Straight
vegetable oil as diesel fuel
 Introduction
SVO basics
- Alphabet soup
- The choice -- biodiesel or SVO
- General information
The SVO problem
- 'Just put it in and go'
- Mixing fuels
- Veg-oil blends
Two-tank SVO systems
Single-tank SVO systems --
recommended
Journey
to Forever's Elsbett SVO system
Two-tank SVO kit resources
The SVO vs biodiesel argument
SVO references
-- Jatropha
-- Coconut
Diesel information
Fats and oils
The
TDI-SVO controversy
Introduction
Journey
to Forever
uses an Elsbett
single-tank Straight Vegetable Oil fuel system from Germany. More |
Vegetable oil can be used as diesel fuel just as it is, without being
converted to biodiesel.
The downside is that
straight vegetable oil (SVO) is much more viscous (thicker) than
conventional diesel fuel or biodiesel, and it doesn't burn the same in
the engine -- many studies have found that it can damage engines.
BUT it can be done properly and safely -- IF you get a professional
engine conversion. (See below.)
There are other approaches, here are the main ones:
- Just put it in and go.
- Mix it with diesel fuel
or kerosene then just put it in and go.
- Blend it with an
organic solvent additive or
with "our secret ingredient that we'll tell you about if you
pay us" (several versions) or
with up to 20% gasoline (petrol), just put it in and go.
- The only way to use veg-oil
is in a properly installed two-tank system where the oil is
pre-heated and you start up and shut down on diesel fuel (or
biodiesel).
We've never had much time
for Nos. 1 to 3 (more below), and we've had a
two-tank SVO kit for a couple of years that pre-heats the oil and
switches the fuel, but we never used it. They do work, but we just
didn't think it really solved the problem, and the more we learnt about
it the more we didn't think so. (More about two-tank
SVO systems.)
Along with many others, especially in Europe, we think pre-heating the
oil is still not enough to ensure that it will combust properly inside
the engine. It needs a complete system including specially made injector
nozzles and glow plugs optimised for veg-oil, such as the professional
single-tank SVO kits from Germany. Then you really can just put it in
and go.
In March 2005 we installed a single-tank SVO system from Elsbett
Technologie
in our TownAce (1990 Toyota TownAce 1.9-litre 4-cyl turbo-diesel 4x4
van). The kit includes modified injector nozzles, stronger glow plugs,
dual fuel heating, temperature controls and parallel fuel filters, and
it does just what it claims to do.
There's no waiting or switching fuels from one to the other, just start
up and go, stop and switch off, like any other car. It starts easily and
runs cleanly from the start, even at sub-freezing temperatures. It can
use SVO or biodiesel or petro-diesel or any combination of the three.
The professional single-tank SVO kits are the only SVO kits we
recommend. Read on and we'll tell you why. We'll tell you about the
other available options too.
See: Single-tank SVO systems.
See: Journey
to Forever's Elsbett SVO system.
SVO
basics
Alphabet
soup
SVO
- straight vegetable oil used as diesel fuel (usually virgin oil, fresh,
uncooked)
PPO
- pure plant oils, same as SVO: PPO is the term most often used in
Europe
WVO
- waste vegetable oil (used cooking oil, "grease", fryer oil,
probably including animal fats or fish oils from the cooking)
UCO
- used cooking oil (what we called it in the first place until everyone
started calling it WVO, even if it wasn't necessarily all vegetable)
IDI
- Indirect Injection diesel engines: the fuel is injected into a
pre-chamber or swirl-chamber before going on to the combustion chamber.
Pre-chamber engines are more tolerant of SVO than swirl-chamber engines.
DI
- Direct Injection diesel engines: the fuel is injected straight into
the combustion chamber. DI diesels are less tolerant of SVO than IDI
engines (see The
TDI-SVO controversy).
TDI - Turbo Direct Injection
CDI or CRD - Common-rail Direct
Injection
PDI or PD - Pumpe Düse Unit Injection
(Direct Injection, each injector has its own pump)
The
choice
The basic choice for
running diesels on biofuels:
- make biodiesel and just
use it, no need to convert the engine, or
- convert the engine so
you can run it on SVO -- no need to process the fuel.
It's not quite that
simple. For instance, if you want to use waste vegetable oil, which is
often free, you're going to have to process it anyway, though less so
than to make biodiesel. And it still might not be very good fuel.
More
on the choice between biodiesel and SVO.
One of the great advantages of biodiesel is that it will run in any
diesel engine. The same claim has been made for two-tank SVO fuel
systems: "Ready-to-install kit that will allow you to run any
diesel on waste vegetable oil." Also in any weather.
Is it true? Maybe, but for how long?
In cold weather vegetable oil crystallises, forming solid wax crystals
that can quickly block the fuel filters. One solution to the all-weather
problem with two-tank kits is to change the filter in winter, using a
30-micron filter instead of the standard 10-micron filter (or less), so
the wax crystals just go straight through without blocking the filter
and melt in the injection pump, allegedly without causing any stress or
damage.
Also going straight through into the injection pump however will be any
solid particles of between 10 and 30 microns that the specified standard
filter would have stopped.
Would you do it?
Vendor's claim:
"The Racor filter
that comes with the Greasel kit filters down to 28 microns. If the oil
being used is dirty, the Racor will do its job and protect your pump
and injectors."
Comment from a diesel
injection workshop:
Comment from injection
pump manufacturer Stanadyne:
"We do not
recommend using the 30 micron as the final filter at any time. As the
final filter, that micron rating will cause problems with the
injection equipment in terms of wear/injector plugging, etc. We
recommend using the Fuel Manager 5 Micron element (there are many
lengths to choose from) as the final filter. If the system is 'common
rail' then we recommend using the Fuel Manager 2 Micron."
Take your pick.
Diesel engines last a long time, half a million miles or more is not
unusual, and there are not many thorough, long-term studies of the
effects of using straight vegetable oil in diesel engines. What is clear
is that "any diesel" is an exaggeration.
- Some diesels are more
suitable than others.
- Some vegetable oils are
better than others.
- Some injection pumps
work better than others.
- Some SVO kits are
better than others.
- Some computerised fuel
systems don't like vegetable oil at all.
- There are doubts about
using waste vegetable oil.
- There are doubts about
using vegetable oil in DI (Direct Injection) diesels.
The older IDI diesel
engines are generally more suitable for SVO use, especially 1980s
Mercedes and VWs. Newer DI engines can be converted for SVO use, but not
just any SVO system will do the job properly. See Single-tank
SVO systems. See The
TDI-SVO controversy.
General
Mechanical injection is
better for SVO use than computerized injection. Inline injection pumps
such as most Bosch models are most suitable for SVO. Rotary pumps should
not be used with SVO systems. Lucas/CAV injection pumps have had high
failure rates running on SVO.
