(O/T) Chip oil for heating?

[dnsey]

Only occurred to me yesterday...
If a Diesel will run on veg oil, and heating oil is the same as DERV, will a central heating boiler run on waste veg oil?
Any heating engineers out there?

[James.UK]

Dunno. But if it works by injecting fuel into the burning area as a fine mist, then it will depend on the type of nozzle being used.

I used to make (spinning) spray nozzles for commercial burners many years ago. It was one of my jobs when I worked in a machine shop... Some of the burners ran on any old oil available..

[Kowalski]

I've known some industrial boilers that'll run on pretty much anything, some will run on heavy fuel oil and come with a heater and centrifuge.

Veg oil is thicker than diesel, the difference is enough to upset the injector spray pattern in a diesel engine (not a big problem for indirect injection). Will the difference upset your boiler? I think you can probably get a boiler to run on it but it may not burn as cleanly as heating oil.

[jeremy]

What's the point - you're entitled to have a tank of lovely pink rebated fuel for your boiler which is essentially the same as road fuel with a dye added - and its cheap with minimal or no duty!

Very serious offence to run your car on it - more serious than murdering old ladies!

[dnsey]

But waste veg oil is potentially free!
Some establishments pay to have it carted away (to processors who make 'new' oil from it). There's a growing industry in bio-diesel based on the stuff.

[jeremy]

The waste oil will contain solids, animal fat and vegetable oil, and will have to be purified and the waste disposed of.

Having done that you would have to keep it at a temeprature to prevent it waxing - which would mean having to install heaters.

Then remeber that these things burn about 500 - 1000 gallons (2 - 4 tonnes?) per year and you need some collection round to cope!

[AndersDK]

Standard central heating boiler burners have a heating element built into the injector nozzle tube. This heats the oil just before it enters the nozzle.
Earlier (read : outdated) systems had external small heater elements inserted in the fuel feed line before it entered the burner.

Its very simple in technical means to adopt a burner to any type of oil. But you must stick to a single type (or viscosity) of oil then.
I really doubt though that it would be even close to standard systems economy for small domestic systems.

Here in DK the DERV used for heating is coloured and some 15% cheaper than standard DERV.
Likewise in DK its a very serious crime running your car on coloured diesel. Believe its one of the very few serious crimes the PLOD would be free to gun you down - even you being empty handed

[bxbodger]

Rudolf Diesels first engines were built to run off nut oil, and a diesel engine will run on almost anything as long as its clean and not too thick to be atomized.

BUT-

Very serious offence to run your car on it - more serious than murdering old ladies!

If you use central heating oil in your car or probably for that matter SVO in your heating system, and get caught you will indeed be hung,drawn,quartered, your carcass displayed at the crossroads and your head stuck on a pole at the town gates..........duty evasion is the most serious crime you can commit in modern Britain- worse even than than the second and third most serious crimes-parking where you are'nt meant to or speeding!!!!!!!!

And think of the smell...........It'd be like living over a chippy........

[Kowalski]

The laws governing Customs and Excise and the Inland revenue are rather more antiquated than those covering the police force. A lot of it comes historically from the time when smugglers who used to smuggle whiskey (and other goods) in sailing ships.

[dnsey]

Interesting replies - thanks
I'm aware of the garage heaters which will burn waste oil (possibly illegal now for health and safety reasons).
I doubt that there's any problem with duty - I'm allowed to burn whatever fuel I like on my open fire, and I can't see that there's a difference.
probably not a practical idea, except possibly for resturants, etc. who might be able to filter their waste oil and add it in small proportions to the oil in their heating tank as a way of disposing of it. I guess there's still the problem of the smell...

[fastandfurryous]

and heating oil is the same as DERV,

Nope.

Home heating oil is "28 second" viscosity, and is not dyed. It has far less lubricity than road diesel, and (slightly) lower calorific value.

Diesel fuel is "35 second" viscosity, either red for off-road use, or clear for road use.

If you put some HHO and some diesel in similar containers and swirl them around, they're quite obviously very different fuels.

[Kowalski]

and heating oil is the same as DERV,

Nope.

Home heating oil is "28 second" viscosity, and is not dyed. It has far less lubricity than road diesel, and (slightly) lower calorific value.

There are two types of home heating oil, one is pretty much the same thing as paraffin and the other is the same as red diesel. Red diesel isn't very commonly used as home heating oil because it attracts more duty than 28 second oil and has done for a few years. The two aren't interchangable because paraffin can be used in vapourising burners where as 35 second oil has to be used in pressure jet burners.

Red diesel has the obvious red dye in it but as well as that, all non road use oils are supposed to be dyed with euromarker, its a yellow die. Both Kerosene and red diesel should have this die in it.