Diesel motors last a long time, with half a million miles or more not unusual, There are very few thorough, long-term studies of the effects of using pure plant oils in diesel motors. What is clear however, is that "any diesel" is an exaggeration. There are several reasons.

• Some vegetable oils are better than others.
• Some diesels are more suitable than others.
• Some injection pumps work better than others.
• Some computerised fuel systems are not programmed for plant oils.
• There are some doubts about using plant oils in DI (Direct Injection) diesels.
• There are also significant doubts about using waste vegetable oil.

Apart from the Elsbett system below, the best systems use two tanks, one for PPO and one for diesel, or biodiesel where available. Start up the engine on biodiesel/diesel from one tank while the PPO in the other tank is heated to at least 70 deg C (160 deg F) using the engine coolant and/or electric heating. Once it's warm enough, switch the fuel supply to the PPO tank - and then back to biodiesel/diesel several minutes before shutting down. This flushes out the fuel system and prevents cooling PPO from clogging the injectors and filters. Extra upstream filters should be included.

Elsbett is the leader in full modification for running a diesel vehicle on pure vegetable oil. The system includes new injectors, glowplugs, heat exchangers, and everything else required. This is the truly professional system. Diesels modified by Elsbett will run on PPO bio-fuel, mineral  diesel, biodiesel, or any blend of the three. This icludes Direct Injection diesels, but doesn't include diesels with Lucas-CAV rotary pumps. One-year warranty on parts as well as any proven damage to the engine resulting from vegetable oil fuel use. Warranty limited to PPO, excludes WVO, but not limited to rapeseed oil. Kilkenny Cereals recommends that you visit the Elsbett site for further research.

Elsbett also exports do-it-yourself "tuning kits", on application: submit a form online for feasibility, prices, etc. Prices start from about € 800 but can be higher for certain vehicles.

"Deacidified rapeseed oil can be used as fuel for a diesel engine. Degummed oil and crude rapeseed oil were found to be unsuitable for use as fuel due to the high level of incombustible materials in oil." - From "Operation of a Diesel Engine Using Unrefined Rapeseed Oil as Fuel"at:

http://ss.jircas.affrc.go.jp/engpage/jarq/33-2/Togashi/togashi.html

Experience is showing that PPO systems are a practical proposition with a lot of advantages to offer, not the least being that using PPO can be cheaper than turning it into biodiesel and uses less energy than making biodiesel does.

It's vital to pay close attention to the quality and condition of the oil, much more critical with an PPO system than if you select biodiesel as a fuel. Kilkenny Cereals recommends the comprehensive research prior to selection and installation of a new fuel system. Our technical specialists are available in this regard.

On foot of sound advice, get a good system matched to your kind of engine with the right kind of injection pump, as well as to our climate, and you'll be just fine, like thousands of others across Europe.