tuningblog.eu Your magazine about tuning the car
A 2-tank system is absolutely necessary for engines with direct injection, such as pump injectors or common rail engines. Although these engines are more efficient, this means a lower operating temperature, which is reached later. Although not essential, the system can also be used on pre and swirl chamber engines. The following two aspects are of central importance here: Vegetable oil is tougher than diesel, the ignition timing of vegetable oil is higher! However, these facts only apply to vegetable oil at normal temperature. If the oil is heated to around 70 degrees Celsius, its properties are almost similar to diesel, which ensures better combustion and protects the injection pump.
Difficult: starting the engine
However, starting the engine when the entire system is still cold remains a real challenge. The solution? The engine starts with diesel from a separate tank. If it is then warm enough, a solenoid valve is used to switch to pure vegetable oil operation. As soon as the engine is on and has run a few kilometers, it heats up the cooling water. This in turn heats the vegetable oil via a heat exchanger. On the way to the injection pump, the heated vegetable oil flows through an electric vegetable oil heater equipped with a temperature sensor. If the oil is already warmed up to 70 degrees Celsius, it stays off. At lower temperatures it starts and continues to heat the oil.
the vegetable oil heater requires a lot of electricity
When installing the electric vegetable oil heater, it is important to lay the cables neatly, as it consumes up to 300 watts, i.e. around 24 amps. And the filter position is also crucial. If the oil is too hot, residues form which can clog or damage the injection pump. Therefore, the filter should sit directly in front of the pump. With a vacuum indicator you can see when it needs to be changed or cleaned, depending on the type of filter used. In addition to the vacuum gauge, it is useful to include a temperature gauge. This keeps you up to date on what the vegetable oil is doing and whether all systems are working correctly.
a mix with winter diesel helps
In winter, vegetable oil (like diesel) can flocculate and solidify. To delay this, you can mix the vegetable oil with 10-20% winter diesel. Should it nevertheless flocculate, only heat will help. A heatable diesel pre-filter can be installed for this purpose, which slightly heats the vegetable oil-diesel mixture in the first few minutes. Later, the heated vegetable oil flowing back from the injection pump heats the tank and the entire demonstration system.
Not to forget: The lines should have a minimum diameter of 10 mm. Due to the higher viscosity of vegetable oil, there is greater resistance in the lines. The larger the lines are dimensioned, the less friction there is and the easier it is for the vegetable oil to flow through the lines.
Minimum equipment - 2-tank system:
- Electric vegetable oil heater
- Heat exchanger (ideally plate heat exchanger)
- 2x 2⁄3 way valve
- Additional tank for diesel (must be registered with TÜV)
- 1x fuel filter
Standard equipment - 2-tank system:
- Electric vegetable oil heater (with relay control)
- Heat exchanger (ideally plate heat exchanger)
- 2x 2⁄3 solenoid directional valve (Sirai solenoid valves are ideal for converting to vegetable oil)
- Additional tank for diesel (must be registered with TÜV)
- 2x fuel filters (washable filters reduce running costs)
- vacuum gauge
- temperature display
- Large fuel lines (10 – 13 mm)
- insulating material for cables
- Insulation material for the heat exchanger, vegetable oil heater, fuel filter
- Fastening material, cooling water hoses, grommets, sleeves, cables, etc.
Additional equipment - 2-tank system:
- Electric vegetable oil heater
- Diesel filter heater
- Heat exchanger (ideally plate heat exchanger)
- Vegetable Oil Heater (Electric)
- Note: Please note that the additional tank for diesel must be registered with the TÜV!
Legally, isn't it?
It is important to remember that converting to a 2-tank system with vegetable oil diesel not only involves technical aspects, but also legal and economic components. In many countries, the use of vegetable oil as a fuel is subject to certain tax regulations and certain permits or reports may be required. In addition, the cost of vegetable oil compared to diesel must be taken into account, as well as the availability of the fuel. Before considering a conversion, it is therefore advisable to obtain comprehensive information and seek professional advice.
We hope that you have received our information report on the topic / term 2 tank system (Other designations/keywords are: two-circuit system, two-tank system, dual-fuel system, two-fuel system, bivalent system) from the Autotuning category. Our goal is to create the largest German-speaking tuning lexicon (Tuning Wikipedia) and to explain tuning technical terms from A to Z easily and understandably. We are therefore expanding this lexicon almost daily and you can see how far we have already come HERE see. And soon the next tuning scene term illuminated by us. There's a theme that not can be found in our Wikipedia? Then send us an email at [email protected] and gives us the term. We will write a suitable article as soon as possible. PS. By the way, you will be informed about new topics if you have ours Feed subscriber.
Below are a few examples from our tuning lexicon:
But of course tuningblog has countless other articles on the subject of cars & car tuning in stock. Do you want to see them all? Just click HERE and look around. We would also like to provide you with news aside from the tuning. In our category Tips, products, information & Co we pick up contributions from car or accessory manufacturers. And also our category Test sites, laws, offenses, information has almost daily new information for you. Here are a few topics from our tuning wiki.
