Vegetable Oil as an Alternative Fuel

By Samantha, Stu, Evan and Mike

Why vegetable oil?• 1. Fossil fuels such as oil

have proven to be very harmful to our environment

• 2.Using vegetable oil means growing more crops for more fuel. As long as the land is taken care of we can keep growing more crops

• 3. The crops being used as a fuel actually suck out the same amount of Carbon dioxide that they will release when in fuel form

• 4. Renewable fuels do not contribute significantly to Global Warming

• There are over 350 different plant types that can supply the oil, here are a few

Oildsifhads

Plant types lb/oil acre kg. oil/hectareOil Palm 4585 5,000Coconut 2070 2,260Jatropha 1460 1,590Rapeseed 915 1,000Peanut 815 890Sunflower 720 800Safflower 605 655Soybean 345 375Hemp 280 305Corn 135 145

Not just any car can be converted to use vegetable oil, but in fact only diesel engines are capable

Scientists discovered that the viscosity of vegetable oil could be decreased through a simple chemical process. The process yields a vegetable oil-based fuel that works as well as diesel fuel in modern diesel engines. This new fuel is called Bio-diesel

There are 3 “Do it Yourself” methods of using vegetable oil in Diesel engine

1) Biodiesel2) Vegetable Oil/Kerosene Mix3) Straight Vegetable Oil

• Is a fuel made from 80-90% vegetable oil, 10-20% alcohol, and 0.35-1.5% catalyst

• It’s a stable fuel that is reliable in most diesel engines

• Cuts Emissions• Mixable with petroleum diesel fuel• Easy to make and safe to handle and will work

with all diesel fuel storage and pumping systems

• NO engine modifications are necessary, Biodiesel can be poured straight into any Diesel fuel tank

• Diesel Engines can run on a mixture of vegetable oil and kerosene

• Mixing proportions of the two must be very accurate

• This method does not always produce very reliable results, and can be damaging to a diesel engine if not done properly

• An extra fuel tank is also necessary in the vehicle.

• The vehicle must be started and cooled down on petroleum diesel fuel

Diesel Engine can run on straight vegetable oil as long as the engine is started on diesel fuel

A heater is also necessary to keep the vegetable oil warmed to a certain temperature

Either used cooking oil (from a fryer) or new cooking oil can be used

A new vegetable oil tank must be installed, and modifications on the heating hoses of the diesel engine must be done

The vehicle is started and stopped on diesel fuel, then swtiched over to run off the hot, straight vegetable oil

When the engine is running the engine coolant is used to heat the vegetable oil so it has a similar viscosity that of diesel

Finding A Veggie Oil Source

In order to run your car on vegetable oil you must find an accessible oil source. There are three main sources of used veggie oil:

• Restaurants • Distributors• Chip Companies

• Competitive pricing on bulk

• Very limited processing

• Oil generally has been used for cooking

• Used for cooking• Often far cleaner and

of a higher quality then restaurants

• There are many snack food and chip companies around the world

Oil Distributors

Snack Food Companies

• Most common source• Provide anywhere from 5 to over 50 gallons/week• Quality and quantity is largely dependent on what

they fry and how often they change their oil

Restaurants

Frying Oil Types

• Hydrogenated: to be used for longer periods and is made up of larger oil molecules. Will become thick and even solid at temp up to 100 F.

• Non-hydrogenated: “Pure” can remain pour able at temps below freezing

Storage of Your Oil

• Dumpster: Several hundred gallons. Very beneficial as settling occurs which makes the top oil very clean and extremely save to collect and filter

• Barrel: 55 gallon drub, usually does not have a very secure lid and often water and debris get into the oil

• Jugs/Buckets: 4.5-5 gallon buckets, advantage being that you can see what is in the oil (water, food, etc..) and very easy to travel with (lightweight)