Q There has been much talk of a possible shortage of
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hydrocarbon fuels. Could a diesel engine be designed to operate on other types of fuel, if so, would it be economic.
A A pre-combustion or indirect-injection diesel could be modified to operate on certain vegetable oils including soya bean oil, palm oil and ground-nut oil with a reduction of peak output of about l/20 per cent. Starting would normally necessitate fuel preheating or the use of a conventional diesel fuel.
Whether or not the ability of a diesel to operate on vegetable oils is economically important on a global scale is open to question. It is certain that their use would be very costly because of the large acreage of vegetation under intensive cultivation that would be required to produce fuel in place of food. But in some developing countries it might be economic if advanced cultivation methods were employed.