after all, is really more of a convenience than a necessity. Vegetable oil wouldn't top my list of the best source of energy for the future.

Vegitable oil or plant derived oil doesnt necessarily come from edible food stuffs,

there are many plants that are soon coming available that are a viable replacement for petrolium based diesel, the best on the horizon that I have heard of is algae.

Garth,

I am trully bummed to hear about your shop closing.

Spacecannon

Minor technical difficulties on the processing plant

the rest of the building burned down, leaving us in a condemmed building we couldn't afford to move or replace... Couple that with a partner [accountant] who decided he was in charge

I'm out of there, last I heard they were muddling along collecting oil from behind resturaunts & reselling it to other producers.

there is certainly a finite market for recycling used fryer oil, which would normally be used for feeding livestock or soap making

there will never be more than a small market for new vegetable oil to be used for energy, the price for food grade oil being too high & it always will be, when energy goes up so does food.

there were subsides for soybean oil up until last year

oil from algae looks promising

there are other non edible oilseeds, but you still run into the problem of water & ariable land

I sure you could use ethanol would work as a primer, but there is also the problem of keeping the pump & injectors flowing in a cold engine

The solution I have been tinkering on is building a small in-line fuel heater to put directly before the injector pump. A short length of pipe with nipples on both sides for the rubber hose wrapped in heater wire. That should solve the problem except during extreme cold weather when the oil can't even flow well from the tank, let alone through the injector.

Hi

Iam from India and i came across a plant Jetropa which is promoted even by UN for making bio diesel.Centrl salt and Marine Chemical Research Institute ,BHAVNAGAR,

Gujarat State,INDIA is specialising in this technology.You may try talking to them as an alternative to Vegetable oil as it is for human cosumption and should not be a priority fuel for Automobiles use.

Khari

Jatropha, could have a place, but much of the initial lustre has worn off, the economics of scale aren't there

http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/07/17/bp-gives-up-on-jatropha-for-biofuel/

GA Garth, jatropha is old news.

Greetings All,

I have been following all the links and found something that I had never thought of before, a hydraulic drive train motorcycle, diesel powered of course. Does anyone have an opinion on that application with a diesel motorcycle, the one i saw had no trany but had a reverse! Would that be the best drive train for a diesel bike?

Spacecannon

That is another way to go

I had heard about mixing the used motor oil with the vegetable oil prior to conversion to biodiesel to improve the cloud point...

we weren't playing with all that, we had to make spec fuel in order to harvest the excise tax subsidy

I had also seen some stuff in the past about mixing gasoline with vegetable oil, as a direct diesel substitute

one of the local collection companies mixed used fryer oil with diesel. all very hush hush as the IRS gets snippy about

the whole render to Cesar thing

The great thing about building a diesel powered anything is the variety of usable fuels available. I can't wait to get my hands on some algae oil to test out!

hi my name is chuck gratzle ,, i build a motor cycle that runs on alcohol last year for a project at school( to a search on my name ,, it will pop up) anyway i build a two speed trans useing belts and pulleys ,, along the lines of a belt rototiller and hooked it to a foot peg,, you pill it up with your toe and it tighten the belt for 1 gear, ( 0 to 25 mph), step down on it thats 2 gear ,, 25 to some where over 55 mph) if you fall off .springs return it to center. used a old military cast iron wisconsin engine , with a little head and carb work ,, it runs well and i been riding it over a year, i put a glow plug in the intake to help starting,, any way ,, i got 2 petter ac1 motors to use on a diesel bike , i,m starting to work on, thought maybe my trans idea may help you out,, chuckgratzle@yahoo