Fuel consumption and fast food

Look at America today.  We are a society that is hungry for fuel and hungry for food on the go.  Many places that we patronize for our food needs hold the key to a symbiotic relationship with the automobile.

We love our French fries, our cheese sticks, and our other deep-fried foods.  The oil that is used in the fryers goes to profit the fast food companies, the oil suppliers, the corn growers, and the economy in general.  What happens when that oil's life is ended and it is no longer safe for cooking?  It goes to a tank outside of the restaurant to be sold off to a recycler and never to be used for anything very useful again.  I was thinking about this the other night while researching some of the newer economical diesel engines on the market in Europe and had a great thought.

Why not use the oil to power our need for the automobile?

Let's take a look at how a diesel engine works, first.  Basically, your normal gasoline engine needs three things to run-air, fuel, and ignition.  Without one of these, the car will not run.  Air is taken in through the intake and pulled to the cylinder, mixing with a spray of fuel atomized by a fuel injector.  A valve closes, sealing the cylinder.  A piston compresses the fuel and air mixture, and at just the right point, a spark plug ignites the volatile mixture to cause an explosion, sending the piston downward to turn a crankshaft.  If all things are timed just right, the fuel and air mixture is just right, and the cylinder is sealed tightly, the engine runs fine with no problems.  A gasoline engine requires fuel that is rich in explosive alcohol, or octane.  It is mixed with a light oil to lubricate internal components.  When compressed, this mixture is highly explosive.

A diesel engine only uses the power of air compression to ignite fuel.  It works off of the same basic principles, save the electronic spark to ignite the fuel.  Air is taken in through the intake and placed directly in to the cylinder through an intake valve.  The valve closes, the piston compresses the air, then a fuel injector atomizes a light oil directly in to the cylinder at peak compression.  The sudden compression of air causes a great amount of heat, and the light oil is atomized enough to cause an explosion.  The piston is sent down to turn the crankshaft to power the transmission, et cetera.  A diesel engine will run on any non-octane light oil as long as it is thin enough to be pushed through the system efficiently and atomized by the fuel injectors.  A diesel will run on corn oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil, olive oil, WD-40, and a multitude of other things.  This got me thinking:  light oil powers diesel engines...

As Americans, we eat a lot of fast food, which means we use a lot of corn and peanut oil to fry our favorite foods.  When this oil's useful life is up, we could use it to power diesel engines.  If the oil is filtered, it could be atomized through the injectors and cause exactly the same explosion as diesel fuel.  In fact, I have used corn oil in a diesel engine before, and it runs just fine.  How would you like to recycle and save money?  It can be possible.  In fact, the diesel engine is more efficient than a gasoline engine, lasts longer, and requires less maintenance.  You could save a ton of money by driving a diesel vehicle powered by used cooking oil, sometimes even driving for free.

Keep in mind, a diesel engine will not cold start on used vegetable oil.  The oil is too thick to be atomized cold.  It must be started and stopped on regular diesel.  Cooking oil is great if it is warm and thin, but as is cools it will thicken to the point of not being able to be atomized.  If you attempt a cooking oil conversion on your diesel vehicle, remember to leave a small tank for diesel.  A fuel cell for a race car would work great, with a fuel director switch from a dual-tank Ford pickup truck to switch between the tanks.  It may not be a bad idea to warm the vegetable oil before sending it through the system to be burned.  A simple automobile engine block heater will work great to heat the oil in the vegetable tank.

We as Americans can save money, promote the American economy, and reduce our carbon footprint by simply having enough smarts to outsmart the system.  It may not be glamorous driving a diesel vehicle, but the money saved can be great.  Even if you choose to not convert your diesel vehicle to run on vegetable oil, you're still saving money in the long run.  With the reduction in maintenance and increased fuel economy, you'll be spending a lot less money commuting to work.

For questions about diesel engines, running on vegetable oil, or anything else automotive, email me at diyfixyourcar@gmail.com