Yep. I specifically told him the oil becomes less viscous with heat. Oh well.
Steve Spence Subscribe to the Renewable Energy Newsletter & Discussion Boards. Read about Sustainable Technology: http://www.green-trust.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Frank R. Leslie" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2003 2:36 PM Subject: [The Future of Humanity] RE: [renewable-energy] Recipe for Car Power: Heat Vegetable Oil, Flip Switch and Go. > Did you catch the part about "when the vegetable oil becomes more > viscous in the heater"? Reporterese strikes again. > > Frank Leslie > > > > --- > =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- > =-=| > | Frank R. Leslie | Pers. email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > | > | 1017 Glenham Drive, NE | Prof. email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > | > | Palm Bay FL 32905-4855 | Home: (321) 768-6629 | KD4EYQ | > 020831 | > | 28-01.3130N / 80-35.6136W > | > | www.geocities.com/windy4us (Wind Energy Experimenters) > | > | www.geocities.com/sun_powered (Outings, Hiking & Wind River trip > advice)| > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Steve Spence [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Tuesday, April 22, 2003 7:59 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; > wastewatts; vegoil-diesel; sustainablenrg; homeenergysolutions; future9; > EcoPages_Newswire; BiomassGroup; bio-oil; alternatepower; biofuels-biz; > BFIC; 3rdworldenergy; Biofuel - Egroups; Biodiesel - Egroups > Subject: [renewable-energy] Recipe for Car Power: Heat Vegetable Oil, > Flip Switch and Go. > > > > http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm > > Recipe for Car Power: Heat Vegetable Oil, Flip Switch and Go. By CHRIS > DIXON > > > LOS ANGELES, April 21 - "I wouldn't do this to a $30,000 car unless I > was confident that it would work." > > With that, John Lin, owner of a Los Angeles fast-food franchise, opened > the door of an opulent white Ford Excursion. > > Powered by a seven-liter turbo-diesel engine that delivers just 13 miles > a gallon, this oversize S.U.V. seemed the quintessential > environmentalist's target. Yet soon, Mr. Lin will be paying less to fuel > it than he would pay if he owned a Toyota Prius, which supplements > gasoline with electricity. As an added benefit, he will sharply reduce > the pollution. > > Mr. Lin will not use a radical new mileage-boosting technology, but > rather he will use simple vegetable oil, the same cheap, plentiful and > clean-burning fuel that Rudolf Diesel used to power his first engine at > the 1900 Paris World's Fair. > > Normally, a restaurateur like Mr. Lin would have to pay someone to haul > off the 10 gallons of vegetable oil used each day in his fryers. The oil > would be dumped in a landfill, or perhaps used in animal feed. Instead, > Mr. Lin will filter his oil and pour it into a heated auxiliary tank on > the Excursion. > > He will then start the vehicle on regular diesel, and after a few > minutes, when the vegetable oil becomes more viscous in the heater, a > manual switch will direct it to the diesel engine. From there, the only > detectable difference will be the faint odor of French fries, and a > noticeable lack of diesel stench. > > The change in odor, however, is not the only benefit to be gained. In > 1998, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory released a study on a > fuel called biodiesel. Essentially vegetable oil with methanol and lye > added to aid cold-weather flow and remove glycerin, biodiesel results in > fewer harmful emissions than petroleum-based diesel. > > Carbon monoxide emissions are reduced by 43 percent, hydrocarbons by 56 > percent, particulates by 55 percent and sulfurs, a particular problem > with petroleum diesel, are reduced by 100 percent. > > Typically, biodiesel fuel costs at least as much as regular diesel. But > straight vegetable oil is essentially free; Mr. Lin says most restaurant > owners are more than happy to get rid of it. And unlike biodiesel, it > does not require methanol and lye. It does, however, require a fairly > simple conversion system that consists of a vegetable oil tank and a > fuel heater. > > A couple of years ago, after much online research, Mr. Lin bought a 1983 > Mercedes 300SD Turbodiesel for $3,000 and got in touch with a diesel > enthusiast, Charlie Anderson. Mr. Anderson, a farmer in Drury, Mo., had > just founded a company called Greasel. For $500, Mr. Anderson sold Mr. > Lin one of his first vegetable-oil-to-diesel conversion kits and coached > Mr. Lin on installing it. > > "I said, If it blows up, it blows up," Mr. Lin said, "and I'm only out > $3,000. But I installed the system, flipped the switch, and sure enough, > the thing works." > > Mr. Lin found that vegetable oil led to no noticeable loss in power or > mileage. In fact, he said, it smoothed the engine's idle. This came as > no surprise to Mr. Anderson, who has now installed hundreds of systems > in a variety of diesel vehicles - Volkswagen TDI's, tractors, large > Dodge four-by-fours and even a used Greyhound bus. In addition, Greasel > has sold hundreds more of its units to do-it-yourselfers. > > "Even if people are paying the same for this as diesel," he said, "it's > just so much better for the environment. A dog can lick this stuff right > off the ground." > > If biodiesel or straight vegetable oil are so much better as fuels, why > aren't they in widespread use? Simple economics is how Russ Teall, a > biodiesel refiner and president of Biodiesel Industries, sees it. > "Basically the cost of virgin vegetable oil is too high," he said. "It > costs from $1.65 to $2 a gallon. At the wholesale level, petroleum > diesel varies from 60 cents to $1.20 in California." > > Mr. Teall also says a lack of transportation and refining infrastructure > have discouraged a shift to biofuel. > > But Joe Jobe, president of the National Biodiesel Board, said this was > changing rapidly as a result of smaller refining plants and a worldwide > glut of vegetable oil. > > "The price of vegetable oils and diesels are beginning to come closer > because of the growing demand for soy protein for food," Mr. Jobe said. > "When you grind up soybeans, you get 80 percent soy meal and 20 percent > oil." Furthermore, he said, biodiesel can also be made easily from waste > restaurant oil. > > Steve Spence > Subscribe to the Renewable Energy Newsletter > & Discussion Boards. Read about Sustainable Technology: > http://www.green-trust.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > ========================================================== > THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN THE RENEWABLE ENERGY LIST. > ---------------------------------------------------------- > . Please feel free to send your input to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > . Join the list by sending a blank e-mail to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > . To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > . To view previous messages from the list, > subscribe to a daily digest of the list, > or stop receiving the list by e-mail > (and read it on the Web), go to > http://www.yahoogroups.com/list/renewable-energy . > . This e-mail discussion list is managed by > the American Wind Energy Association: > http://www.awea.org > ---------------------------------------------------------- > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > > > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get > off the CONS-SPST-GLOBALWARM-FORUM list, send any message to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > To Post a message, send it to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Rent DVDs Online - Over 14,500 titles. No Late Fees & Free Shipping. Try Netflix for FREE! http://us.click.yahoo.com/YoVfrB/XP.FAA/uetFAA/9bTolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