Cutaway
view of an injector pump -- complex, expensive |
The quality and condition of the veg-oil is much more important with an
SVO system than if you're going to convert the oil into biodiesel. For
instance:
"In autumn 2001 an injection pump was damaged for the first time
... so that an exchange was necessary. The vehicle had previously been
driven without problems for two years. An examination of the defective
sections found substantial surface erosion of the hardened steel high
pressure parts, which are not acid-proof." The problem was traced
to a supply of soy oil which was not the usual food-grade oil and had a
high acid content. BioCar
(German page):
http://biocar.de/info/warnung1.htm
New, unused, virgin SVO is the best oil to use. See German
PPO fuel standard: "Quality Standard for Rapeseed Oil as a
Fuel". Good quality WVO can be used (though see kit supplier's
warranty). Oil quality is best checked with the titration
test used in making biodiesel to determine the Free Fatty Acid (FFA)
content of the oil. The lower the titration result the better the
quality. It's generally said that oil titrating at more than 3.5 ml 0.1%
NaOH solution should be processed into biodiesel rather than used with a
Straight Vegetable Oil system. More than that and the oil will be too
acidic and will probably contain water, which might not be very easy to
boil off, both of which can damage the fuel system.
Maybe we're being overcautious but we think a limit of 3.5 ml of NaOH
solution is too high, we'd set it lower, at 2.5 ml at the most. After
all, there are standards for diesel fuel and for biodiesel fuel, as
there should be, but not for SVO -- except for the German PPO fuel
standard, which excludes WVO altogether. Use high-quality oil.
With experience you can tell quite a lot about the quality of oil from
its appearance, colour and smell, but you still can't be sure. Someone
we know who fitted an Elsbett single-tank SVO system to his VW Golf was
careful to use oil only from the works cafetaria at his job, where the
manager had assured him it was pure, high-quality vegetable oil. We
weren't so sure so we titrated it for him. He was shocked by the result
-- it titrated at 8.5 ml of NaOH solution, bad oil! Much too acidic to
use for SVO and it had a high water content, difficult to remove. Don't
take chances, learn to titrate your oil, if it's too acidic find
better-quality oil.
Avoid oils with a high iodine value, such as linseed oil (see Iodine
Values), which can polymerise to form tough epoxy deposits, not good
for engines.
Raw oil straight from the oilseed press has to be degummed and
deacidified before use. See Fats and oils.
Deacidification is also recommended for WVO, which can contain acids
that cause corrosion in the injector pump, and impurities that can cause
coking and further corrosion. See Deacidifying
WVO, or use oil with a low FFA content (see above). WVO must be free
of water, see Removing
the water.
WVO must be pre-filtered to the original specifications for the
injection pump, usually 10 microns, sometimes 5 microns, sometimes less.
Fit an extra filter upstream with a coarser grade, with the final filter
the same rating as the original. Check fuel filters often, especially in
cold weather when waxes can clog up the fuel system.
SVO is less winter-hardy than biodiesel (which itself isn't very
winter-hardy). Vegetable oils have higher cloud-points at which they
start to gel than biodiesel made from those oils. See Oils
and esters characteristics. The same cold-weather solutions apply
for SVO as for biodiesel -- see Biodiesel
in winter. See Winterized
biodiesel for preparing WVO for winter use.
Avoid SVO systems containing copper parts -- not because the oil will
damage the copper but because the copper will catalyse the oil. See Copper
and SVO.
The
SVO problem
The central problem in
using vegetable oil as diesel fuel is that vegetable oil is much more
viscous (thicker) than conventional diesel fuel (petro-diesel, DERV,
"dino-diesel"). It's 11 to 17 times thicker. Vegetable oil
also has very different chemical properties and combustion
characteristics from those of conventional diesel fuel.
If the fuel is too thick it is not properly atomised when the fuel
injectors spray it into the combustion chamber and it does it not
combust properly -- the injectors get coked up, leading to poor
performance, higher exhaust emissions and reduced engine life.
There are many different approaches to solving the problem -- including
not admitting that there is a problem in the first place:
'Just
put it in and go'
Myth:
Just
put it in the tank -- any inline injection pump is happy on cold veg-oil,
they don't mind starting on cold oil, especially with an older Mercedes.
We hear it every summer, we don't hear much of it in winter though. An
experienced SVO'er summed it up on one of the Internet mailing lists:
"I am tired of
hearing people say that they can dump veg-oil in an old Mercedes, do
nothing, and it will be fine. It's abuse of a fine engine, it causes
poor, smoky cold starts, the emissions will not be as favorable as
they should be, and the starter, glow plug, lift pump, battery, and
injection pump will all be subjected to higher than usual
stresses."
We agree.
Mixing
fuels
Myth:
Mix it with diesel fuel or kerosene, then just put it in and go.
Examples:
- "I've been running
a vegoil/diesel mix, 50/50 winter 70/30 summer."
- "I'm running on
about 50% petro-diesel to 50% veg-oil, no problems!"
- "I use 90% WVO and
10% kerosene as my standard summer fuel."
Responses from seasoned
SVO users:
- "Your cold starts
will begin to deteriorate, your filter will probably start plugging,
your injectors will get coked up, setting the stage for ring
sticking, glazing of the cylinder walls, increased lube oil
consumption and eventual engine failure -- if you can continue to
get the thing started in the morning. More than 20% or so veg-oil in
the diesel is not a good plan for more than short term
'experiments'."
- "Mixing veg-oil
and diesel isn't advisable unless you heat all the fuel."
We've said much the same:
"You'll need what amounts to an SVO system with fuel pre-heating
anyway."
Veg-oil
blends
A couple of years ago a
cars program on British TV publicised a new way of using vegetable oil
as diesel fuel -- "just add a spoonful" of solvent.
The solvent was white spirit (mineral turpentine), with 3% added to the
veg-oil to lower the viscosity and also to lower the flash point so the
engine would start easier.
It raised a lot of interest among novices, and a lot of scepticism among
experienced SVO users: "experimental at best" and "steer
well clear" were among the more polite comments.
Then it became a matter of secret formulas with a franchised network of
paid-up Local Agents selling the additives, mostly in Britain. Recent
comment at the British-based vegoil-diesel mailing list:
"The often
mentioned 3% mix of white spirit does nothing other than make you
think your 'modified' fuel is doing no damage to your fuel pump."
(Oct 2005)
A look-alike or maybe an
off-shoot of the British operation started selling a "diesel secret
energy" additive in the US market claiming to make high-performance
diesel fuel from WVO for only one-sixth the price of petro-diesel fuel.
More details here from some folk who believed it and paid their money:
http://greasecar.com/forum_topicview.cfm?frmtopicID=3349
The recipe: mix WVO with 10% kerosene, 5% unleaded gasoline, a cetane
boost additive and the secret ingredient, which as SVO users discovered
turned out to be... xylol paint-stripper and moth balls, long touted as
miles-per-gallon improvers for gasoline engines.
Maybe it even works, but again, for how long? Where are the long-term
test-results for safe use of these chemicals in "almost any
engine" as claimed? As one source rather kindly puts it:
"Long-term durability and detailed exhaust emissions data is
incomplete." The same comments still apply: "experimental at
best" and "steer well clear".
Adding gasoline to veg-oil is a more recent trend, with some people
using mixes of 10-20% unleaded gasoline/petrol to 80-90% veg-oil.
Myth:
"The point in mixing vegetable oil with unleaded gas/petrol is to
reduce its viscosity so that it will move through the fuel lines and
injector pump without heating even during the winter months."
The more important point
is not so much how freely the fuel might move through the fuel lines and
injector pump but how it burns when it reaches the combustion chamber,
and little is known of the effects of these additives or of gasoline on
combustion in a diesel engine along with unheated (or heated) veg-oil.
As usual, there are no long-term results.
