I recently purchased a '92 Dodge pickup with a Cummins diesel engine. The plan is to convert it to run on straight WVO in accordance with the description given in "From The Fryer To The Fuel Tank". However, a few elements of the conversion described in that book may be changed. It would be appreciated if you would comment on any problems you see per the following changes.
The setup for WVO would be as follows: Two insulated tanks for WVO are placed in the forward bed of the pickup. Both tanks will be heated and have sloped bottoms with drain valves at the lowest points. Heat will be provided by engine coolant hoses routed to the tanks. The first tank has a hinged, sealed lid to accept WVO direct from the restaurant barrel. No preprocessing of the WVO is done. The lid is tight fitting and well sealed to prevent leakage during vehicle movement. During winter here in Idaho the WVO is solid, so it is transferred into the tank by shovel. During warm weather the WVO is pumped into the tank. A removable screen in the tank captures larger solids. After melting of the WVO trapped water sinks to the bottom of the tank and is drained off as needed. A pump transfers the heated WVO from the first tank to the second tank, pushing the WVO through a filter as it goes. Perhaps this filter could be a typical spin-on type engine oil filter. The second tank holds the filtered WVO and feeds it to the engine. It is closed except for a typical fuel tank cap which provides for pressure relief and inspection. A fuel line within a coolant hose transfers the WVO from the second tank to the engine compartment. In the book this fuel line is described as 1/2" OD high-density polyethylene tubing. This seems like a less-than-optimal material because it softens above 160 degF. Copper tubing might crimp, so teflon or PVDF tubing might be better. -- The book indicates that this 1/2" OD fuel line runs inside a 5/8" ID coolant hose (to keep the WVO hot). This means that the hose cross-section available to transport coolant fluid is only about 1/4 of an unobstructed 5/8" hose. Thus the flow of coolant would be greatly reduced, and this flow is what heats the 2 WVO tanks. It may be better to use a 3/4" ID coolant hose instead as this would provide a cross-sectional area for coolant flow which is about 3/4 of an unobstructed 5/8" hose. Hopefully appropriate fittings can be found. The book indicates that the WVO fuel line and the existing diesel fuel line are both routed into the engine compartment where they are connected to a solenoid valve which switches between either fuel source. The output from this valve is connected to the fuel filter which then feeds the injector pump. -- This arrangement may be changed. It seems like if the fuel filter contains cool diesel fuel, and the valve is switched to supply WVO, then the incoming WVO would congeal and harden in the filter upon contacting the cool diesel fuel, thus causing an obstruction. It is unclear if heat from the engine would prevent this from happening in cold weather. -- What may be done instead is to route the WVO fuel line into a second (heated) fuel filter. The (insulated) output lines from each filter are connected to the solenoid valve, which then connects to the injector pump. This way if the WVO filter gets plugged the vehicle is not rendered inoperable. Your comments and criticisms are most welcome. -- ...Warren Rekow ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-~> eGroups is now Yahoo! Groups Click here for more details http://click.egroups.com/1/11231/0/_/837408/_/982375325/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------_-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
