TEAM VEGGIE OIL REPORT

 

 

Before leaving for Dominica, the members of team veggie oil (Samantha Glaser, Stuart Pratt, Evan Hallas, Michael Bisogno) read Josh Tickell's book From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank: The Complete Guide to Using Vegetable Oil as an Alternative Fuel. The team members developed an in-depth understand of the Straight vegetable Oil (SVO) system and taught others in the class about conversions. They refined their knowledge by attending a Vegetable Oil Workshop, looking at converted cars, and searching the web. The students thought they had a solid understanding of the SVO system, but once they arrived in Dominica their knowledge expanded exponentially.

 

  

At the site of 3 River's eco lodge, we, Team Veggie Oil prepared for our workshop by stripping the old conversion parts from Jem's diesel/vegetable oil truck and familiarizing ourselves with the new kit purchased from Greasecar.com. Roydan, our trusted mechanic and friend, helped us conceptualize the conversion and guided us around the inner workings of Jem's truck. Later that day, we explained the benefits of using waste oil to twenty plus participants in a workshop. We showed them that on a large scale this could make Dominica more self sufficient, not relying as much on diesel, and how on a small scale it would save them money, because the cost of waste oil is free. We also mentioned that the environmental impacts of driving are greatly reduced due to the fact vegetable oil is carbon neutral. For the second part of our workshop, we explained the function of the parts necessary to convert a diesel vehicle to run on Straight Vegetable Oil, and had the participants help with the re-installation on Jem's truck.

        The next day we traveled to Springfield Estate and Guest House for our second workshop. In the morning we gave a powerpoint presentation to college students, distinguished guests, and members of the community. Following the presentation there was a brief reception outside. More students from the Dominica State College joined the group and we demonstrated the vegetable oil conversion on a local organization's truck. We went through the conversion process step-by-step with each of the participants. While converting the vehicle, several Team Energy members discussed the future of Dominica's energy with the locals. At the end of the workshop, all the participants were enthusiastic about the hands on experience.

 

The Conversion Process

            The first step in converting your diesel engine to run on vegetable oil is to obtaining a conversion kit. These kits can be obtained for around $1000 from a variety of sources such as Greasecar.com, greasel.com, and veggievan.com. If you have any mechanical skills you can obtain the parts separately and create your own kit for a significantly lower price. Here is a brief list of parts that are needed for the conversion:

         

Once the parts have been obtained you can begin your conversion process:

1)    Find a place for your vegetable oil fuel tank, preferable somewhere accessible so that it is easy to add fuel

2)    Run the hoses (vegetable oil, and two coolant) from your fuel tank to your engine

3)    Split the coolant hoses entering and exiting the engine radiator with T-valves and attach the two new coolant hoses. Attach these new coolant hoses to the internal radiator inside of the new fuel tank. The coolant running through these hoses will heat up your vegetable oil, lowering its viscosity.

4)    You must attach a vegetable oil fuel filter somewhere along the vegetable oil hose between the fuel tank and the solenoid valve.

5)    The solenoid valve is placed next to your engine and both your diesel fuel line and vegetable oil fuel line are attached. One fuel line exists the solenoid valve and runs into the engine

6)    The solenoid valve controls which fuel enters your engine by a switch on your dashboard.

7)    The vegetable oil should not return to your diesel fuel tank so a high pressure T-valve is used to reroute all un-combusted fuel back into the engine.

8)    Once everything is in place you must add more engine coolant and bleed the air out of all your hoses.

 

Sources of Vegetable Oil

            You can either obtain used vegetable oil or new vegetable oil to run your car on. Since there is an abundance of used vegetable oil and it can be obtained for free this is your best bet. Used vegetable oil can be obtained from restaurants and chip or snack companies. Once you find your source of vegetable oil you need to filter it before putting it into your fuel tank. These filters usually come with your kit but can also be purchased online at the same places you purchase the conversion kits. While we were in Dominica we attempted to find places to acquire used vegetable oil. We ran into some trouble as a lot of the restaurants were small and did not produce very much waste oil. However we did find a few large restaurants that could provide enough oil for at least ten cars. There is great potential on the island for the production of vegetable oil. Dominica has the two largest vegetable oil producing crops per acre, oil palm and coconut. This opens the door for further research and investigation. Once further studies have been conducted we will be able to access whether or not growing crops for vegetable oil is beneficial.

 

Future Options For Dominica's Green Fuel

            As we have previously stated, the future and popularity of Dominica's green fuel remains uncertain. The participants from both workshops seemed excited and interested, but it is unclear if they will utilize this knowledge. The island has a relatively small amount of waste oil, one that could not sustain the entire country. If however, Dominicans establish oil-producing cooperatives or if there was an oil production plant, vegetable oil would be a reliable, alternative fuel source. The vegetable oil industry would have to be regulated, in order to ensure that it is economically viable (when compared with diesel/gasoline). Ultimately, we hope to help Dominica become less dependent on foreign aid/oil. If pursed properly, vegetable oil could help Dominica rise out of debt, and move closer to self-sufficiency. All the members of team veggie believe that vegetable fuel would be an appropriate alternative fuel source for Dominica, and are interested in pursuing this initiative.