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A thought on a fuel heater --- let's hear your input

Twisted Steel Performance

Twisted Steel Performance

Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
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OK everyone, I have been thinking some about making a fuel heater and I would like some input good & bad from everyone.

Hear is my thinking on this, diesel burns better when hot. What if I were to remove the filter that is bolted to the rear of the intake, and made a heat chamber to bolt in it's place?? The chamber could be made from aluminum tubing and inside would be a 1/4" or bigger coil of tubing that would be welded into place to hold itself still inside the tubing. Then the housing would have 2 fittings welded to it so that water hose 's could connect to it and I could modify the 2 block off plates on the rear of the heads so that a hose could connect and engine water would pass through the "canister and heat the fuel while the motor was running. I would put a bleed off tap on the top of the canister to let the air out once the system was hot and under pressure. Does anyone think that the fuel would get TOO hot? any thing happen to the IP with hot fuel running through it??

OK, let's hear it, I might even make a few to give out and have a test sample............ then maybe sell them as a kit if things go good, but for now let's hear what Y'all think....

CHRIS
 
I wouldn't do it except in winter for regular dino diesel fuel. I read once the optimal temp of the fuel at the IP inlet is 70F. So heating would be ok to a point. But fuel is what cools and lubes the IP (and specifically cools the PMD - as in IP mounted). There is a fuel temp sender in the ip and a normal reading might be ~159F and sets a code if over something like 243F ??? not sure about numbers but you might want to search some of my old threads. How the fuel gets that hot I guess is from compression, IP friction and some conduction/convection of engine heat into the IP and into the fuel from the IP???

I had thought opposite and thought about a fuel cooler to keep fuel as dense as possible. My first thought was the feeding the beast mod helped improve IP flush and cool the fuel but I don't think thats the major contributor to better performance. Now think internal IP housing pressure controls timing advance and better fuel delivery helps maintain better timing control and helps fill plunger to max with evenly dense fuel to keep injections evenly metered.

Some Diesel race boats in hotter climates run a fuel cooler. They use to recommmend max fuel temp at like 120F but our Stanadyne IP was designed to work on hotter fuel being in V of engine so that number is out dated ???

Now waste oil burners and bio fuel is a whole different story and heating them doesn't affect lubricity as much and viscosity is a concern so heating is used.
 
fuel thins with heat. heater on the FFM is instant, warming just enough to keep it from gelling down to a certain temp.
some thoughts from diesel fuels . com, "In addition, the hot fuel coming back to the tank will raise the fuel temperature in the tank, cause condensation and contribute to microbial contamination, fuel break down, bio fouling and the build up of sludge and acid."...."Fuel systems, in general, are designed to return a significant proportion of the fuel not used for combustion back to the tank. This return fuel is very hot and will promote polymerization and fuel breakdown. Eventually, more and more solids from the tank will reach the filter and over time, plug the filter."
http://www.diesel-fuels.com/bad-diesel-fuel.php
 
Well, it was a thought, I don't have a FFM on mine,and use a DB2, was just thinking aloud. I know on the Big truck I drive the fuel is hot, don't know how hot tho. I always use "stuff" in my tank anyways I just wasn't sure about the fuel being 200 degrees .......
 
ON the same thought, What about a "DRY ICE" canister in stead of a heater?? I do know that drag racers around here do that to cool the fuel.......?????
 
Wen fuel gets hot it expands ... that means less fuel is injected. And that means less btu's injected. The engine will definatly burn cleaner but with a little less power.
 
Trailrider, you can do the same heating with an inexpencive flate plate heat exchanger. Its what I use on my WVO system. As said, not good for diesel though.
 
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