Vegetable oil use in agriculture and tractors analyzed by OWI

In Germany, OWI reports that in agriculture, widening the use of vegetable oil as fuel in tractors could contribute to greater sustainability and climate protection within the framework of a resource-conserving bioeconomy. However, the compatibility of fuel-carrying components with vegetable oil fuel must be tested in order to ensure the operational safety and life of tractors and other agricultural machinery. In order to make use of vegetable oil from rape as part of a multi-fuel deployment strategy, a research project now examines in particular the interactions between fuels and diesel injectors.

Particularly on modern injectors with high injection pressures and small gaps, internal and external deposits can form due to the use of biofuels, which in certain circumstances can lead to functional disturbances and downtimes of agricultural machines. Critical operating points (driving cycles) are to be specifically identified for both types of deposits, which can lead to increased formation of deposits. Part of the fuels to be investigated will in particular also be mixtures between vegetable oil and conventional diesel fuels, as also occur in real operation with different refueling. In addition, the behavior of different injectors used in agricultural machines is also investigated.