On Fri, 2006-07-07 at 16:28 +1200, Philip Charles wrote: > Careful with the vegetable oil. Its viscosity is too high for a > standard > diesel which means that either you have to modify the engine or > change > the chemical composition of the oil. I looked at this for my diesel > car.
Composition can generally be altered by leaving vege oil in the presence of alcohol that has previously been mixed with caustic soda. The alcohol/soda mix - do read up on the proportions and cautions - is very toxic and not safe to handle without protective gloves, but after about 24 hrs has knocked the vege oil molecules into thirds. This makes it lighter and usable as diesel. The remaining sludge does not go in the tank, and is mostly glycerin and water. It conveniently separates automagically and sinks to the bottom. The reaction can be carried out in as little as a pop bottle, or as big as a 40 gallon drum. Sorry, 150 litre drum. Vik :v)
