Waste
Vegetable Oil (WVO) for Fuel Diesel engines can run on waste vegetable oil, obtained
from local restaurants. Restaurants
must pay a recycling service to haul off the used oil, so most are willing
to give this to you for free. To run a diesel vehicle on WVO, a second heated tank
must be installed in the vehicle, whether in the trunk or the bed of a
pickup truck. If a pickup truck
already has a second tank fuel tank, it is possible to add a heating
element to the second tank to use WVO, although this method is more
difficult that adding a separate tank. The heating of the second tank involves a heat exchanger
in the tank connected to the engine’s coolant system. As the tank warms up on diesel or
biodiesel fuel, the hot engine coolant flows through the heat exchanger,
heating the oil and thinning it out so it can be efficiently used as a
fuel. Once the engine reaches its
normal operating temperature, a dash-mounted switch is flipped causing a
fuel selector valve located in the fuel line to switch to the vegetable
oil. Prior to stopping the vehicle
for an extended period of time, the engine must be switched back to diesel
fuel to purge the injector pump and injectors prevent any oil from gelling
up the engine as it cools. The only other component necessary is a fuel filter for
the WVO line. In colder climates,
it may also be necessary to provide additional electric fuel heating, which
can be achieved with a Racor heated fuel filter/water separator. Native Renewables can provide you with a custom
conversion kit for your specific application. Please call Alex McKinney at (404) 395-6165 or email at nativerenewables@consultant.com
for more details. View the pictures
of my 1996 VW Passat TDI conversion.
Native Renewables
Providing for an
environmentally sustainable future
Last updated June 7, 2004