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Running on Vegetable Oil Overview
When the diesel engine was developed by Rudolph Diesel in the year 1895, his intention was to make an engine that would not be dependent on petroleum products. He succeeded. In fact, when he unveiled his engine at the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris, he ran it on peanut oil. Diesel engines were designed for the express purpose of burning vegetable oil and not petroleum fuels!
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Any Diesel engine can run on Vegetable oil. There is only one obstacle to overcome: vegetable oil is a little too thick (thicker than "diesel") so it needs to be thinned out. Once it is thinned, it can run in any diesel engine. There are two ways to thin the vegetable oil.
  1. Heat the oil. Heating vegetable oil makes it as thin as diesel.
    OR
  2. Take the glycerin (thickener) out of the vegetable oil.

Heating the vegetable oil to thin it:
In this method, the vegetable oil needs to be hot as it goes into the engine. In order to do this the vehicle itself is modified. A second fuel tank is added to the vehicle in a convenient spot. The coolant (antifreeze) from the radiator is used to heat the vegetable oil in the fuel tank by adding an extra radiator hose that runs through the vegetable oil tank. This heating makes the veg oil less thick or less viscous. Then it can run right into the engine, and you're on your way.

There are some companies that make these vehicle modifications, or sell you kits to do it yourself.  Elbett (a german company) makes awesome kits that I've installed on two cars during workshops, and have been really happy with www.elsbett.com  
www.plantdrive.com is a great site for finding Neoteric conversion kits and installers across the U.S. and a few places internationally.  On the west coast of the U.S. Tony Oliveira installs conversions in Santa Cruz  tony@santacruzbiofuel.com.  If you're in the Midwestern US checkout Craig Howard email Vwfatmobile@hotmail.com or www.goldenfuelsystems.com . If you're on the East Coast, see www.greasecar.com

Taking out the glycerin to thin the vegetable oil:
Thinning out the vegetable oil, by taking away the glycerin, and making into something you can pour straight into any diesel engine is called making biodiesel. Biodiesel is a fuel that is composed of vegetable oil(primarily), with small amounts of lye, and ethanol or methanol. You heat up the concoction and give it a spin with a propeller to remove the glycerin. The resulting liquid needs to be washed a bit to halt its reaction, and then it is ready. People have been developing this in America since the late seventies. Simply pour it in the tank and go. (There are also cold filtering processes that allow biodiesel to be used in negative degree temperatures with no fuel lubricants added.) No vehicle modifications need to be made to run on biodiesel!

Biodiesel is produced by people in their garages and also by major companies.  www.biodiesel.org is a wonderful site for news and almost anything biodiesel related.  This particular link takes you to a good map with contact info for finding biodiesel stations in the U.S. http://www.biodiesel.org/buyingbiodiesel/retailfuelingsites/ (I have found some of the contact information/hours of operation on this site to be outdated, which is understandable because things are changing so rapidly, so be sure to call first to confirm first.)

Where to get the vegetable fuel:
If it's Biodiesel you want, make your own! All you need is some free, used vegetable oil from a local restaurant and a book to figure it out. You can also buy it already made! Some pumps are popping up.  If it's used vegetable oil to run in a converted engine, it can be found for free easily at restaurants that pay to dispose of their fryer oil, or at potato chip companies, etc.

Advantages

  • Ease tensions in the Middle East and here at home by reducing dependency on petroleum products.
  • Reduce emissions greatly.
  • Get your car fuel for free (except for labor and filters).
  • Use waste vegetable oil for something productive (great way to recycle).
  • Smells better than any gas or diesel burning.
  • Biofuels lubricate the engine parts better than diesel, so your engine should run slightly smoother and more quietly.

Contacts:
Book
If this interests you, then you can get some great information by getting this book: From The Fryer To The Fuel Tank by Joshua Tickell Publisher: Bookmasters 1-800-266-5564 or from you local/family bookseller.  It was the biofuel bible from about 1995 to 2005.  Now there are so many books popping up on the subject with so much information that I can't keep up with it.  If you find a great one, please let me know and I'll post it on this site.

Websites
www.greasecar.com
www.goldenfuelsystems.com
www.biodiesel.org
www.plantdrive.com
www.cytoculture.com

Me
I have had a number of cars and running on biodiesel and with different types of conversions for svo.  We had a car (Mercedes, Turbo Diesel Wagon 1984) converted with a two tank system that was very successful.  It went for 50,000 on straight veg, and then the transmission went out (not related to the vegetable oil- the engine still started and ran fine.  I sold it to a mechanic who wanted to repalce the transmission).  Currently we have a 15 passenger van Ford 1996 on biodiesel that we use to transport students for our education center.  We have a 1996 passat tdi on biodiesel, lined up for an Elsbett conversion kit this year.  Also a 1985 190D Benz on straight veg with an Elsbett conversion.  And finally a 1985 Ford F250 pickup on biodiesel. 

I do consulting around biofuels at an hourly rate and would love to help you find and figure out the best solution for your needs and lifestyle, or troubleshoot any situation that you may be in.  Please call or email me with questions. My name is Shawn Sears, Tel: 650-726-9210, Email: searsteach@yahoo.com

 

         
       



 
   
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