Alternative fuel setup

[Motovan32]

I’m looking into getting my first bus. I’ve found a bus that I’m really interested in. In the description it says that it’s set up to run on diesel or alternate fuel. Can someone shed some light onto what all goes into setting up a bus to run on alternate fuel and what are the long term impacts on that motor? It’s a 97 7.3 with 109,841 miles.

[Danjo]

What’s the alternate fuel?

Things are changing in the alternative fuels industry. It used to be that you were making it yourself or getting it from someone running a small business doing
It.

But now larger entities are getting in the game,. I’ve been running this stuff

https://propelfuels.com/our_fuels

There’s more of this fuel coming online. A major refinery in the Bay Area is going to start a very large scale project soon.

On the highways in CA, the only thing you’ll find is B20, so it’s at least 1/5 green.

[Motovan32]

But would they have changed anything in the motor to run those fuels?

[Booyah45828]

It's best to ask the seller. They are, after all, the person who wrote the description.

There are numerous definitions and examples of alternative fuels out there. Hydrogen fuel cells, gas/electric hybrids, propane vehicles, etc. are all considered "alternative fuels". Typically, when I see someone refer to a diesel engine with that moniker, they're referring to it's ability to run waste vegetable oil(WVO) or waste motor oil(wmo).

It's not "good" for an engine like you'll see some state, and you can honestly setup most diesel engines to burn the aforementioned fuels. Some engines tolerate it better then others, and not all wmo/wvo/biodiesel is the same.

But no vehicle is designed or equipped to process and filter this stuff on the fly. So you'll have to purchase the correct filtering, heating, centrifuging, and processing equipment in order to make the wvo/wmo truly usable. You might also have to retrofit the vehicle with different pumps, tanks, lines, and heat exchangers for use as well.

None of this is done free though, both in cost and labor. So you might likely find is that it's cheaper to run the engine off diesel like it was designed to be ran in the first place.

[Danjo]

Originally Posted by Motovan32

But would they have changed anything in the motor to run those fuels?

Nope. Runs straight. That the great thing about it. It will be interesting to see how waste oil supply vs demand works out.

[IDIaddict]

I give my straight oil/atf to people that ask for it (I have a small auto shop). One person asks that I put his in a 55 gallon drum and let it sit, then he takes all but the bottom 12 inches and I think all he does is filter it a lot.

Someone else takes the 5q jugs. They both have "hook ups" all over where they wander. Some take a bunch and I never see them again, they're just passing through

If you're getting into it, find small local shops either where you live or where you travel through. Many will gladly give it to you. If you don't know them well see if they'll have "your" drum out back with just oil and ATF. I am guessing that's what people do?

Waste oil removal costs shops money, even if they have a waste oil heater, when you're busy, you can't possibly burn all of it.

I do know it takes some space up to "process" it. You need storage, a way to move it, and a choice of filters, a series of filters, or some people use centrifuges (those don't work as well, as most oils have agents in them to keep things suspended)

I have IDI and TDI vehicles but I have been hesitant to try WMO, even cutting it with diesel or kerosene, simply because I can't afford new injection pumps if I damage any of them haha. It's tempting because I am often drowning in oil.

I am only familiar with Ford and older VW and even older MB running on WMO so if you end up going that route would be neat to see your set up

[Mr4btTahoe]

Originally Posted by IDIaddict

I give my straight oil/atf to people that ask for it (I have a small auto shop). One person asks that I put his in a 55 gallon drum and let it sit, then he takes all but the bottom 12 inches and I think all he does is filter it a lot.

Someone else takes the 5q jugs. They both have "hook ups" all over where they wander. Some take a bunch and I never see them again, they're just passing through

If you're getting into it, find small local shops either where you live or where you travel through. Many will gladly give it to you. If you don't know them well see if they'll have "your" drum out back with just oil and ATF. I am guessing that's what people do?

Waste oil removal costs shops money, even if they have a waste oil heater, when you're busy, you can't possibly burn all of it.

I do know it takes some space up to "process" it. You need storage, a way to move it, and a choice of filters, a series of filters, or some people use centrifuges (those don't work as well, as most oils have agents in them to keep things suspended)

I have IDI and TDI vehicles but I have been hesitant to try WMO, even cutting it with diesel or kerosene, simply because I can't afford new injection pumps if I damage any of them haha. It's tempting because I am often drowning in oil.

I am only familiar with Ford and older VW and even older MB running on WMO so if you end up going that route would be neat to see your set up

I currently run 3 different IDI fords on WMO. We process it via centrifuge... thin it with gasoline (5 gallons or so in a 55 gallon batch) and run it. I run 2 tank systems. Warm up and shut down on pump diesel... after at operating temp, switch to straight oil. No heated tanks.. no nonsense.



I also run an OM617 mercedes on it... but don't run it straight. I run it ~50% or so mix.


I had a lot of issues when first getting started but now, they all run like its from the nozzle at the station. They do haze a bit more and the smell is noticeable but not crazy by any means. We used to use filters and such and do a gravity flow filtration system for our "process". I also used to only run on a single tank which is what caused most of my issues.



I'm setting up my full size bus to run the same mix and we'll be running a pair of 120g tanks on board.


I typically sit on 2k gallons of oil at any given point. I pick up from local farmers and small businesses that would otherwise have to pay to haul it off.