[Vwdiesel] Canola

[Scott Kair]

James wrote:

    >>The chemical structure of the proteins change as they oxidize.
It smells
rancid, yes, and that's just oxidized oils you're smelling... which is
the
oil going to a lower energy state, so academically you are losing
energy as
well as the bonds accept oxygen, but that's a fiddling amount. I would
doubt
a really rancid oil would have the same properties as a non-rancid oil
as
far a lubrication and not leaving varnish behind go. <<

    Maybe Gary would remember the story, but one of our WWII submarine
commanders who wrote a post-war book was assigned to bring back a
Japanese sub after the war was over.  I lost my copy and don't
remember the title, but by late 1945, Japan had almost no dino oil.
The sub ran on soybean oil, but bringing the sub back on that stuff
was apparently unpleasant duty.  The oil had gone rancid enough to
overwhelm the ventilation system, and cockroaches had found the fuel
to be quite nutritious, multiplying out of control and challenging the
crew for control of the food stores.
    Unfortunately, I don't recall any engineering analysis of how the
fuel performed otherwise, although it did seem apparent that the oil
was not highly refined.
    Scott Kair