Vegetable Oil as an Alternative Fuel

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Vegetable Oil as an Alternative Fuel
By Samantha, Stu,
Evan and Mike
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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

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Source that can make Vegetable Oil

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

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

• 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) Biodiesel
• 2) Vegetable Oil/Kerosene Mix
• 3) Straight Vegetable Oil

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BIODIESEL

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

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Vegetable Oil/Kerosene Mix

• 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

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Straight Vegetable Oil

• 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

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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

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Oil Distributors

• Competitive pricing on bulk
• Very limited processing
• Oil generally has been used for cooking

Snack Food Companies

• Used for cooking
• Often far cleaner and of a higher quality then
  restaurants
• There are many snack food and chip companies
  around the world

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Restaurants

• 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

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

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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)