One user damaged the injector pump on his Vauxhall Astra TDI after using
only 100 litres of a mix of 80% WVO, 10% denatured ethanol, 5% butanol
and 5% gasoline. Injection pump manufacturer Bosch prohibits the use of
any alcohol-blended fuel with the Bosch VP44 injection pump. Whether
such cautions apply to other solvents being used as veg-oil fuel
additives is unknown.
"Just put it in and go" methods might make some sense for
someone out to save ready cash on fuel bills without much concern for
possible longer-term costs. But biofuellers should be finding the best
ways, as most are, not just the easiest and cheapest ways.
Apart from the cash costs to the user, what are the ecological costs of
replacing a diesel engine 20,000 miles or 50,000 miles or who knows how
many miles sooner than it should have been necessary, starting from raw
materials extraction through each step of manufacturing and supply, with
heavy fossil-fuels use every step of the way? You wouldn't be doing
anybody any favours.
We'd like to encourage people to take intelligent risks and experiment
or we'll never know what works and what doesn't work. But it's a risk,
you're on your own, no guarantees.
The more people use straight vegetable oil, with whatever system, good
or bad, the more likely it is that the car manufacturers will start to
take some notice and begin to realise that there is a market for true
multi-fuel capability diesel engines, and put some R&D effort into
it at last.
But in establishing what works and what doesn't work, some are likely to
be left with the remains of what didn't work. They'll be heroes in the
cause of real straight vegetable oil diesel engines that anyone can use,
not just enthusiasts -- manufacturer-made, supplied and warranted
diesels that can run on petro-diesel, biodiesel or straight vegetable
oil, in any blend, without any fuel-switching or fuss: fill 'er up,
switch on and go, stop and switch off, like any other car. Currently
only the German professional single-tank SVO systems do that. These are
the only SVO systems suitable for "any diesel". See below, Single-tank
SVO systems.
Two-tank
SVO systems
With two-tank SVO kits one
tank holds the vegetable oil and the other petro-diesel (or biodiesel).
The engine is started on the petro-diesel tank and runs on petro-diesel
for the first few minutes while the vegetable oil is heated to lower the
viscosity. Fuel heaters are electrical or use the engine coolant as a
heat source. When the fuel reaches the required temperature, usually
70-80 deg C (160-180 deg F), the engine is switched over to the second
tank and runs on SVO.
Before the engine is shut down, it must be switched back to petro-diesel
and the fuel system "purged" of vegetable oil before switching
off, so that there's no cold veg-oil left to coke up the injectors next
time you start the engine. Some systems have manual fuel switches, some
do it automatically.
One of the few truly scientific studies available found that veg-oil
must be heated to 150 deg C (302 deg F) to achieve the same viscosity
and fuel performance as petro-diesel: "Atomisation tests showed
that at 150 deg C the performance of the rapeseed oil is comparable with
that of the diesel oil." See the European
Advanced Combustion Research for Energy from Vegetable Oils
(ACREVO) study:
http://www.nf-2000.org/secure/Fair/F484.htm
That's double the temperature the two-tank SVO systems use. At only
70-80 deg C. veg-oil is still much more viscous than petro-diesel -- six
times more viscous in the case of rapeseed oil (canola).
Some two-tank kit vendors in North America admit that their systems are
still experimental. They point to rising mileage figures by an
increasing number of users, and the data is becoming quite impressive,
but few yet approach the high mileages to be expected of diesel engines.
For long-term use, two-tank SVO kits are probably adequate for some or
possibly many IDI (Indirect Injection) diesel engines with suitable
injection pumps. Not recommended for Direct Injection engines. See The
TDI-SVO controversy.
Whatever their technical merits and shortcomings, two-tank kits are
better for longer-distance driving than for short stop-and-start trips.
See below: Two-tank SVO kit resources
Single-tank
SVO systems
With professional
single-tank SVO systems there is no waiting or switching fuels as with
two-tank SVO kits -- start up and go, stop and switch off, just like any
other car. The engine starts easily and burns cleanly from the start,
even at sub-zero temperatures. (Supplementary heating is available for
really cold conditions.)
Single-tank SVO systems are suitable for both Indirect Injection (IDI)
and Direct Injection (DI, TDI, PDI) diesel engines.
The "secret" is specially made injector nozzles, increased
injection pressure and stronger glow-plugs, in addition to fuel
pre-heating.
Journey to Forever uses a single-tank SVO system. They're the only SVO
kits we recommend.
They are made by three companies, all in Germany. They are:
Elsbett
Technologie
Elsbett
Technologie
has been a leader in diesel technology for 40 years. By the 1970s the
company had filed 400 patents, with worldwide licensing. Elsbett was the
first to make Direct Injection diesel engines for passenger cars.
Elsbett began investigating vegetable oil as an alternative fuel with
the Oil Crisis of 1973. In 1979 it started production of a pure
vegetable oil-fueled engine, the Elsbett Multi-Fuel Direct-Injected
passenger car diesel engine, a 3-cylinder, oil-cooled engine with Direct
Injection and an integrated injection system (unit injectors, each with
its own fuel pump) which ran on petro-diesel or straight vegetable oil.
Elsbett began converting other diesel engines to run on vegetable oil or
diesel fuel in 1980.
 Elsbett
Technologie single-tank
SVO kits
provide full modification for running a diesel car on pure vegetable
oil, or on petro-diesel, or biodiesel, or any blend of the three. (Elsbett
does not warranty existing fuel system seals etc for biodiesel
compatability.) Includes Direct Injection diesels, doesn't include
diesels with Lucas-CAV rotary pumps. One-year warranty on parts as well
as any proven damage to the engine resulting from vegetable oil fuel
use. Warranty limited to SVO, excludes WVO, but not limited to rapeseed
oil.
http://www.elsbett.com/
http://www.eco-tuning.com/
(in German)
Email: info@elsbett.com
Elsbett SVO kits are optimised for each model of car, with single-tank
or two-tank kits available for more than a 40 makes of car. See online
catalog or fill in an online enquiry form:
http://www.elsbett.com/forms/ekit.htm
The Elsbett single-tank kit includes:
- Replacement injector
nozzles manufactured by Elsbett, with the spray pattern and angle
optimised for veg-oil. Injector pressure is increased by 5 to 10 bar
depending on the type of engine.
- Replacement glow-plugs
that are longer, get hotter and stay hot longer.
- Electric fuel filter
heater plus coolant-powered heat exchanger as secondary heat source.
- Dual fuel filters.
- Oil temperature sensor.
- Relays for glow-plugs
and filter heater.
Elsbett says a
"technically skilled owner" can install the kits. You can do
it if you're used to working on engines, have the usual mechanic's tools
and can follow a wiring diagram, though you'll need access to an
injector pressure tester (0-400 bar) to check the opening pressure of
the injectors, or find a diesel mechanic to do it for you, or to do the
whole job for you.
See Journey
to Forever's Elsbett SVO system
Eilish
Oils -- Elsbett
single-tank SVO conversions in Ireland
http://www.eilishoils.com/pages/ei_engines.htm
An Eilish Oils Workshop with Elsbett's Alexander
Noack:
http://www.eilishoils.com/pages/upgrades/fiat_duc.htm
Jim
Burke reports
on fitting an Elsbett single-tank conversion to his '98 VW A3 Jetta TDI,
with Driver's Log:
http://ctbiodzl.freeshell.org/votdi.html
Pictures:
http://ctbiodzl.freeshell.org/vo_conversion.html
 The
Elsbett
engine -- the
1979 3-cylinder SVO diesel motor designed by the late Ludwig Elsbett was
a highly advanced true multifuel engine, and the forerunner of all DI
diesels made today. Details:
http://www.elsbett.com/
gd/eteche.htm
More detail (in German):
http://www.elsbett.com/gd/etech.htm
News
article about a Mercedes fitted with the amazing Elsbett
engine (120kb graphic file).
