The problem with fryer oil is that it is something a couple of years ago restaurants had to pay to get rid of, now they are making a nice profit selling to be converted to bio fuel. Many restaurants have had to place locks and add cameras in an effort to stem the tide of fryer oil thefts that have become almost an epidemic.

It may well still be cheaper to buy and convert to fuel but it is typically no longer free for the taking.

The bio diesel Nigel Day used on M. Washington was a commercially available blend.

Roger

To answer the question about the nuts in a bit more detail, it is an option, but probably the least practical. It would require complete replacement of all the crown bolts with longer bolts that stick up above the roof sheet enough to install the nuts, the fabrication of several hundred custom 12 tpi nuts and after all that work you would still end up with a boiler that barely passes muster. The pennsy considered their boilers and fireboxes as throw away items. They made them as cheaply as possible and generally preferred replacement to repair when they wore out. In a world where we don't have piles of spare boiler parts laying around in every shop it would be foolish to make an expensive repair and then have to replace the sheet at a later date anyway due to it wearing away in a natural fashion. Starting over with a thicker sheet is only margainaly more expensive and should ultimately give the boiler an indefinate lifespan if cared for properly.

Used fryer oil as steam locomotive fuel...

Do tell. What happened?



Well there's no point making it full ASTM biodiesel, a steam lokie doesn't need it. Generally, used veggie oil has four issues:

1. Particulate. I.E. chunks of french fry. Filter this out as your application requires.
2. Acidity. Neutralize, or just ignore if your system isn't vulnerable to it.
3. Water content. Dry via one of several methods, or just ignore if your system isn't vulnerable to it.
4. Viscosity. It's thick. Transesterify into biodiesel, or just ignore if it's not an issue for you.

Bunker has problem #4 by nature. It can have problems 1 2 and 3 depending on quality. What did the steam roads have to deal with back in the day?

Formed a bit of a coagulated mass within the fuel oil - #6 industrial cut with a bit of diesel to make it flow better cold. Particulate matter includuing french fires and chicken wings didn't help.

dave

Both Disneyland and Walt Disney World have been burning soybean oil (or B98, I believe it's called; 98% that, and 2% red diesel) with good results for at least two or three years now.

We tried various biofuel mixtures at the Pacific Coast Railroad with far less success, starting with a 20/80 bio/no. 2 mix and increasing the ratio each time we topped off the bunker. Once we crossed the 40/60 line I think was when it really started to get ugly. With the first batch we got (in our little 18-ton Vulcan 2-4-0), I personally had no problems keeping the needle within 2-3lbs. all day with the usual light haze, but any more of the "green" goo and it was the usual complaints you read about the stuff.

When Karell Reader, our secretary/Mrs. CMO, was attending graduate studies at Cal Poly, we hosted a group of engineering students from the university who expressed interest in performing a study on the various fuel economies/efficiencies -- from coal to heavy/reclaimed oils to biofuels -- gathering both data and practical observations from various operators. I still think it would be a very worthwhile undertaking, whether by an independent group or as a collaborative effort in the industry, perhaps by TRAIN.

It is a good idea, Ed - I've recently tried to get one group interested in acquiring TVRR 611 (poppet valves) to use as a laboratory and test bed, but they were put off by the magnitude of the restoration effort alone, not to mention the experimental and technical stuff. The entities that have done some serious work - Grand Canyon, The Cog, UPRR, Wasatch - don't seem to share much real data.

A couple decent books have come out since RED DEVIL many years ago - Jos Koopmans front end tome, a reprint of some Porta papers, and some good information available through links from Hugh Odom's site. The Steam Tech list floats a lot of ideas, but nobody there seems to have the political clout in the energy industry to get some real attention paid to clean steam.

TRAIN isn't set up to sponsor projects like this - most likely prospect is a coal industry consortium. Ross?

Best to Phil and Karrell.

dave