Essential oils evaluated for diesel blend stock

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In Australia, researchers are using waste oil from oranges, tea trees, and eucalyptus as a diesel blend stock with comparable performance to all-diesel fuel.

Queensland University of Technology PhD researcher Ashrafur Rahman tested each of the waste oils for performance and emissions as a 10% oil-90% diesel blend in a 6-cylinder diesel engine.

“As only therapeutic grade oil can be used, there is a substantial volume of low-value waste oil that currently is stored, awaiting a use,” Rahman tells Science Daily. “Our tests found essential oil blends produced almost the same power as neat diesel with a slight increase in fuel consumption.

Orange, eucalyptus and tea tree are either native or grown extensively in Australia for essential oil production, he added.  “We see the main use for an essential oil/diesel blend would be in the agricultural sector, especially in the vehicles used by the producers of these oils.