VWP,
Vereinigte Werkstätten für Pflanzenöltechnologie
 VWP,
Vereinigte Werkstätten für Pflanzenöltechnologie ("combined
workshops for vegetable oil technology"), was founded about 12
years ago by former Elsbett employees. The company makes high-quality
single-tank SVO systems with special injectors, special glow-plugs and
fuel heating (they're not cheap). Includes Direct Injection diesels.
German site, use Google
translation.
E-Mail: v-w-p@t-online.de
http://www.pflanzenoel-motor.de/
VWP supplies single-tank SVO conversions for the German
government-supported "100 tractors" program, with working
tractors converted to use SVO in a three-year monitoring program. The
tractors are the Deutz Agrotron series with advanced 6-cylinder PDI
diesel engines.
http://www.deutz-fahr.de/english/traktoren/
WOLF
Pflanzenöltechnik
 WOLF
Pflanzenöltechnik
(WOLF Vegetable oil technology) has been providing advanced single-tank
SVO systems since the mid-90s. WOLF has SVO systems for Direct Injection
diesels, and has raced a 245 km/h Audi A3 Pumpe Düse PDI running on SVO
in 24-hour endurance races at Nürburgring. German site, use Google
translation.
E-Mail: service@pflanzenoeltechnik.de
http://www.wolf-pflanzenoel-technik.de/
The Folkecenter
for Renewable Energy
in Denmark holds regular SVO workshops for installation mainly of
Elsbett and VWP single-tank SVO systems. Converted cars:
http://www.folkecenter.dk/plant-oil/converted_cars_examples.htm
Danish SVO Workshop
http://www.eilishoils.com/pages/dk_wshop_2005.htm
Niels
Ansø of the
Folkecenter reported to the Biofuel
mailing list on using single-tank SVO systems with both DI
and PDI diesels:
"Using SVO in TDIs
and PDIs it not an issue when using proper conversion technology and
proper SVO fuel quality, meeting the limits specified e.g. in the German
RK standard. Proper conversion includes injectors, glow plugs,
timing and other fuel settings.
"See some single-tank SVO cars here. We have made 65 so far. http://www.folkecenter.dk/plant-oil/converted_cars_examples.htm
"We have converted several TDIs and one PDI with SVO single-tank
systems plus heater (boiler) for winter starts. The PDI is a Lupo 3L
1.2, and has been running on Faroe Island for more than a year now.
"Some of the TDIs have passed two years and about 100,000 km. We
have imported one TDI from Germany with more than 330,000km on SVO
with a single-tank system.
"Two weeks ago I tried the new VW Touran 2.0 PDI (4 valves/cyl)
with a single-tank SVO system. It was very convincing, both the start
and driving. The German company who converted it (VWP) claims that
they make the type emission approval for all their conversions, which
for this car is EURO4.
"SVO professionals claim that the high injection pressure with
PDIs is not an issue. If you study the German '100 tractor programme'
(VWP) you will see that some of the most successful conversions use
PDI technology.
"The 'original' 3-cyl 1.5 liter Elsbett Multi-Fuel engine had a
PDI system 30 years ago, so it is not new."
See: The
TDI-SVO controversy
The professional single-tank systems are the only SVO systems suitable
for "any diesel".
Other
single-tank systems
We've emphasised that these are professional SVO systems. Not
all single-tank SVO systems can be termed professional.
Some people are using do-it-yourself single-tank schemes with electrical
pre-heating for the fuel and different injector nozzles with a different
spray angle, which are said to be better for SVO. Some of these injector
nozzles have resulted in broken glow-plugs. Professional single-tank SVO
injector nozzles are specially made, there are no OEM versions
available.
Two years ago North American two-tank SVO kit suppliers Neoteric
Biofuels, having bought single-tank kits from Elsbett, announced their
own new "SINGLETANK© systems, available for many VW and Mercedes
models". The kit included modified injectors and was claimed to be
easy to install, with an expensive Racor filter so you didn't need to
pre-filter the oil (WVO).
Two years later the Neoteric single-tank kit is available only for the
older pre-chamber Mercedes IDI diesels and apparently now includes only
the filter and a fuel pre-heater. The Neoteric website now says
"special injectors are not needed" and warns that their
single-tank kit is only for use in above-freezing weather. It seems to
be just a two-tank kit with only one tank.
More recently, new single-tank SVO kits emerged in Japan, for using WVO
in older swirl-chamber IDI diesel engines. They're marketed by WOI
(Waste Oil Injection), which is run by an electronics engineer and the
owner of a small diesel injection workshop. They had bought an Elsbett
kit and helped install two others. WOI's dual heating system is similar
to Elsbett's, they also use longer glow-plugs, but instead of replacing
the injectors the WOI method is just to raise the injector pressure by
20 bar (Elsbett raises it 5-10 bar).
Having destroyed a VW Golf 3's fuel filter on one of their Elsbett
installations because for some reason they'd installed only half of the
Elsbett dual filter system, WOI's new kit replaces the standard
10-micron or less final fuel filter with a stainless steel mesh filter
of about 60 microns, "which will not be damaged by the high
viscosity of vegetable oil" (nor indeed by trying to push cold veg-oil
through half a filter system). They claim to have made eight
installations of their system so far, but three of those could have been
Elsbett systems.
On the strength of all this WOI applied for a major national
environmental technology award in Japan, claiming original development
of their carbon-saving technology.
Elsbett aside, this is what Stephan Helbig, an experienced SVO user in
Germany, says at his (English-language) website:
"How it works with
veg-oil: Pre- and whirlchamber [swirl-chamber] engines are mostly
unproblematic. Out of experience, simple prechambers start better with
veg-oil than whirlchambers. Therefore whirlchamber engines are often
fitted with 4mm longer glow plugs and an after start heating relay
that will keep the plugs at heat for up to a further 3 min. For both
it is recommendable to increase the spray of the injectors by raising
the opening pressure by about 20 bar." -- "Basics
about Diesel Injection and Vegoil"
http://people.freenet.de/sthl/poel/E/technikE.htm
WOI's original technology
has in fact been in the public domain for quite a while. Pity about the
massive-gauge 60-micron final fuel filter, you might as well filter it
through a tennis racket.
For the time being at least, best stay with the professional German
single-tank SVO kits.
Two-tank
SVO kit resources
See Two-tank
SVO systems, above.
 Diesel-Therm
(German pages with English version) -- ATG Vegetable Oil-Kit, uses
electric continuous-flow heater.
http://www.diesel-therm.com/veggie-kit.htm
Biodrive
-- Swiss two-tank SVO kits with microcomputer-controlled fuel switching.
http://www.biodrive.ch/
BioCar
-- Dual-tank straight vegetable oil system from G. Lohmann in Munich,
Germany. Computerized controller monitors fuel, adding petro- or
biodiesel before the injection pump to adjust the viscosity.
