RUG or Kerosene blending with WVO?

[Adam]

Has anyone tried this? I'm trying to lower the amount of fossil fuel I'm using. Right now I'm using 50 litres of diesel (25L pump & 25L bio) for every 3,500km or so. I'd like o reduce that even more buy blending with a lower viscosity fuel. I've read from a very reliable source (the interwebs) that 15% RUG (regular unleaded gas) mixed with 85% WVO will run fine in a diesel engine. I'm a little freaked about putting RUG in my vehicle, has anyone had any experience with this?

The other option which doesn't freak me out as much is blending with kerosene. I think I would have to use a much higher kerosene percentage than I would with RUG because it looks like kerosene is approximately 3 times more viscous than RUG. The problem I see aside from having to use more fossil fuel is that I done know of a pump source for kerosene.

Anyone have any thoughts?

[FalcoColumbarius]

You have two types of Diesel:

• Diesel 1; this is also known by names like "Jet Fuel", "Kerosene", &c.
  Diesel 2; which is the diesel that runs diesel engines in vehicles.

Diesel 2 has additives in it that give it "lubricity", that helps to lubricate the engine. Diesel 1, or kerosene, does not have this lubricity that diesel 2 has. if I was stuck out in the toolies having run out of fuel I would use kerosene if I had it, but only as a temporary measure, I would not use it as an everyday supplement.

Another thing to think about is diesel is an oil. Gasoline is a solvent and tends to break down oils, thereby breaking down the lubricity in your engine ~ like WD40, which is a cleaner, not a lubricant. When I was a cycle courier in London we had issues with dirt getting onto the chains, eventually causing them to derail. To resolve this problem we sprayed WD40 onto the chain to keep them clean (worked very well) but consequently every weekend we had to re-grease our sprockets and bottom brackets as the WD40 would break down the grease.
Gasoline would do this to your engine.

Falco.

[Adam]

My hope was that the RUG would mix with the WVO and thin it out. Thereby giving the WVO a viscosity closer to diesel, yet still retain the lubricating properties. I guess I could run some tests on my own.

[FalcoColumbarius]

Good Idea. There are forums on line set up by owners of those great big motor homes. You ought to check them out while you are at it.

• http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question105.htm
  http://www.purdue.edu/envirosoft/housew ... rosene.htm
  http://www.ezoil.com/Resources/Kerosene ... _Fuel.html
  http://www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/introduction.html
  http://auto.howstuffworks.com/diesel1.htm
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetane_number
  http://autorepair.about.com/cs/faqs/l/bl207g.htm
  http://www.lucasoil.com/

These are a few of the links I have come across in my inter-cyber travels. perhaps they might help you, too... smiles.

Falco.

[BCDelica]

Hi Adam, posted so before that just can't used to the idea of gas blends in a diesel. The high compression and tight tolerances just don't bode well with a solvent like RUG. And there just don't seem to be a pile of research on said subject.

How about blending diesel and WVO, along with a diesel winterizing additive/viscosity reducer??

Kev