The 2020 rapeseed harvest will likely once more be lower than average, but this is not due to shrinking demand, according to Germany’s Union zur Förderung von Oel- und Proteinpflanzen (UFOP), referring to the German biodiesel industry’s feedstock requirements. In 2019, the industry produced 3.4 million tons (1.02 billion gallons) of biodiesel, of which about … Read More

With the preponderance of evidence from numerous studies showing the unsuitability of using pure or straight plant oil for long-term use as diesel fuel substitute in unmodified modern CI engines, researchers have focused on using various blends of different plant oils with diesel fuel. There are basically two parameters that can be changed or adjusted: … Read More

An excellent review of literature concerning the use of various kinds of plant oils as a replacement for diesel fuel was made by Jones and Peterson of the University of Idaho. Pryde (1982) also reviewed the results of a number of studies on the use of plant oils as a diesel substitute and reported that … Read More

There are a number of physical and chemical characteristics of plant oils that affect their suitability as fuels. These include the heating value, pour point, cloud point, flash point, iodine value, viscosity, density, and cetane number. The characteristics that directly affect the efficiency of the fuel and the performance of the engine are summarized in … Read More