The Fascinating Life and Strange Death of Rudolph Diesel

[Paul Mackin]

On Sep 20, 2005, at 11:23 AM, David Gentle wrote:

>> German engineering is amazing. I just bought a VW Jetta TDI to
>> go along with my 2000 Honda Insight. Going diesel for the first
>> time, I was curious about its origins. I had no idea that there had
>> actually been a man named "Diesel" who had come up with the
>> the idea of the "oil engine," and that originally he had intended
>> for it to be run on vegetable oil.
>>
> Some people here in the UK (especially Scotland, I believe) are  
> running their cars on vegitable oil. This, of course, annoys the  
> government who would prefer they run them on something that they  
> can tax (i.e. actual diesel fuel). Don't know if this happens  
> anywhere else in the world but you can tell if a car is running on  
> vegitable oil by the smell of hot chip fat.
> Is this Pynchonian enough?
>
> thanks,
> David Gentle
>

I've had a long standing intimate relationship with a Diesel engine  
except in a boat rather
than an auto.  One problem with Diesel at least in a watery  
environment is contamination
by micro-organisms, which tends to clog fuel lines and make progress  
come to a sputtering
stop. I've had to blow out my fuel lines dozens and dozens of times.  
Sometimes the contamination gets so bad you have to replace the fuel  
tank. So I'm wondering if vegetable oil might be even more nutritious  
than Diesel for the little critters?

A huge advantage for Diesel in boats is that it's volatility  is much  
lower than that of gasoline.
Highly explosive fumes don't accumulate in lower regions of the  
vessel.  Unlike with gasoline
powered  boats, Diesels never blow up.