Thirteen years ago, when we owned a health food store, an old beat up VW Rabbit, parked in front of our store, and I noticed it had signs and writing on the windows. It said, “This vehicle runs on used vegetable oil”. The gentleman came into the store and I had to ask him how that worked. He was evasive and would not go into detail, but said he used oil from a deep fryer of a “Patate Frit”(french fry) stand. Being a diesel owner at the time, my curiousity was aroused.
The wonders of the internet made it easy for me to satisfy my curiosity and delve into the subject of alternative fuel sources. Trips to the library and a purchase of one particular book called “From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank” and I was on my way. I invested in all the hose and fuel lines with electrical fuel selector valves.
Heat is a necessary component in this venture. Without a heated tank the oil will not reach a combustible temperature. Feeling confident in the alternative fuel system on the vehicle, I decided to test it and made a round trip of 150km. With that being a success, I pushed the system a little harder and with tools in hand, and extra vegetable fuel on board, drove a distance of 1100km return.
Recycled veggie oil smells like french fries when it burns, and restaurants are more than happy to give all their used oil away as it costs them money to have it removed. With all the different engines that could use this type of system, the opportunity to do something with this recyclable, renewable source is inspiring. The impact that it could have on environment is immense as well.
I have now traveled more than 200,000 kms, in 2 different vehicles on WVO. My restaurant suppliers have change as to try to get the cleanest oil possible. If you smell French Fries while you are driving down the highway, the car in front you may be using veggie oil as fuel. Do you want fries with that?
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