WVO FAQ
From WVO Designs Wiki
[edit] WVO/SVO/PPO?
Waste Vegetable Oil, Strait Vegetable Oil, Pure Plant Oil. On this site I will use WVO exclusively butfor practical purposes it is interchangeable with the others.
[edit] Can I run mycar/truck on WVO?
Yes, if it is has a diesel engine. That said some vehicles are more readilyconverted than others.
[edit] What makes some vehicles better for WVO than others?
- Cost: less expensive vehicles are inherently more acceptable to modify and have a good risk/reward quotient. Older vehicles typically have less complex and more over designed components.
- Fuel Pump: The higher viscosity of WVO is hard on fuel pumps. Stock mechanical fuel pumps are typically tougher than stock electric fuel pumps. Stock electric fuel pumps will most likely fail prematurely from WVO use.
- Injection Pump(IP)/Injectors: The robustness of the IP and injectors will come to test. Also to consider is the fact that the IP is a heat sink for the fuel; it would stand to reason that the temperature of the IP itself will have significant impact of the temperature of the fuel exiting it, regardless of fuel temperature at the inlet.
- Direct/Indirect Injection: It is widely considered that indirect injection engines are more acceptable to WVO use. The thinking behind this is that with indirect injection, fuel is injected into a pre-combustion chamber and unspent WVO would not be directly contaminating (coking) the piston and cylinder walls. Contamination of cylinder walls and piston rings would lead to blow-by and lubrication oil contamination. This will most certainly lead to premature engine failure.
- Use: Vehicles/engines used for long continuous duration are more suitable for WVO than one used occasionally for short duration. Engines should not be started on WVO and hence, the required purge/shutdown procedure makes short duration use impractical.
[edit] What is required to convert my vehicle to run on WVO?
This depends on your evaluation of the cost/benefit ratio. ie.The system “required” for a $2000 300D is going to be quite different than what is “required” for $45000 F350. That said, this is the spectrum:
Single tank Just put it in and go/blend it with diesel/blend it with something else. There appears to be some merit to “thinning” the WVO however, it is general opinion of the community that while this is the lowest cost “conversion” it is also the most risky and should be avoided if possible. Single tank with heated filter, injector line heaters and fuel/coolant heat exchanger. This is very popular with the 300D crowd and provides good usability with acceptable reliability. Weakness in this system is in the initial startup, cold un-burnt WVO will be in contact with cold combustion chamber and cylinder walls. Ultimately, piston ring contamination and coking will occur and leading to lubrication oil contamination and pre-mature engine failure.
Two Tank system with manual switches Engine can be started on diesel or biodiesel then, when the engine is to running temperature, can be switched over to WVO safely. The heat in the engine will produce higher combustion temperatures and more completely consume the WVO drastically reducing contamination. At the end of the trip, the engine must be switched back to diesel/biodiesel and residual WVO must be consumed leaving only diesel in the engine and thus ready for cold starting. Weakness of this system are the human factor in switching over to WVO before the engine is sufficiently heated and back to diesel without allowing sufficient time for complete purge of WVO from the engine.
Two Tank system with automated control Same as above except electronics using sensors and timers control the switching on to and off of WVO. This will provide the highest degree of reliability when combined with a completely independent WVO system from the stock diesel fuel system.
[edit] OK, so if I do acomplete full blown, automated two tank system will it still damage my engine
Probably, while I have seen lots of evidence suggesting negligible engine impact I have seen none to suggest that WVO will make your engine run longer. If it is any constellation [consolation?], a good diesel engine will probably run longer than you need it to anyway.
[edit] I am ready, how do I get started?
Secure your source of WVO. Recent elevation in fuel prices has also elevated interest and use ofWVO. It is getting harder to find and youmay even need to pay for it. Until yousecure your WVO source, everything else is academic.
[edit] I have a WVO source,quit messing with me, now what?
Independently from converting your vehicle, you are going to need to set up the infrastructure to collect, process, store and possibly distribute your WVO. Your time is going to be the issue here. Sitting down and planning this out now will save you time and money later. The amount of oil that you are going to be moving at any one time is the key and you will need to size your operation around it. Standardize your operation to oneof: 5 gallon cubies, 55 gallon drums or 275 gallon totes. Your storage area should be sized to hold at least a month’s collection capacity. Anticipate that pumps move WVO at half their rated (no load) flow rate and should be sized to transfer your container in less than half an hour. Your WVO cleaning process should be able to handle one container at a time without intervention. If in doubt, size up. Being over capacity sucks time and money.
[edit] What are my optionsfor filtering/processing the WVO into fuel?
Once again, the volume of oil that you are going to dealwith is going to be the critical factor in sizing your cleaning/filteringsystem. If you are dealing with cubies,you can probably get away with filter bags, if you are dealing with 275gallontotes, you are going to want a centrifuge. Either way, the longer that you let the WVO settle the better off youwill be. Always transfer from the top ofthe container and discard or process sediment separately. In many cases, heat may be required to liquefythe WVO for any significant processing; mechanical filters should always beheated and centrifuges are much more effective with heated WVO. Up front planning should focus on minimumhuman interaction and use of gravity if possible.
[edit] What does WVO cost?
You can expect to pay a restaurant anywhere from nothing (ifyou are really lucky) to $1/gallon, cleaned fuel ready WVO goes for $2-$2.75and roughly correlates to a $2/gallon mark up for cleaning.
