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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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Diesel Fuel Substitute

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Bill Holcomb
Admiral

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USA
769 Posts

Initially Posted - 01/24/2003 : 08:55:06

Hi all,

I heard an interesting piece on NPR a couple days ago regarding diesel fuel prices in Great Britain and the fight one fellow is making to provide a less costly fuel for cars & trucks that run on diesel. He gets used cooking oil from fast food restaurants, filters the oil to get rid of food particles, and then sells it as a substitute for diesel. The story said that not only is it much less expensive, and it works as well or better, it certainly smells different. The piece said that one could use the cooking oil 100% or mix it with diesel.

With the recent comments on this forum regarding diesel smells in boats, I wondered if using cooking oil (vegitable oil) had ever been tried by any of our owners?????

Bill Holcomb - C25 Snickerdoodle #4839

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ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 01/24/2003 : 09:25:46

You can get soy-based diesel in some areas of the West coast. I believe that the fuel is not 100% vegetable based, but is a blend of
conventional diesel and biofuel stocks.

From what I read, the exhaust smells like over-cooked french fries in a fast food joint.

-CB

Currently maintaining two holes in the water...'77 Venture 23 and new to the family,
'78 Catalina 25

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Douglas
Master Marine Consultant

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1595 Posts

Response Posted - 01/24/2003 : 13:01:22

The big problem I see with the English man using used cooking oil is the polution problem. With out traffic problems I would hate to get stuck behind someone whos exaust smalled like fish and chips.

Doug&Ruth
Triska (Alberg 29)
Tacoma Wa.

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jandrus
1st Mate

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USA
79 Posts

Response Posted - 01/24/2003 : 13:03:36

I have known several people who run their diesel automobiles on corn-oil. Most of them are people who have their houses off-grid etc. One guy has been running his diesel Vanagon for years on filtered used fryolator oil.

You need to know what you're doing but it can be done. My next boat will be diesel powered and I will do the fry oil routine. Corn oil can be refined to have the same caloric and lubricative values as the varrious diesel fuels.

As far as soy-based fuel, I believe its the way of the future.

Justin

c25 #1942 s/v tako kichi

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pwhallon
Admiral

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USA
694 Posts

Response Posted - 01/25/2003 : 09:32:57

I saw that piece on the guy in England.

As I recall they said his exhaust smelled like french fries...no kidding.

PW

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pwhallon
Admiral

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USA
694 Posts

Response Posted - 01/25/2003 : 09:33:28

I saw that piece on the guy in England.

As I recall they said his exhaust smelled like french fries...no kidding.

PW

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lcharlot
Master Marine Consultant

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Antigua and Barbuda
1301 Posts

Response Posted - 01/25/2003 : 11:07:02

We have a C-25 with the inboard diesel in our club, an '88 WK, that the owner has occasionally run on bio-diesel made from soybean oil, which you can buy from a fuel company in Richmond, CA. The exhaust smell is a lot less noxious than petro-diesel, but the cost was very high, about $4.25/gallon versus $1.25/gallon for the regular diesel. There is also a concern about the effects of the bio-diesel on the various seals, gaskets, o-rings, and hoses in the boat's fuel system; would it cause these rubber parts to shrink, swell, or dry out and crack? My friend didn't experience any problems, but only ran a total of three or four gallons of it; it is just too expensive. Over a longer period of time, who knows?

There was also an experiment conducted by the National Park Service a few years ago, in Yellowstone. They took one of their motor pool trucks, a 3/4 ton Dodge pickup with the Cummins diesel, and ran it on bio-diesel for a year. I don't remember if this was refined restaurant fryer grease or soybean oil, but the experiment proved that the truck ran well on the stuff, even in winter with sub-zero temps, and there appeared to be no significant deterioration of rubber hoses and seals. The bio-fuel, being carbohydrate based and therefore partially oxygenated, has less chemical energy per unit volume than petroleum-based fuel oil, so the truck got less miles per gallon, about 15~16 if I remember, versus the 20~22 most owners get on regular #2 diesel. The fuel was of course more expensive too, about a dollar a gallon more.

For more info, go to any web search engine and use "bio-diesel" as a keyword search, and you will get at least a hundred web pages and articles.

Larry Charlot
Catalina 25 #1205 "Quiet Time"
Sacramento, CA

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ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 01/25/2003 : 11:50:40

Per some of my reading, the 'knock' on BioDiesel (and bio-fuels in general) is that they are (environmentally speaking) pretty much a 'push'.

The concept sounds nice, but the amount of resources consumed in growing the fuel crop, i.e. water, fetilizer, pesticides, transportation, processing, and the sheer volume of land needed to grow the crops negates most of the environmental benefits.

That said, being able to use an otherwise 'dumped' material or byproduct (like used cooking oil) sounds like a big plus.

Currently maintaining two holes in the water...'77 Venture 23 and new to the family,
'78 Catalina 25

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Douglas
Master Marine Consultant

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1595 Posts

Response Posted - 01/25/2003 : 13:24:58

Having sailed boats without diesel and with I prefer with. For several years I did the engine room work on a 90 yawl. Each time I went for a sail on her the smell was a part of the experiance. Its a smell I enjoy. Selling my Catalina last year was a hard choice to make but now each time I open Triska up for a sail I get a small similar smell as I did on the larger boat. Its not a stong or smell its just a diesel smell. A slight aroma of what I beleve a boat should smell like. Its goes away after the boat has been open for a few minutes. If the bilge and engine areas aren't kept clean I can understand how it might be overpowering. But keeping the boat klean prevents this. The way I feel is its like a classic boat smell. The smell of oakum or varnish or pitch it just belongs. Triska has a Yanmar 2GM15. Its only a small 13 horse power 2 cylender engine and when it starts its just nice to hear the thump of that wonderful little diesel working for me. She also only burns about a quart of fuel an hour at 2200 rpm's

Doug&Ruth
Triska (Alberg 29)
Tacoma Wa.

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MattL
Admiral

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USA
990 Posts

Response Posted - 01/26/2003 : 05:55:39

I get "Wooden Boat" magazine and the latest issue has an article about bio diesel. It looks to me like the way to go. The article was concerning motorboaters need for speed and suggested a slower pace of life would be better for the soul. (My interpitation of the article). It gave me the desire to go for it if ever I slip over to the dark side.<img src=icon_smile_evil.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
Take a look at the article if you get a chance.

Matt/Brigitte Loeffler
E.C. Rider
Cat 25 86'
FK/SR _/)

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