What advantage is diesel for a passenger car

mike snipped-for-privacy@address.is.invalid> wrote

That's a lie.

They don't.

Some did go for diesel cars for their better fuel economy but that has since been significantly negated by the fact that diesel is now more expensive than gasoline and the fact that diesel cars pollute more than the best gasoline cars.

Higher energy density than gasoline.

With modern software controlled engines, the old drawbacks (soot, reduced power curve) have been largely mitigated.

mileage, mileage, mileage.

And you have to wear gloves to keep the vapors off your hand. Diesel also gives my wife violent asthma

That would be politics and not science. The public got burned really bad on that.

Nope, no trucker or driver of a diesel car does that.

Nope, it was originally due to the mileage cost being lower because of the higher energy content of diesel which isnt necessarily true anymore when the cost of diesel is higher than gasoline in many jurisdictions.

Nope, plenty are still happy with their diesel cars.

But some jurisdictions restrict where they can be driven due to the higher pollution that diesel cars produce.

mike wrote on 2/6/2023 2:50 PM:

I used to own a VW Jetta diesel.

Diesel is a grade of petroleum that has motor oil in it. I used to drive an airport fuel truck long time ago. Most aircraft fuel is called "Jet A1" which is a fancy grade of kerosene. Since the fuel truck itself ran on diesel, I just pumped the Jet A1 fuel into the truck's fuel tank and added one quart of motor oil. That converted the kerosene (Jet A1) into diesel.

That means a diesel engine runs on a fuel that has a high content of motor oil in it. That is the main reason diesel engines outlast a gasoline engine many times over. Many taxis are also diesel because taxis practically run 24 hour shifts. A gasoline taxi will die in one year in New York City.

A diesel engine has higher torque than a gasoline engine. A diesel car is slower to pick up speed from rest compared to a gasoline car. That's ideal for trucks and taxis.

A diesel engine doesn't use spark plugs. It detonates the air-fuel mixture by high compression in the cylinders. That means the metal used in a diesel engine has to be strong enough to withstand the high compression. That's why diesel engines are more expensive than gasoline engines. Considering the fact that a diesel engine can easily run over a million miles, it is cheaper in the long run.

Nope, its a different range of fractional distillation of petroleum.

Wrong again. It is close to kerosene but not a fancy grade of it.

Nope. Diesel engines can operate fine on a very wide range of oils, including used vegetable oils.

Nope, just a different distillate fraction of petroleum.

Nope, The real reason is that they are much simpler designs given that there is no ignition system at all.

Nope, because they are much more fuel efficient and that mattered when diesel was significantly cheaper than gasoline.

BULLSHIT.

It wouldn't be if it had higher torque.

More bullshit with taxis.

Its not the metal that matters, its the amount of it that is used that matters.

Not true of truck engines.

And thats the other reason they were so popular in taxis.

You're just a font of wisdom, aren't you?

I don't know if you are being sarcastic. I oversimplified the terminologies but everybody in aviation industry says Jet A1 is just very clean kerosene. And I am not kidding about pumping the Jet A1 fuel into the diesel fuel tank and add one quart of motor oil. It was recommended by my employer at the airport. I am sure it is done everywhere else too.

By the way, have you ever seen a fuel truck going to the gas station to get diesel fuel in your whole life? I believe they pump gasoline fuel (if they are delivery gasoline) into their own diesel fuel tank and then add whatever number of quarts of motor oil to get the octane down to the diesel level (25-40).

Sounds like a load of bollocks!

Yep, you actually are that stupid.

In fact you utterly mangled the facts.

Bullshit.

Irrelevant to what diesel fuel actually is.

You'd be wrong about that too.

Even sillier and more pig ignorant than you usually manage and that's saying something.

And is a load of bollocks.

I am talking about mid 1980s when I worked for an airline.

I haven't bought motor oil for a long time because I bring my car to the dealership for oil change. Anyways, I am talking about 1 quart (about one litre) of motor oil into a full tank of Jet fuel to convert it to diesel. It was done for convenience because a fuel truck is full of fuel. Diesel is lower grade than gasoline and kerosene so using motor oil to convert Jet A1 (fancy kerosene) or gasoline to diesel is a handy trick. Don't forget that you are not paying government fuel tax like you do at the gas station when you use the fuel your are delivery inside the fuel truck.

Yes, I'm being sarcastic. Petroleum refining is a bit more complex than adding a quart of motor oil to kerosene. The aviation industry covers its ass thoroughly. There are a few diesel aircraft engines and the question comes up. The problem is diesels require a certain cetane (similar to octane in gas engines) rating. Turbines don't require cetane, only compression engines, so A-1 has no specification. It *probably* has sufficient cetane but nobody is going to stick their neck out.

<sarcasm> A driver that did that would be walking very shortly. Diesel engines are expensive. </sarcasm> What makes you think they don't fill their tanks with diesel at the same place where they load the gasoline? Or one of those places commonly called truck stops?

I hate to feed your fantasies but there is one DIY blend but it isn't recommended. #2 diesel has paraffin and will gel as the temperatures get below freezing and the paraffin starts to crystallize. Most northern truck stops have winter blend, which is a mixture of #1 and #2. Some in places like North Dakota have pumps with straight #1. However if caught short with a tank of #2 on their way to Fargo, the old timers would add a gallon or two of gasoline to the tank.

You are talking to a former airport fuel truck driver who actually fueled aircraft on the apron.

I know the petroleum refining process. I am talking about adapting the kerosene grade or gasoline grade of fuel to run properly in a diesel truck engine. You just don't want to accept real life knowledge that you don't know off.

Every competent person knows that you can increase the octane by adding alcohol, and decrease the octane by adding motor oil. I am not talking about what the refineries do in their distillation process.

Our airport fuel trucks never left the airport property to get diesel fuel from a gas station outside the airport perimeter. This is their standard practice since the beginning of time. Do you think you'd know better than me what aircraft fuel truck drivers use to fill their own trucks' diesel fuel tanks?

You should read properly before your expose. I am talking about converting a very clean grade of kerosene (Jet A1) to use in a diesel truck engine. If the Jet A1 is clean enough for aircraft, then it is clean enough for a diesel truck. The trick is to add motor oil to lower the octane to diesel fuel level.