What is diesel?

Question

The simplest process and procedures for making biodiesel

Answer 1

one step above crude oil in the refining process with an octane around 120.  could also be made from gasified grasses for synthetic diesel or vegetable oil as in bio-diesel

Answer 2

Diesel is oily petrol

Answer 3

Diesel is a fuel similar to kerosene and home heating oil, which burns in motors due to the compression of the fuel, rather than with a spark plug.  Diesel has more energy per liter than gasoline, and the overall engine design is more efficient, which is why diesel engines have such great mileage.  My VW Golf gets 52 miles per gallon on the highway.

Biodiesel is made by removing the glycerin from vegetable oil, called transesterification.  The remaining fluid looks and burns almost identically to diesel fuel.  I have put 100% Biodiesel in my car and noticed no difference.

Diesel does not have an octane rating, it has a cetane rating, which is similar.   Good diesel has a cetane rating of 45, normal American diesel has about a 40, and good biodiesel has 50-55.  Higher is better.

Answer 4

Diesel is the German word for gasoil

Answer 5

a type of gas for trucks

Answer 6

Diesel is the name of the man who created an engine to run on peanut oil. Ironic, that that engine is mainly used to burn hydrocarbons. Diesel refers to one of the hydrocarbon fuels that is at the bottom of the crude oil refinement tree.

Answer 7

Diesel, the fuel is a petroleum distillate that typically boils between 400 and 600 degrees F.  It is used in diesel engines which are compression ignited reciprocating internal combustion engines.  It can also be used in gas turbines.  Modern diesel is a highly refined product with a very low sulfur content and excellent combustion charateristics (as measured by the cetane number).  The reply stating that diesel has an octane number of 120 is incorrect.  Diesel would have a very low octane value, if it were tested, probably on the order of 20 or less.  The cetane number does not measure the same thing as the octane number so it is not really similar.

Diesel range distillates can also be used as fuel oil for a number of applications, including home heating, these are not usually referred to as diesel, however, but as No.2 fuel oil.  In many parts of the world, diesel is often called gasoil.  Gas oil in the U.S., however, usually means a petroleum distillate that is somewhat heavier than diesel, boiling between 600 and 1100 degrees F.