German-language site with on-site translation.
http://www.biocar.de/home.htm
German company Aetra
makes two-tank SVO systems with automatic fuel management via
micro-computer controls.
http://www.aetra.de/index.php
Greasel
-- US coolant-heated two-tank SVO kits. Claims kit is suitable for
"Direct injection, Indirect injection, Common rail, VE, Rotary
inline, unit injectors, Computer controlled". See The
TDI-SVO controversy.
http://www.greasel.com
Frybrid
-- US-made two-tank SVO kits with computer-controlled fuel switching.
Aircraft aluminum heated fuel lines, but the brass parts might not be
such a good idea. See Copper and SVO.
http://www.frybrid.com/
Smartveg
-- UK-made two-tank SVO system with computer-controlled fuel switching.
http://www.smartveg.com/
BEWARE
of people selling plans online for cheap Do-It-Yourself two-tank SVO
solutions. You could end up paying money for plans for a filter system
and be told to use an old pair of jeans (it's happened).
Fuel
heaters, filters
The
SVO vs biodiesel argument
There's quite a lot of mis-
or disinformation on the Web about the merits of SVO vs biodiesel.
A Northern European gent sent a message to the Biofuels
mailing list which caused widespread derision and
amusement, and some anger. He was pushing the use of "pure plant
oils", but ignored all the caveats on using SVO, and added some
serious nonsense about biodiesel to strengthen his case for pure plant
oils:
"Biodiesel is a
chemically altered plant oil. However the process to chemically change
the structure of Pure Plant Oil is a very costly operation and
requires a lot of energy, as it removes the glycerine substituting it
by methanol as well as adding other chemicals, making the end-product
poisonous and equally hazardous as fossil diesel fuel."
He was referred to the
comprehensive, much corroborated tests in the US that found that
biodiesel is "less toxic than table salt, more biodegradeable than
sugar", to the U.S.
Department of Energy study at the University of California
at Davis, which found a 93.6% lower risk of cancer from biodiesel
emissions than from petro-diesel, to life-cycle and economic studies of
biodiesel production that found the opposite of his cost and energy
claims, and to this
picture at our website.
Asked to support his claims, he descended into accusation and denial,
and then unsubscribed from the list. It turned out he was about to open
a factory producing "pure plant oil" fuel.
Such stories of the alleged horrors of biodiesel are not uncommon,
especially on websites selling SVO kits. In Europe it seems partly to
stem from an apparent misclassification of water pollution standards in
Germany, where the risk from rapeseed oil is not even classified,
whereas biodiesel is a class 1 hazard, and fossil diesel is in class 2
(worse). It only refers to water pollution and no other aspects of
toxicity or hazard.
A biodiesel spill is less of a problem than a spill of vegetable oil,
which coats everything, like fossil oil does. In fact biodiesel is used
to clean up marine oil spills. In North America it is not classed as
hazardous.
"All the biodiesel fuels are 'readily biodegradable' compounds
according to EPA standard (EPA, 1982) and have a relatively high
biodegradation rate in the aquatic environment... Biodiesel can promote
and speed up the biodegradation of diesel. The more biodiesel present in
a biodiesel/diesel mixture, the faster the degradation rate. The
biodegradation pattern in a biodiesel/diesel mixture is that
microorganisms metabolize both biodiesel and diesel at the same time and
at almost the same rates... Neat rapeseed oil and soybean oil have
slightly lower percent degradation. Their higher viscosity may limit
their solubility, therefore limit their biodegradability." -- From
"Biodegradability
of Biodiesel in the Aquatic Environment",
by Xiulin Zhang, Charles L. Peterson, Daryl Reece, Gregory Möller,
Randall Haws, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, USA. Acrobat file,
1.1Mb.
http://www.biodiesel.org/resources/reportsdatabase/
reports/mar/19950601_mar-009.pdf
This is corroborated by other studies.
Here's another anti-biodiesel yarn:
"Biodiesel is
chemically produced and substantially more expensive than vegetable
oil. Except for a few new vehicles, most are not suited for using
biodiesel. The majority of diesel vehicles must first be converted, in
order to guarantee they will operate on biodiesel. The problem is the
durability of the plastic and rubber components, which come into
contact with the fuel. If biodiesel is used in a system that has not
been adapted, the fuel can leak from places where it frequently backs
up, which weakens and dissolves the fuel system's components. When
using pure, untreated vegetable oil, these problems will not
occur." -- From Diesel-Therm.
http://www.diesel-therm.com/
That it's
"untreated" is a myth -- most oils have to be de-gummed,
deacidified, and usually winterized, it also involves chemical
treatments, and there are centralized factories in Europe that process
fuel-grade vegetable oil, much the same as for food-grade oils. Very few
types of oil can go straight from the oilseed crusher to the fuel tank.
(See "Straighter-than-straight
vegetable oils as diesel fuels".)
Also, the introduction of low-sulphur diesel fuel in Europe about 12
years ago caused severe problems for fuel systems and all manufacturers
hastened to correct it, which also made the vehicles safe for biodiesel.
In effect, no European cars made in the last 12 years have fuel-system
parts that are susceptible to rot from biodiesel use. All French diesel
fuel now contains 2-5% biodiesel (partly to make up for the lack of
lubricity in low-sulphur diesel fuel), and European diesel cars can and
do use it safely, as with Japanese diesels. See: Stanadyne
White Paper on diesel fuel
-- "Low-Sulfur Diesel Fuel Requires Additives to Preserve Fuel
Lubricity"
If you're in any doubt about this check the resources linked from our Biodiesel
resources on the Web page and make up your own mind.
A German professor compared Plant oil (SVO) and Biodiesel (BD),
including these comparisons:
| Comparison
of pure plant oil and bio diesel as fuel |
| xxx |
SVO |
BD |
| Production |
| principle |
decentralized
small oil expellers |
central,
big industrial units |
| Environment |
| biol. degradation |
very fast |
delayed |
| danger of water
pollution |
no |
small |
| human toxicity |
regularly
no or small |
toxic |
| Social
acceptability |
| strategy |
small,
decentralized |
big,
central |
| logistics |
simple |
complex |
| transportation |
short
distances |
long
distances |
| regional income
generation |
high |
low |
--
From "Comparison of pure plant oil and bio diesel as
fuel" by Prof. E. Schrimpff, Fachhochschule Weihenstephan,
University of Applied Sciences, "the largest 'green'
university of applied sciences in Germany".
http://jatropha.org/p-o-engines/svo-bd-characteristics.htm |
It's simply nonsense. Biodiesel production is not confined to
"central, big industrial units" as thousands of small, local,
high-quality operations can attest. SVO cannot be used straight from the
expeller and is often produced in big centralized factories in Europe.
SVO does not biodegrade "very fast", biodiesel biodegrades
faster, it's not "delayed". Biodiesel poses less danger of
water pollution, not more. It is no more toxic than SVO.
In some real applied science, a different professor concludes: "So
dear friends, please be careful when you compare that lovely (but
already refined) SVO with biodiesel." -- From "Straighter-than-straight
vegetable oils as diesel fuels",
Michael Allen, Visiting Professor, Prince of Songkla University,
Thailand
A Biofuel
mailing list member put it in perspective: "SVO versus
biodiesel is a pseudo argument that should not exist. It creates a false
competitive situation between two good things and distracts from the
real issues on how we can minimize the use of fossil fuels."
Quite so. They're complementary, it's a choice.
