[Scratchammo]

What would be required to run filtered WVO in a diesel generator. Also, would HHO work with it too? My idea is to start the generator with regular diesel & when the WVO & HHO dry cell is heated I'd switch it over to them. Any thoughts or opinions?

[doctherock]

It would help to know what WVO and HHO are.

[CA357]

Originally Posted by doctherock

It would help to know what WVO and HHO are.

Yeah, what he said.

[Scratchammo]

Waste vegetable oil & oxyhydrogen/Brown's Gas.

[USEBOTHHANDS]

as pertaining to "Brown Gas - HHO"

"The most common and decisive counter-argument against using the gas as a fuel is that the energy required to split water molecules exceeds the energy recouped by burning it, and these devices reduce, rather than improve fuel efficiency" - Wiki

[Troy Michalik]

Using straight WVO isn't as easy as pouring it in the tank.

First there is the collection aspect of it. And I have heard accounts of folks finding all sorts of dead critters in the grease tanks behind restaurants.

The next issue is filtration. Being that it is waste oil, it will have all manner of injector clogging material in it like crumbs, batter drippings and french fry bits that will need to be taken out. And then, after you're done with that, you'll have to put it through a really good filter.

Finally (and you alluded to this in your post) not only do you have to start the generator with diesel and then switch to WVO, but before you cut it off, you've got to switch back to diesel and let it run for a little while. You'll not want to leave the WVO in the system and let it cool down. Bad news!

[Scratchammo]

Originally Posted by Troy Michalik

Using straight WVO isn't as easy as pouring it in the tank.

First there is the collection aspect of it. And I have heard accounts of folks finding all sorts of dead critters in the grease tanks behind restaurants.

The next issue is filtration. Being that it is waste oil, it will have all manner of injector clogging material in it like crumbs, batter drippings and french fry bits that will need to be taken out. And then, after you're done with that, you'll have to put it through a really good filter.

Finally (and you alluded to this in your post) not only do you have to start the generator with diesel and then switch to WVO, but before you cut it off, you've got to switch back to diesel and let it run for a little while. You'll not want to leave the WVO in the system and let it cool down. Bad news!

The wvo would indeed definitely be filtered. And you are also correct about running diesel before stopping. I've known of someone that did this with his truck.

[USEBOTHHANDS]

filtering will work, but the viscosity has to be lowered by heating of the "filtered" oil in order to get it to atomize correctly. if it is not correctly atomized, then excessive carbon build-up from incomplete combustion will result in detrimental engine damage. you can do this by adding a second tank (to hold the VO) and a heat exchanger, and run it as you stated -- diesel, VO, diesel. with a single tank, direct injection engine, you'll have to heat with a block heater first; with an indirect injection engine, it's complicated (there is a kit, i believe for both).

as long as you have purified (not just filtered) the Vegetable Oil you can leave it, BUT you have to separate off the fats (fatty acids) in the oil. you know what i'm talking about if you have ever: 1. treated a cast iron pot with VO after cooking, cleaning, drying and then coating with VO; after about 2 weeks or more of set-up, it tends to leave a sticky residue on the pot -- that's the fat; or 2. an "old" or "rancid" smelling oil -- that's because the fats in the VO have spoiled.

you have to MAKE SURE that ALL the fats are separated from the actual end product.

IIRC, all of this should be true. it was on an episode of Dirty Jobs and i have a 7.3L diesel that i did some research on. the fatty acids are the detrimental chemical combinations for the whole process. i haven't been able to find anything online yet in detail about it though.

[Scratchammo]

Originally Posted by USEBOTHHANDS

filtering will work, but the viscosity has to be lowered by heating of the "filtered" oil in order to get it to atomize correctly. if it is not correctly atomized, then excessive carbon build-up from incomplete combustion will result in detrimental engine damage. you can do this by adding a second tank (to hold the VO) and a heat exchanger, and run it as you stated -- diesel, VO, diesel. with a single tank, direct injection engine, you'll have to heat with a block heater first; with an indirect injection engine, it's complicated (there is a kit, i believe for both).

as long as you have purified (not just filtered) the Vegetable Oil you can leave it, BUT you have to separate off the fats (fatty acids) in the oil. you know what i'm talking about if you have ever: 1. treated a cast iron pot with VO after cooking, cleaning, drying and then coating with VO; after about 2 weeks or more of set-up, it tends to leave a sticky residue on the pot -- that's the fat; or 2. an "old" or "rancid" smelling oil -- that's because the fats in the VO have spoiled.

you have to MAKE SURE that ALL the fats are separated from the actual end product.

IIRC, all of this should be true. it was on an episode of Dirty Jobs and i have a 7.3L diesel that i did some research on. the fatty acids are the detrimental chemical combinations for the whole process. i haven't been able to find anything online yet in detail about it though.

What would you suggest be the best method of separating the fatty acids?

[USEBOTHHANDS]

ahhhhhhhhh, that is the magical question............i haven't been able to find ANYWHERE online that caters to such an endeavor. and the machinery that the man had on Dirty Jobs, was pricey (but i think he did it over several years).

try this link:

YouTube - biodiesel man part 1of 2

YouTube - biodiesel man part 1of 2