The Fascinating Life and Strange Death of Rudolph Diesel

[jporter]

  Paul Mackin wrote:

" 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?"


Apparently, biodiesel can actually prevent this when used
in a new engine, since it tends to sweep the fuel system
clean. When used in an engine which has been burning
standard  petro-diesel for some time, it may tend to sweep
the micro-organisms which have built up in the system into
the fuel filter, clogging it.

Biodiesel  can be used in any diesel engine, including marine
systems, by the way, but one must be careful of hoses and
connectors made with natural rubber, which, like the micro-orgs,
are subject to dissolution by biodiesel. Like tends to dissolve
like they taught us in chemistry class.

jody