Acetone?

[notfarnow]

A diesel mechanic I usually trust told me I should add a liter of acetone to a tank of diesel every month or so. Says it keeps the injectors nice and clean.

I told him I usually run 2 cans of lubromoly diesel purge every spring. He said I would get better rusults running a mix of 4 liters of diesel + 500ml acetone.

What say the diesel heads?

[Jeremy5848]

I wouldn't -- no idea what acetone would do to the rubber components but probably nothing good.

[Bio300TDTdriver]

Originally Posted by notfarnow

A diesel mechanic I usually trust told me I should add a liter of acetone to a tank of diesel every month or so. Says it keeps the injectors nice and clean.

I told him I usually run 2 cans of lubromoly diesel purge every spring. He said I would get better rusults running a mix of 4 liters of diesel + 500ml acetone.

What say the diesel heads?

This subject is brought up every few months.
Let the search function be your friend. Please read post #14 in this thread.

[notfarnow]

Thanks, some great info there. I will self-administer 30 lashes for not using the search function!

[Matt L]

There's a Mythbuster's marathon running right now. Earlier today, they tried the acetone (and other things) with the car on a dyno. Short story, didn't do a thing.

[notfarnow]

Originally Posted by Matt L

There's a Mythbuster's marathon running right now. Earlier today, they tried the acetone (and other things) with the car on a dyno. Short story, didn't do a thing.

Yeah, I have no faith in the power/mileage claims I've heard. I was more curious about using it as an alternative to diesel purge to keep the injectors/IP clean, especially where I am running vegetable oil 90% of the time.

[layback40]

Acetone is used as a solvent for cleaning off polyester. So if you have your fuel system in pieces and wish to clean varnish from your WVO of metal surfaces it may work. Given you are putting c##p through your fuel system any way, I doubt that a little bit of any other impurity is going to change things much. Probably all the rubber components are already bad any way. You do need to be careful of the flammability of acetone.

[notfarnow]

Originally Posted by layback40

Probably all the rubber components are already bad any way.

when did vegetable oil start causing problems with rubber? Go read a book.

Originally Posted by layback40

Given you are putting c##p through your fuel system any way, I doubt that a little bit of any other impurity is going to change things much.

I know... good thing I have carefully dewatered vegetable oil filtered to <5microns... the diesel around here can be terrible.

[UriahT]

I'm glad that a question about acetone can turn into a flame war about WVO.

I just stripped an antique table using acetone, so it's pretty powerful stuff. I've known big rig drivers that do it- it's so cheap, and in such a small concentration, that I doubt it'd do any harm. These guys have run hundreds of thousands of miles doing it.

Side note- I'd be interested to add acetone, turpentine and all the other solvents people add to their tanks to a jar of diesel, see how it settles out overnight. With a lot of these more potent substances, I'd be a little worried it's all sitting concentrated at the bottom of the tank in the morning when you start up.

[JEBalles]

Originally Posted by UriahT

I'm glad that a question about acetone can turn into a flame war about WVO.

I just stripped an antique table using acetone, so it's pretty powerful stuff. I've known big rig drivers that do it- it's so cheap, and in such a small concentration, that I doubt it'd do any harm. These guys have run hundreds of thousands of miles doing it.

Side note- I'd be interested to add acetone, turpentine and all the other solvents people add to their tanks to a jar of diesel, see how it settles out overnight. With a lot of these more potent substances, I'd be a little worried it's all sitting concentrated at the bottom of the tank in the morning when you start up.

Yeah, that's a good point, like how ethanol and diesel don't mix.

[layback40]

Jake,
I have read many books over the last 30+ years as a professional engineer.
How about you? Are you out of grad school yet? You could put some of your WVO through a HPGC some time & find out what is actually in it.

Maybe you should start with 'The Handbook of Chemistry & Physics' (CRC) or 'Chemical Engineers Handbook' (Perry et al).

If a bit of knowledge came into the discussion, it would be noted the affect that triglycerides can have on various elastomers. Added to that the oxidation products from the heating are a problem. There is even some studies from many years ago suggesting that nitrosamines may be present in WVO.
The largest producer of vegetable oil in this country has found it necessary to only use viton & teflon for O rings /seals etc.


I suggest that you may want to do some reading yourself. Not just opinion from those with vested interests in alt fuels or those with no academic credentials.

Your reliance on very rudimentary dewatering and filtration does little to change the composition of the WVO that will be very dependent on many factors totally beyond your control and possibly most's expertise.

Maybe you are still confused & scratching your head??

UriahT,
The varnish you strip with acetone is similar in composition to the varnish that forms in WVO. But then it cant be too bad, how many girls do you know that use nail polish remover (acetone)?

JEBalles,
If you dissolve the ethanol in RUG first you can probably then get it into diesel. Probably only a few % though.