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This study presents the experimentally determined effects of filtered, heated, waste vegetable oil (WVO) and water emulsions on gaseous emissions, opacity, and fuel efficiency of a Listeroid diesel engine. Emissions studied are NOx, CO, CO2, SO2, O2, unburned hydrocarbons (UHCs), and opacity. WVO emulsions with water additions of 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, and 40% by weight, heated to 95°C at injection are studied, and results are compared to diesel. The water addition limit was found to be between 41–49%, inclusive, at 50% load. Emulsions are maintained with a magnetic stirrer prior to entry into the fuel line. The WVO is preheated using heat from the exhaust gases. This reduces its viscosity prior to entering the fuel pump, reducing engine wear, pumping losses, and fuel starvation. The WVO is heated again to 95°C immediately before injection, using an externally powered heater to standardize test conditions. A new metric is introduced, namely, brake specific global warming potential (BSGWP). There is a significant reduction in BSGWP at 50% engine load and 30% water addition. Emissions from 40% water addition most closely resemble diesel engine emissions at all engine loads and are consistently lower than with pure WVO.

This study reports an ongoing effort to investigate the degradation rate of a low-speed Listeroid diesel engine running on filtered waste vegetable oil (WVO). It aims to measure the performance, wear rate, and emissions of the engine over the course of a 1,000 hour longevity test. In a consecutive arrangement, exhaust gas is used to heat the oil, reducing its viscosity close to that of diesel for the duration of the residence time in the fuel line. This reduces engine power loss, pumping losses, head losses, carbonization and coking, which ultimately increases longevity. When completed, the technical methods developed, data collected, lessons learned, and hardware used will all be incorporated into a manufacturable, stand-alone, cost-efficient, field conversion kit for the Listeroid engine. The results of this study will be beneficial in actualizing the widespread and practical use of WVO and straight vegetable oil (SVO) fuels in developing countries.