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In short, yes! You can run your old diesel car on cooking oil as fuel, and it’ll run smoothly and fine without any modifications. 

cooking oil

There are pros and cons to cooking oil as a fuel in diesel engines. But believe us, the pros are more than the cons. Here’s a detailed analysis of this topic.

Combustion Ratio of Diesel and Cooking Oil

First, we compare the combustion ratio of diesel and cooking oil, which refers to parts of air that are needed for every part of fuel by weight for complete combustion.

  • Diesel: 14.5:1
  • Cooking oil: 14.2:1

Now, you can see that both substances have almost the same ratio. This clearly shows that if the engine can run on cooking oil, it should work fine on cooking oil without any noticeable problems.

Comparing the Igniting Temperature of Diesel and Cooking Oil in the Engine

Here’s the igniting temperature of both substances:

Diesel: 

Autoignition Temperature: Approximately 210°C to 280°C (410°F to 536°F)

  • This is the temperature at which diesel fuel will spontaneously ignite without an external spark.

Cooking Oil:

Autoignition Temperature: Approximately 400-450°F (204-260°C)

  • The exact temperature can vary depending on the type of vegetable oil (e.g., canola oil, soybean oil, etc.).

Here, again, you can see that cooking oil and diesel engines have almost the same igniting temperature. Therefore, in an ideal world, cooking oil works as fine as diesel fuel.

Pros and Cons of Using Cooking Oil as a Fuel in Diesel Engine

First, let’s see the good things:

Cost Saver

You don’t need to use new cooking oil; just pour the used cooking oil into the fuel tank, and you’re all good. The used cooking oil can be found in your own home for free, or if you need more, you can get it at dirt-cheap pricing from any fast food stall or shop nearby. For instance, food stalls usually sell used cooking oil for Rs.80/l, and diesel costs Rs.269/l.

Less Carbon Emissions

Diesel is a hydrocarbon, while cooking oil is the oil obtained from seeds or plants, so it’s not a hydrocarbon. Therefore, upon burning, cooking oil produces less emissions and hydrocarbons than diesel. 

In ideal combustion, cooking oil produces CO₂ and H₂O, which are safe for the environment. On the other hand, a diesel engine produces CO, PM, and UHC along CO₂ and H₂O, no matter how ideal the combustion process is, which affects and pollutes the environment.

Cons of Using Cooking Oil as a Fuel

Let’s see some negative things:

Time-Consuming Task

You can’t just pour the cooking oil directly into the fuel tank; otherwise, the food crumbs in the oil will choke the fuel pump and damage the combustion cycle inside the cylinder. You need to filter out the oil properly through filter paper or a silk cloth. This task will make a huge mess and take a lot of your time. 

Warm-up Ignition

Due to a different ignition ratio, cooking oil will not cause a problem in cold start times. For that reason, people modify the car and add another fuel tank in the boot. In this way, you get two fuel tanks: diesel and cooking oil. In cold starts, you’ll start the vehicle on a diesel, and once the vehicle is heated up, you’ll switch it to cooking oil. 

Conclusion

Overall, if you have an old diesel engine car or truck, cooking oil is a cheap and good alternative. However, we don’t suggest it is on your primary and expensive car like Mercedes or BMW as it’s not an OEM-recommended fuel type.