the plot thickens
Wales said:
Anyone interested in joining this project? Must be an enormous market in Dr plus lots of raw product. I am in.
Brian
hi Brian,
i have played with SVO (straight vegetable oil) strategies for the last 2 years and can offer some REALISTIC comments as opposed to the general hype on the internet.
the use of SVO or blended bio-diesel in Canada is more complicated because of freezing conditions. i had the distinct pleasure of trying to pump 200 gallons of product into my basement in January. let's just say that -25C with a severe windchill does not lend itself to a product that turns to margarine at 15C.
if you are still in Canada(?) i can set you up with barrel handling equipment and a micron-filtered, centrifuged, stabilized product in 50 gallon barrels. i buy it from a processing plant in Ontario that uses it for animal feed and other things. however, it is around $50 per barrel. cheaper than diesel but not free by any means.
some thoughts so far:
you need pumping or barrel handling equipment to collect the stuff. small restaurants amass only about 2 barrels a year. you have to line up a whole lot of them to make this work. here they pay about $10 (USD) to have it picked up. the large restaurants are PAID for their product and provided with special containers. most small places already have arrangements in place with farmers using it for pig, chicken or cattle feed supplements. getting this stuff into the back of a truck takes some equipment to either boom lift the barrels or pump them out into a larger holding tank (is this still sounding free?).
this stuff can get really rancid in the heat. i'd hate to work with a barrel full that has been out in the sun for months. most small restaurants use their oil until it breaks down too much. it actually starts to "boil" the food and not cook it properly. that's when they notice to change the oil. this stuff is not great for fuel as the molecular chain has begun to break down.
all fuel has to pre-heated before use. you might be able to get away with just solar heat in the DR but the temperature requires some consistency. this is especially true in finetuning a diesel engine to handle it. you may have to change nozzle sizes for the injectors too.
it can take months to settle, filter, decant and filter again just a single barrel. you either have to buy an expensive centrifuge or start stockpiling oil months in advance. i purchased the processed feed product to have constistency in design. a little water, poor oil and a stray speck of french fry will cause terrible problems in your fuel system. big problem with amateur oil collection and use.
newer, high performance diesels and diesels with turbocharging don't work well with this stuff. you need to stick to the older, rougher diesels that can burn all grades of diesel. you also need two fuel tanks, switches, thermometers etc... in the vehicle.
as for bio-diesel, usually a blend of 20-30% veggie oil and the rest regulary diesel, most of this applies except the previous paragraph. newer cars will void their warranties if bio-diesel i used.
here's the catch: after all that work you are only reducing your diesel fuel consumption by the 20-30%. the veggie oil may well cost you the same amount in time, money, equipment etc... most likely more. bio-diesel sells for more than regular diesel here for some of these reasons.
bio-diesel works best as a personal project where you can source the oil and don't mind making a bit of a hobby out of it. payback starts to appear if you can consume lots of it. farms and factories work best. stationary generators and the like are good applications. in Canada, the home heating angle makes it attractive when you are spending 2-4K a year heating your house and/or barn.
right now it is mostly an approach that has sound environmental principles that affluent people are willing to pay for. might be a hard sell in the DR. regular, consumer use for vehicles is the most talked-about application but is actually the least practical. that is, unless you are going to go really big and process this stuff and set up a gas station.
they have them in the UK and the US. however, the DR ha a more limited supply. just wait until you build a business model on "free" oil and people start to clue in. what will you do when everyone wants more money for it? you would be at the mercy of the used veggie oil marked. not a good place to be if you have big $ invested.
enough for now.
cheers,
Gregg