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This DieselSecret is just another name for "blending" - where you pay them to use their recipe to mix waste vegetable oil with a few other ingredients to thin it down and run it in your tank. Typically regular unleaded gas (RUG), diesel, acetone, alcohol - all kinds of things are used to lower the viscosity of the vegetable oil in order to make it flow better. Yes, it will probably work - at least for a while. You pay them an up front fee, then you pay for the ingredients - at least the ones that you add to the vegetable oil.
Biodiesel is a little more "scientific" as it relies on a chemical reaction to physically alter the vegetable oil and reduce the viscosity. It's cost me ~ $0.75 gallon to make lately - as my yield has been low and the methanol runs me ~ $3/gallon.
Heated waste vegetable oil is yet another way to do the same thing - warming the grease up until the viscosity approximates diesel. There is an up front cost to build or buy a two tank setup - after that it's basically free to operate... There is the reoccurring cost of filters, rags, cleaners - but that's about the same with all three methods.
Of the three methods, blending and biodiesel are the easiest to get into - there are no vehicle modifications needed. They require all of the same basic WVO preparation to start off with, then you either blend it or react it with lye and methanol. I'm not sure how comfortable you may feel mixing some highly volatile and pretty deadly compounds in your shed or garage, but it can be done and if you are careful there may not even be any permanent nerve damage. Blending a bunch of flammable liquids with your WVO just means you need to stub out the cigar BEFORE going into the mixing room... Both of these methods will require some caution and most likely will involve some waste cleanup.
Heated WVO is easier in the long run - you just pour it into the second tank and once your vehicle is up to operating temperature, flick a switch and change fuels. About 20 seconds before you shut down your vehicle, you switch back to diesel and allow the WVO to purge from the lines. In between you can drive a mile or a thousand miles - it doesn't make much of a difference.
If you are a tree-hugging freak, or just a cheapskate (such as myself) - you can also brew the biodiesel for your main tank. That allows you to skip the pump fuel completely.
The only "secret" is that people aren't paying attention. There has been a lot of testing done with biodiesel as well as heated waste vegetable oil. I'd be a little cautious with blending and my nice, working 12v engine - the long term tests with simple blending have not been as "nice" and unless you enjoy rebuilding your own engine frequently, I'd suggest reading up a lot more on it before going with their route. It will work - but I can pour straight Crisco in my tank from the local supermarket and it will start up and let me drive home. That works too - for a little while. How 'bout you at least try it on a Powerstroke for a few thousand miles before you waste a good engine with it?
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04-23-2006, 04:50 PM
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