References
Report of the European
Advanced Combustion Research for Energy from Vegetable Oils
(ACREVO) study of the use of straight vegetable oil as diesel fuel.
Investigates the burning characteristics of vegetable oil droplets from
experiments conducted under high pressure and high temperature
conditions. Very interesting study, worth a thorough read (4,400 words).
http://www.nf-2000.org/secure/Fair/F484.htm
Straighter-than-straight
vegetable oils as diesel fuels,
Michael Allen, Visiting Professor, Prince of Songkla University,
Thailand: What happens when you try to run a diesel motor on crude palm
oil.
Palm
Oil as a Fuel for Agricultural Diesel Engines: Comparative Testing
against Diesel Oil,
by Gumpon Prateepchaikul and Teerawat Apichato of Prince of Songkla
University, Thailand. Comparative tests of indirect injection
agricultural engines fueled by diesel and refined palm oil and operating
continuously at constant 75% maximum load and speed of 2,200 rpm.
German
PPO fuel standard: "Quality Standard for Rapeseed Oil
as a Fuel"
Unmodified
Vegetable Oil as an Automotive Fuel
by Peder Jensen, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, one of
the seven institutes making up the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the
European Commission. "Since the 1970s dedicated work has been
carried out on modifying diesel engines to adapt them to run on
unmodified or 'straight' vegetable oil (SVO). This has proven that the
concept works well. There are however a number of structural barriers to
the success of this fuel in the market place which must be addressed if
the fuel is to find a role in the fuel supply of the future."
3,800-word report:
http://www.jrc.es/pages/iptsreport/vol74/english/TRA1E746.htm
The final version of the European
biofuel directive,
Directive 2003/30/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8
May 2003 on the promotion of the use of biofuels or other renewable
fuels for transport, published in the Official Journal of the European
Union, L 123 Volume 46, 17 May 2003, accepts SVO as a biofuel:
"Pure vegetable oil from oil plants produced through pressing,
extraction or comparable procedures, crude or refined but chemically
unmodified, can also be used as biofuel in specific cases where its use
is compatible with the type of engines involved and the corresponding
emission requirements." Acrobat file, 124Kb:
English
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/pri/en/oj/dat/
2003/l_123/l_12320030517en00420046.pdf
German
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/pri/de/oj/dat/
2003/l_123/l_12320030517de00420046.pdf
French
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/pri/fr/oj/dat/
2003/l_123/l_12320030517fr00420046.pdf
Spanish
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/pri/es/oj/dat/
2003/l_123/l_12320030517es00420046.pdf
"Technical
Overview of Vegetable Oil as a Transportation Fuel",
1991, Charles L. Peterson and Dick L. Auld, Department of Agricultural
Engineering, University of Idaho -- see section concerning Fuls, South
Africa, indirect injection engines: Fuls. J., Hawkins, C.S. and Hugo,
F.J.C., 1984, "Tractor Engine Performance on Sunflower Oil
Fuel," Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research 30:29-35.
Download (Acrobat file, 2152kb):
http://www.biodiesel.org/resources/reportsdatabase/
reports/gen/19910101_gen-292.pdf
Use
of Raw Vegetable Oils as Diesel Fuel Replacements
-- University of Idaho: "... most research with raw vegetable oils
have shown reduced engine life due to polymerization in the ring belt
area and in some cases lubricating oil thickening, reduced bearing life
or even sudden catastrophic failure..."
http://www.uidaho.edu/bae/biodiesel/rawoils.html
Using
Unmodified Vegetable Oils as a Diesel Fuel Extender -- A Literature
Review by Sam
Jones and Charles L. Peterson, University of Idaho, September 2002:
"When tested in long term tests blends above 20 percent nearly
always result in engine damage or maintenance problems... many
researchers have been involved in testing programs designed to evaluate
long term performance characteristics. Results of these studies
indicated that potential hazards such as stuck piston rings, carbon
buildup on injectors, fuel system failure, and lubricating oil
contamination (Pratt, 1980) existed when vegetable oils were used as
alternative fuels... Engine tests showed that carbon deposits in the
engine were reduced if the oil was heated prior to combustion. It was
also noted that carbon deposit levels differed for oils with similar
viscosities, indicating that oil composition was also an important
factor." 4,600-word report. (Word document, 56kb):
http://www.uidaho.edu/bae/biodiesel/
raw%20vegetable%20oils_literature%20review.doc
Review:
Utilization of Rapeseed Oil, Rapeseed Oil Methyl Ester or Diesel Fuel --
Exhaust Gas Emissions and Estimation of Environmental Effects,
by Jürgen Krahl, Axel Munack, Müfit Bahadir, Leon Schumacher and Nancy
Elser, 1996. This report is a review of emissions tests of rapeseed oil
and rapeseed methyl esters biodiesel using the US FTP-75 tests or
European ECE-15 13 and 5 tests. Emissions are categorized and compared
with petroleum diesel fuel in different types of diesel engines. Section
2 on Engine Testing Procedures and section 3, "Environmental
Effects of the Main Exhaust Gas Components", are well worth a read
in their own right.
Suitability
of used fats and oils as a diesel engine fuel,
by Rudolf Sagerer, Munich 1999 -- in German, German Army university
degree paper, 145 pages. The study used a two-tank system and various
kinds of WVO. Interesting information on emissions -- at high load the
emissions and power are better than with Ultra-Low Sulphur Diesel fuel (ULSD),
and at part load and low load worse. 1.2Mb Acrobat file.
Vegetable
Oil as a Fuel
by Darren Hill -- online report, mainly UK-based: The Diesel Engine,
Theory of Vegetable Oil Use as a Fuel, Engine suitability, Heating the
Oil, Biodiesel, Micro Emulsions and Blends, Vegetable Oil Engine Design,
Vegetable Oil Furnaces and Heaters, Oil Types and Filtering, Taxation,
Implications of Vegetable Oil Fuel Use, Sources. Welcomes contributions
from users.
http://www.vegburner.co.uk/
Datenbank des Forums 'Fahren
mit Salatöl'
(Database of the forum 'driving with salad oil') -- This German database
has information on hundreds of cars using veg-oil.
http://www.poeltech.de/database/
SVO
Database --
for vehicles running on SVO (straight vegetable oil), or a blend of SVO.
Users can enter their own information according to vehicle type, pump,
fuel system used, etc. Good and bad experiences welcome. Open access
with free password. Hopes to show which vehicles are the most successful
based on mileage and quality of fuel used.
http://www.vegetableoildiesel.co.uk/fuelsdatabase/database/index.php
Copper
and SVO:
"I'm not so worried about the copper but what the copper does to
the fuel. Did you ever check what happened to your fuel properties like
oxidation stability and acid value? A lot of research has been done in
Germany on VO (and biodiesel) fuel properties, and who I consider as the
leading experts clearly warn against using copper in connection with VO
because of the catalytic effect it has on the VO. The laboratory ASG
Analytik-Service (http://www.asg-analytik.de),
who were involved in the research leading to the "Rape
Seed Oil Fuel Standard", says that just a few PPM of copper in
VO will change the oxidation stability... [In SVO systems] with a
catalytic metal, I think you have the best conditions and environment
for decomposition of the VO, and the effects it has on the fuel
properties again have an impact on the engine performance, engine
conditions (lifetime) and emissions composition." -- Niels
Ansø, Folkecenter,
Denmark
Effects of copper on SVO: Standardisierung
von Rapsöl als Kraftstoff - Untersuchungen zu Kenngröben, Prüfverhafen
und Grenzwerten,
by Edgar Remmele, thesis on vegetable oil as fuel -- see pp 144-146 for
the effects of copper on vegetable oil. Acrobat file, 1.4Mb - in German.
http://tumb1.biblio.tu-muenchen.de/publ/diss/ww/2002/remmele.pdf
Waste
Vegetable Oil as a Diesel Replacement Fuel
-- 6,500 article by Phillip Calais, Environmental Science, Murdoch
University, Perth, Australia, and AR Clark, Western Australian Renewable
Fuels Association
http://www.shortcircuit.com.au/warfa/paper/paper.htm
Biodiesel:
The Use of Vegetable Oils and Their Derivatives as Alternative Diesel
Fuels, G.
