Hmm ... I see that the same problem exists in the diesel (biodiesel) world as in the hybrid world.
It seems most journalist and obviously those outside of the biodiesel industry make the same assumptions?
First ... biodiesel is not the same thing as Straight Vegetable Oil ... also known as SVO or in its recycled form as WVO. (Waste Veggie Oil) Biodiesel is a fuel that is made from Veggie oil (or tallow/fat) but is processed/refined making it better as a fuel. The industry is growing quickly but it is still being done at home too.
The assumption by many is that the two products are alike but that would be akin to suggesting that ethanol hybrids run on corn oil. It is sort of true ... but everyone knows that ethanol and corn oil have different properties and are not the same thing.
To run on Biodiesel require only to fill up any diesel powered vehicle with the chemically reacted vegatable oil ... glycerin is removed as is water and trace elements of the catalyst used in the chemical reaction. In other words ... there is no conversion of the vehicle. Just pump and drive as in any liquid fuelled vehicle.
The SVO or WVO converted vehicles that were referenced in the prior posts are slightly different vehicles. See
Greasecar,
Greasol or
Elsbett. (you can also come to our
May 21 CinciTDI.com GTG. - shameless plug!) These cars (or trucks, tractors, etc) are either double or single tank vehicles that use a 'thin fuel' like biodiesel or diesel to start and only run on SVO when the vegatable oil is heated. (heat thins the oil ... take a look at the difference between Crisco at room temperature and when heated)
One of the beauties of the diesel engine is that many of the less refined models can run on just about anything that will combust under pressure. Old ships often would burn 'bunker crude' when out at sea and most US military vehicles can run on mulitple fuels. Unfortunately to get an modern diesel to run clean and efficient, the engines require a more refined fuel. Injection pressures in the newest diesels are now up to almost 30,000 psi ... it atomizes the fuel in such a fine mist that the computer monitored burn is extraordinarily complete. If you have a clean fuel going in, use it more efficiently ... then you get extrordinary mpg or power to connect to a hybrid.
As had been mentioned before ... can you just imagine what a small high torque efficient diesel married to state-of-the-art hybrid technology would be able to do. The efficiency of a hybrid in town and the steady torque and efficiency of a diesel out on the open road!
In short ... biodiesel requires NO modifications ... SVO and WVO require modifications and 'possibly' added maintenance associated with byproducts in the oils. (ie. coking of injectors, excess wear of injector pumps, etc)
For a little light surfing on Biodiesel ... the
National Biodiesel Board's site is a good place to start ... or join the gang over at
Biodieselnow.com that pointed me to this site.
(If you don't find enough material to read there ... then the
Utah Biodiesel Cooperative list is about the best around.)
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Originally Posted by bigbearballs
Yeah, stuff like that. I've really done some research today on this and I'm excited about the project of making a biodiesel car out of a jetta tdi. The kit is about $600 and they say you can get the veggie oil from any restaurant because they have to pay money to dispose of it. I teach also and thought I could make this into some type of lesson for the kiddies. Would you get rid of your hybrid to go this route? It seems extreme, but from what I've read the HCH is not all that environmental friendly. It's of course better than convential cars, but compared to a biodiesel car I think it really lacks in comparison. The mpg I read was about the same as a regular diesel, but the pollution is a lot lower. But diesel already get about 30% that their regular gas counterparts. OK, thanks for reading. Let me know your thoughts and if these seems feasible. I'm going to buy that book, From a fry tank to a gas tank, or something like that first, before I put real energy into a project like this.
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