Biodiesel Basics
What is biodiesel?
Biodiesel is an alternative renewable fuel made from plant and animal oils that is used in diesel engines, and it reduces emissions by 75% on average compared to petroleum diesel.
History
In 1900, Rudolf Diesel demonstrated his compression ignition engine at the World's Exhibition in Paris. In that prototype engine he used peanut oil, the first biodiesel. Vegetable oils were used until the 1920's when an alteration was made to the engine enabling it to use a residue of petroleum diesel. Although the diesel engine gained worldwide acceptance, biodiesel did not. With superior price, availability, and government subsidies, petroleum diesel quickly became the fuel of choice for the diesel engine. Now increasing concerns about the potential of global climate change, declining air and water quality, and serious human health concerns are inspiring the development of biodiesel, as a renewable, cleaner burning diesel alternative.
Chemistry
Biodiesel comes from chemically altered vegetable oils and animal fats. This chemical process known as transesterification reduces the viscosity of the oils so that it can be used in engines with no modifications. Biodiesel can be made from Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO), which comes from fryers at your local restaurant. WVO is a waste product that may find its way into landfill or city drains. New Leaf's focus is to turn this waste product into a valuable local resource that will improve San Diego's environment and keep it out of the landfills and sewers.
Who can use biodiesel?
Biodiesel can be used in any diesel engine with little or no modification. Vehicles manufactured before 1994 may have natural rubber fuel lines and seals, which should be replaced prior to use. Since biodiesel has excellent solvent properties it will clean your fuel system by removing deposits left by petroleum diesel. This cleaning action can cause the fuel filter to become plugged, so it is advised to have a spare fuel filter handy for the first few weeks after switching to biodiesel, and replacing the fuel filter after the first month. With today’s diesel fuel injection systems designed to run on the thinner viscosity petroleum diesel, modifications to the fuel system would be necessary to run on Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO).
Advantages of Using Biodiesel
Sulfur in petroleum diesel provides lubrication to the fuel system components. Sulfur emissions are related to acid rain and recently sulfur has been removed from petroleum diesel because of the pollution problem. Adding 1% biodiesel more than completely restores the lubrication lost by removing sulfur from diesel and increases the life of the engine.