Knothe, R.O. Dunn, and M.O. Bagby, in Fuels and Chemicals from
Biomass. Washington, D.C.: American Chemical Society. Download
full-text article:
Acrobat
file, 912kb
MS
Word file, 212kb
Operation
of a Diesel Engine Using Unrefined Rapeseed Oil as Fuel,
Chiyuki Togashi, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Miyagi
Agricultural College, and Jun-ichi Kamide, Faculty of Agriculture,
Yamagata University, Japan. Report of tests with unrefined rapeseed oil
in a small diesel engine on short-term performance, long-term operation
and no-load continuous operation using deacidified oil, degummed oil and
crude oil.
http://ss.jircas.affrc.go.jp/engpage/jarq/33-2/Togashi/togashi.html
Results
of engine and vehicle testing of semi-refined rapeseed oil,
Kevin P. McDonnell, Shane M. Ward & Paul B. McNulty, University
College Dublin, Dept of Agricultural & Food Engineering, Dublin,
Ireland.
http://www.regional.org.au/au/gcirc/6/214.htm
Eignung
von aufbereiteten Altfetten zum Betrieb eines Dieselmotors
(Suitability of treated used fats as a fuel for diesel engines), Dipl.
Ing. Olaf Soyk, 1999, 145 pages -- a.k.a. the "Biocar
thesis".
Acrobat file, 1305Kb, in German.
Part English translation: a summary of all important diagrams and charts
of the "Biocar thesis", translated by Stephan Helbig:
"There are no further comments of what is shown here. If you want
to know more about the evaluation of these results, maybe contact Biocar.
Biocar offers a heated dual tank vegoil conversion kit that is also made
for use of solid, used fats. Anything in this paper assumes a Biocar
kit."
http://www.vegburner.co.uk/biocar.html
Biocar:
http://biocar.de/
Jim
Burke's TDI vegoil conversion
-- "Due to the continued price increases of biodiesel, I have
decided to convert my '98 Jetta TDI to vegetable oil. The price of
biodiesel has gone up over 40% in a little over a year. A kit was
recently made available from Elsbett Technologie for vegetable oil
conversion of TDIs. Assuming I use waste fryer oil and my time is free,
I should recover the cost of the kit in just over one year. I'll
document my experiences here."
http://ctbiodzl.freeshell.org/votdi.html
"Research
into Biodiesel Kinetics and Catalyst Development",
by Adam Karl Khan, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of
Queensland, 17 May 2002: Some useful information on SVO -- Acrobat file,
432Kb:
http://www.cheque.uq.edu.au/ugrad/chee4001/
CHEE400102/Adam_Khan_Thesis.pdf
Comparison
of Transport Fuels
-- Final Report (EV45A/2/F3C) to the Australian Greenhouse Office on the
Stage 2 study of Life-cycle Emissions Analysis of Alternative Fuels for
Heavy Vehicles, by Tom Beer, Tim Grant, Geoff Morgan, Jack Lapszewicz,
Peter Anyon, Jim Edwards, Peter Nelson, Harry Watson & David
Williams -- CSIRO in association with The University of Melbourne, the
Centre for Design at RMIT. Parsons Australia Pty Ltd and Southern Cross
Institute of Health Research.
http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/transport/comparison/index.html
Part 1 provides a summary of the salient points of each fuel, Part 2
consists of detailed chapters on each fuel.
Executive
Summary -
(Acrobat file 186Kb)
http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/transport/comparison/pubs/execsummary.pdf
Part
1 Canola -
(Acrobat file 12Kb)
http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/transport/comparison/pubs/1ch5.pdf
Part
2 Canola -
(Acrobat file 24Kb)
http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/transport/comparison/pubs/2ch5.pdf
The
Ricardo report:
"UK Department for Transport Biofuels Evaluation - Final Report of
Test Programme to Evaluate Emissions Performance of Vegetable Oil Fuel
on Two Light Duty Diesel Vehicles", 7 November 2003, by Diance
Lance, Jon Anderson, Ricardo Consulting Engineers. Compared with Ultra
Low Sulphur diesel fuel (ULSD), emissions with SVO were much higher:
"VVO showed increases in HC emissions of ~250% and CO emissions of
~420% in the VW Passat and increases in HC and CO emissions of 170% and
60% repectively in the Peugeot 106, compared to baseline ULSD."
Other emissions were also higher. The report has apparently had a
negative effect on the UK government's attitude to SVO use. It has been
strongly criticised -- see next for comments from Niels Ansø of the
Folkecenter for Renewable Energy in Denmark. Ricardo report, Acrobat
file, 2.1Mb:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_roads/
documents/page/dft_roads_027622.pdf
Why
the Ricardo report is just another useless report!
-- Niels
Ansø of the
Folkecenter for Renewable Energy in Denmark issues a persuasive rebuttal
to the negative findings on SVO emissions in the Ricardo report -- worth
reading in full for a better understanding of how SVO fuel works. 2,100
words.
Examination
of Pure Plant Oil as a Transportation Biofuel – Experiences and
Potentials,
by Darren Hill. A critical examination of the Ricardo report (above).
http://www.vegburner.co.uk/examppo.htm
SVO
emissions bibliography
-- Compiled by Wolfgang Rougle from the 55-page bibliography of the Iowa
State biodiesel course. This larger bibliography covers all research
aspects of biodiesel and some non-emissions aspects of SVO, and may be
useful to you. It can be found at:
http://www.me.iastate.edu/biodiesel/Bibliography/bibliography.html
 Jatropha
The
Jatropha System -- An Integrated Approach of Rural Development in
Tropical & Subtropical Countries.
Based on using jatropha oil as fuel -- a selection of papers and
information on the use of the Jatropha curcas tree. See
"Literature":
http://www.jatropha.org/
Jatropa curgas -- Minor
oil crops,
FAO Agricultural Services Bulletin No. 94, Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations, Rome, 1992
http://www.fao.org/docrep/X5043E/x5043E0d.htm#Jatropa%20curgas
Jatropha at the Mali-Folkecenter
-- MFC has been working with Jatropha in Mali since 1999, focusing on
Jatropha production and use, planting, use as a living hedge, soap
making, multi-functional platforms, as diesel-fuel substitute.
