Vegetable Oil
as an Alternative Fuel
By Samantha, Stu,
Evan and Mike
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
• There are over 350 different
plant types that can supply
the oil, here are a few
Plant
O types
Oil Palm
i
Coconut
l
Jatropha
d
Rapeseed
s
Peanut
i
Sunflower
f
Safflower
h
Soybean
a
Hemp
d
Corns
lb/oil acre
4585
2070
1460
915
815
720
605
345
280
135
kg. oil/hectare
5,000
2,260
1,590
1,000
890
800
655
375
305
145
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
• Is a fuel made from 80-90% vegetable oil,
10-20% alcohol, and 0.35-1.5% catalyst
• It’s 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
• 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
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
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
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
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
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)