Donald asks…
How does the viscosity of biodiesel compare to the viscosity of petroleum-based fuels?
How does biodiesel‘s viscosity compare to petroleum-based fuels? Also, why is viscosity a factor to consider for fuels?
admin answers:
It’s about the same. Viscosity is important because, say if you tried using straight vegetable oil as fuel, which is about 5 times more viscous than diesel, this would clog engine components such as fuel injectors. In this instance, an engine would need modifying to cope with this, either to pre-heat and therefore thin the oil before it enters the injectors, or by installing a 2 tank system whereby the car is run on normal diesel until warm and then switched over to biodiesel. It’s better to use biodiesel, which can be made from vegetable oil. See http://www.biodieselbooklet.co.uk.
George asks…
How do you test biodiesel without a car?
Are there other options of testing biodiesel rather than a car?
And how do you know if the engine is compatible with biodiesel and it wont explode?
admin answers:
Car engines are not the only things that run on diesel.
You may be able to use it in a heater.
To test a home brew of bio-diesel you can take a table spoon of it and commercial diesel and compare them for viscosity and flammability.
Rather than running a vehicle on 100% bio-diesel a mixture may be best.
Jenny asks…
What is the chemical equation for a combustion reaction of biodiesel?
What is the chemical equation for a combustion reaction of biodiesel?
Or if there is none, what is the main chemical in biodiesel and what’s the equation for that?
Make a note that it is BIOdiesel
Let’s say it’s a methyl linoleate. Then what?
admin answers:
First you have to decide what is used as the alcohol base.
Biodiesel can be made up of methyl linoleate (soybean or canola oil and methanol) – OR -
ethyl sterate (soybean or canola oil and ethanol)
Mark asks…
How do I convert my diesel to biodiesel?
I have a 1998 24 valve cummins trubo diesel truck, and I was wondering what do we need to replace to have the truck run on biodiesel. I have heard that this model may need replacement of the fuel pump, but im not sure what kind of fuel pump I would need. I am planning on using 100% rather than the lower blends, or filtered vegitable oil
admin answers:
If you are using an older vehicle, other than changing the fuel lines and changing the filter if it clogs(which it most likely will, then never again) you don’t need to make any changes. If your using a new vehicle then your already good to go. When changing the hoses, use synthetic material, NOT RUBBER, the biodiesel will eat away at rubber, but not synthetic material.
Lisa asks…
How do I decrease the viscosity of biodiesel?
I need to decrease the viscosity of B-99.9 biodiesel with common alcohols/surfactants. I’ve tried isopropyl rubbing alcohol, and it works well. Everything else, however has too high of a water content to mix with the fuel.
admin answers:
Find some methanol from a chemistry source, usually about 99 percent pure, where as rubbing alcohol is about 70%
or find 190 proof everclear
Daniel asks…
How do I prove that my biodiesel is different from the vegetable oil from which the diesel was derived?
I am making biodiesel for a science project on a very very minimalistic budget (25 dollars). Is there a cheap yet effective way to tell the difference between biodiesel and vegtable oil? I do not have anything that runs diesel in my home. Please exclude things that can be derived locally, unless you know for a fact that this is something that can be found anywhere (i.e. in a supermarket).
admin answers:
During the reaction to create bio-diesel, the acidity value of the oil will change to pH neutral. If the reaction is complete, then a simple Litmus Paper test is your cheapest way of showing a difference in acidity/alkalinity- test the source oil, then test the bio-diesel, and show the results.
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