Use of crude filtered vegetable oil as a fuel in diesel engines state of the art: Literature review

Many studies have been published on vegetable oil use in diesel engines. The different authors unanimously acknowledge the potential and merits of this renewable fuel. Typically, Straight Vegetable Oils (SVOs) produced locally on a small scale, have proven to be easy to produce with very little environmental impact. However, as their physico-chemical characteristics differ from those of diesel oil, their use in diesel engines can lead to a certain number of technical problems over time. In bibliography, there is substantial disagreement between authors regarding the advanced phenomena linked to this problems and the recommended solutions. Some of these publications treat options individually without any real comparison between them. Another observation is that the literature rarely tackles problems linked to vegetable oil quality. This paper sets out to review the state of the art for SVO use as fuel in diesel engines, based on a bibliographic study (literature review). The first section of the document examines the influence of the type and quality of vegetable oils for fuel use in diesel engines. The second section discusses the advantages and disadvantages of two options recommended for SVO use in diesel engines: dual fuelling and blending with diesel fuel.