Information on jatropha, properties, cultivation, the Jatropha
multi-task energy platform, MFC Jatropha Projects.
http://www.malifolkecenter.org/lowersection/
Dep3_NRM/jatropha/mfc_jatropha_intro.html
Pushing
back the barriers to sustainable development -- An example from Mali,
West Africa,
by Kate Burrell. report on local energy self-reliance technology
transfer by the Mali-Folkecenter, with 1920s-style Lister diesels, a
Nepalese plant-oil press, and oil from jatropha trees. 344kb Acrobat
file:
http://www.malifolkecenter.org/lowersection/
pressreleases/Jatropha%20article%20MFC.pdf
 Conversion
of pick-up to run on jatropha oil
-- Conversion of Mali rural energy NGO MFC's Toyota pick-up to run on
jatropha oil. In a simple procedure taking only 1 day of work, the car's
standard 2.8-litre diesel engine was converted to run on jatropha (pourghere)
oil by an engineer from the German company Elsbett
at a workshop in Bamako, Mali.
http://www.malifolkecenter.org/lowersection/
Dep5_TD/dep5_TD_pick-up%20conv.html
India's Center
for Jatropha Promotion
http://www.jatrophaworld.org/
Jatropha
oil as household energy
-- A critique of Jatropha in India by Ashden Award winner, Pune-based
botanist Dr. A. D. Karve, president of the Appropriate Rural Technology
Institute (ARTI) in Maharashtra, India.
http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/msg48290.html
Jatropha curcas is one of many useful oilseed crops but it's no
magic bullet, and it has its disadvantages:
- "Various
"pro-jatropha" websites easily talk about 6 tons of
jatropha seed yield, or more, per hectare. Most of these sites are
from programs in India. If you actually e-mail someone growing
jatropha, or read message boards, there are disquieting sentiments
that yields may be considerably less, as in less than one ton per
hectare." (Inquiry from Journey to Forever website visitor.)
- "I grew Jatropha
in Ruwa, about 30 km from Harare, and they did quite well there.
What I found with them is the seed is very difficult to get out of
the outer shell but maybe you can invent or buy a machine to do that
part of the job. Have you thought of using Leucaena?"
-- Jed, Mozambique, Biofuel mailing list, Oct 2005
- "Jatropha is hardy
and has a highish yield but it's also toxic. The seedcake (what's
left after pressing) cannot be fed to animals. Why not convert it to
biodiesel? It's better in the long run." -- Duncan, South
Africa, Biofuel mailing list, Oct 2005
There is no magic bullet.
The one that gives the best results is the one that fits the local
circumstances best, and the more local the better.
Coconut
oil
Coconut
Crude - Vanuatu,
February 2004 -- 2,600-word article on using coconut oil as vehicle fuel
in the Pacific islands
http://www.tve.org/ho/doc.cfm?aid=1431&lang=English
In
Vanuatu, a proving ground for coconut oil as an alternative fuel
-- Entrepreneur Tony Deamer shows that pure coconut oil can be used as
an alternative to petroleum in automotive diesel engines. The result is
an environmentally friendly fuel that might also help the local economy.
April-June 2003
http://www.onecountry.org/e151/e15101as_Deamer_profile.htm
The
Effect of Coconut Oil and Diesel Fuel Blends on Diesel Engine
Performance and Exhaust Emissions,
Machacon, Matsumoto et al in JSAE Review 22 (2001), pp.349-355,
Elsevier. Investigates the effects of coconut oil as diesel fuel
alternative or fuel blend. Results show that neat coconut oil fuels gave
lower smoke and NOx emissions.
http://www.cleers.org/articles/articlepage.php?articleid=643
Copra
Oil for Power Generation and Transportation
-- Project by the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission to
investigatethe use ofcopra oil as a fuel in power generation and for
transportation in the Pacific as an alternative to diesel fuel.
Countries participating in the project are: Fiji, Solomon Islands, Cook
Islands, Tuvalu, Samoa, American Samoa, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea and
Tonga.
http://www.sopac.org/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=Energy+Projects+COPRA
Coconut
Oil as a Biofuel in Pacific Islands -- Challenges and Opportunities,
Jan Cloin, Energy Adviser, South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission:
"Economically attractive niches can be found in the use of raw
coconut oil in adapted engines in remote communities with an abundant
supply of coconuts and milling capacity. The production of biodiesel
from coconut oil in combination with other (used) vegetable oils can be
set up commercially in larger communities for provision of cleaner fuels
in cars and electricity generators." 11 pages, 308 kb Acrobat file
http://www.sopac.org/tiki/tiki-download_file.php?fileId=520
Coconut
Oil Biofuel -- Clean and Competitive,
Jan Cloin, Energy Adviser, South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission:
Due to the increasing cost of diesel fuel, diversification to blends of
coconut oil fuel is increasingly viable. Six pages, 516 kb Acrobat file
http://www.sopac.org/tiki/tiki-download_file.php?fileId=244
The
Coconut Fireant, or A Technology Assessment using Actor-Network Theory
to analyse the potential for Coconut Oil Bioenergy in the Fiji Islands,
Charlie W. Blair, MSc. Study, Imperial College of Science, Technology
and Medicine (University of London), Department of Environmental Science
and Technology, September 2004 -- 106 pages, 2.9 Mb Acrobat file
http://www.sopac.org/tiki/tiki-download_file.php?fileId=148
What’s
next for the tree of life? A socio-economic analysis of coconut
oil as a potential substitute for diesel in Tuvalu,
William Burnyeat, MSc. Study, Imperial College of Science, Technology
and Medicine (University of London), Centre for Environmental
Technology, September 2004, 108 pages, 1.6 Mb Acrobat file
http://www.sopac.org/tiki/tiki-download_file.php?fileId=149
Honge
Oil as diesel
fuel in India
http://www.goodnewsindia.com/Pages/content/discovery/honge.html
The
Petroleum plant:
Euphorbia tirucalli
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Euphorbia_tirucalli.html
Euphorbia lathyris
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Euphorbia_lathyris.html
The
Diesel tree:
"...a single tree is said to yield about 40 litres." Copaifera
langsdorfii:
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Copaifera_langsdorfii.html
The
Petroleum nut:
Pittosporum resiniferum
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Pittosporum_resiniferum.html
The
Candlenut:
Aleurites moluccana
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Aleurites_moluccana.html
Jojoba
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Simmondsia_chinensis.html
Ben-oil
tree
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/duke_energy/Moringa_oleifera.html
NewCrop
SearchEngine
at the Center for New Crops & Plant Products at Purdue University --
Search for "oil". Results: "The following pages
containing 'oil' were found -- hits 1-20 of 200". Results are
hyperlinked to detailed factsheets.
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/SearchEngine.html
Plants
For A Future
-- Database Search -- See "Search by Use - Select any of the
following uses. Or select none and use the plant criteria below."
Select "Other Use" - oil. Results: "Other Use: Oil
(460)". Results are hyperlinked to detailed factsheets.
http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/D_search.html
Diesel
information
How
Diesel Engines Work
http://www.howstuffworks.com/diesel.htm
Diesel
Engines
(Chevron)
http://www.chevron.com/prodserv/fuels/bulletin/diesel/L2_6_fs.htm
Diesel
Fuels -- Technical Review
(Chevron)
http://www.chevron.com/prodserv/fuels/bulletin/diesel/L1_toc_fs.htm
So,
This is Your First Diesel
http://www.dieselpage.com/art1110fd.htm
Breaking
in a Diesel Engine
http://www.thedieselstop.com/contents/getitems.php3?
Breaking%20in%20a%20Diesel%20Engine
Diesel
Injection Systems
http://www.dieselpage.com/art1110d |
