vegetable oil

[nathanrobo]

Hi Graham,

As you know it's always the small bits that add up, but under £1K for sure without any automation. A lot of folk just have one tank without separate wash / dry and no straining station.

So for a GL Eco I reckon about £600 all in.

You'd probably add £350 for a centrifuge and pump and £75 for a polishing / drying pots.

Once I've finished I'll try to tot up the total cost... You'd need to be able to bend a bit of pipe and solder for a self-build!

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

How do you collect the used oil? I know when I experimented with SVO on my 80 it could get very messy at times so I'm wondering how much messier it is dealing with used oil. Do you have to supply containers? The science of it and the idea of turning a waste product into something useful appeals to me but the hassle of getting the oil, new or used, still seems more trouble than it's worth for the miles I do.

 

[nathanrobo]

How do you collect the used oil? I know when I experimented with SVO on my 80 it could get very messy at times so I'm wondering how much messier it is dealing with used oil. Do you have to supply containers? The science of it and the idea of turning a waste product into something useful appeals to me but the hassle of getting the oil, new or used, still seems more trouble than it's worth for the miles I do.

Hi Jon

That's real simple, you have a straining station (as I have at my mate's place)!

2 x clamp lid drums, cut to 2/3 size with conical bottom welded and ball valve on the bottom and immersion heater in both.
dirty drum sits above lower drum on a stand.

The oil is sucked into the upper drum with a peripheral pump, heated and dropped into the durm below via a 200 micron strainer. The lower drum heats & dewaters. Now you are ready to centrifuge down to 0.3 micron for use as WVO fuel or just react in a biodiesel processor.

Simples posting.php?mode=quote&f=63&p=114662#

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

How do you get the oil from the chip shop to the straining station though? Does the chip shop give you nice clean sealed containers of used oil that you just put in the back of the car? I'm just curious how the practicalities work out at the dirty end of the operation

 

[nathanrobo]

mate... I use 35 litre mango chutney containers, these have a large red screwtop lid. The restaurants (I don't collect from chippies) fill the containers and I take them a clean one each collection.

A bit of cardboard in the boot for the odd one with oily residue but that's it! I don't collect in the LC, I have an old Alfa sportwagon for that, but it doesn't get fouled up.

 

[nathanrobo]

btw there's a guy in Stamford (ex-chemist) that makes bio. His daughter runs her '55 Audi A6 2.5 TDI estate on it and swears that it runs smoother. R u thinking about your Audi?

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

People don't talk much about the specifics of getting the oil so I was curious about that I would only experiment with it as a bit of a hobby really, if the oil was easily had. I'm only using about 80l of fuel a month in the A8 so there's not really any financial motivation.

 

[karl webster]

I collect my oil in 60L drumps with sealed lids on. I then leave them with a exchange barrel.

You can buy 1000L of wvo from these companys for about 50ppl. You dont have to ever=n collect then but obviously makes the fuel more expensive.

Karl

 

[Ben]

a lot of people sell used oil on ebay, but im always put off buying it, by the thought that people could easily be doubling there money simply by watering it down.

so once filtered and de-watered that 100litres of used veg oil is now only 40-50litres of usable fuel.

if i was to start filtering it myself, which id like to do, then id want a reliable regular suppler first.

ive struggld finding people to get the oil from, and i dont think it helps that all the cash and carry's where i buy my new oil from have signs up saying they will buy back the used oil.

theres also quite a few companies who go around buying the oil from the various takeaway resturants and canteens etc.

 

[nathanrobo]

a lot of people sell used oil on ebay, but im always put off buying it, by the thought that people could easily be doubling there money simply by watering it down.

so once filtered and de-watered that 100litres of used veg oil is now only 40-50litres of usable fuel.

if i was to start filtering it myself, which id like to do, then id want a reliable regular suppler first.

ive struggld finding people to get the oil from, and i dont think it helps that all the cash and carry's where i buy my new oil from have signs up saying they will buy back the used oil.

theres also quite a few companies who go around buying the oil from the various takeaway resturants and canteens etc.

Ben

It's not that difficult... yep there is competition for oil, but lots of restaurants chose not to take their oil back and like the service provided. Some restaurants beg me to take their oil, in fact my only competition is somebody who keeps stealing oil from restaurants. I've mentioned a mate whose garage is where my kit is stored. He started collecting in late Feb and has already collected over 600 litres of oil. You just need to be persistent and do worry about knock backs!

I speak to folk from all over the place who have just started (enquiries for centrifuges etc.) and nobody seems overly troubled by the wholesalers, Agri oil (commercial oil traders). In fact you tend to find that because of a lot of the commercial boys are far from gents taking a collection from them is not too difficult. Just make sure that you tell the restaurant that you will provide a waste transfer note to ensure that they comply with environment agency requirements, stress the clean containers that you will leave them each time they collect - don't forget these are places where food is being prepared and the commercial collectors leave drums that look disgusting, often the area that they are left in is pretty grim too! So once they change to you all of that will be gone (most of my suppliers keep my containers in the kitchen because they are clean).

I'm not normally the smug type, but driving past the queues at Morrisons this week, with all the talk of shortages and strikes and the £1.50 per litre... Oh and stuff the guys selling oil, that's way too pricey!

 

[nathanrobo]

Spent the day on the new plant - not too much more to do!

Wanted some additional connections into the tank, so got some tank connectors brazed in. Fitted the venturi, with a lever ball valve for pulling in meth. Got the processor and wash / dry tanks painted. Just need to mount the pumps and wire up posting.php?mode=reply&f=63&t=9675# pictures by the weekend!

 

[nathanrobo]

I see said the blind man,,,

Thanks for the pictures, now I am also understanding the method.

When your set up is finishem including painting, what do you expect it to cost you?

Gra.

Here's a link to the almost finished plant. Venturi removed and additional suction ball valves fitted pump side, pumps in the pic where routed the wrong way, centrifuge, resin tower (with hardwood shavings) and polish pots have since been put in.

Full plant:

Processor

resin tower

Gear pump for centrifuges

Polishing / final drying pots

Water testing the spray bar for drying bio after water washing


Complete set up has cost around £1800 but, I broke a pump, went for 2 x polish pots on a manifold (actually bought these some time ago) and used a more powerful gear pump driving 2 centrifuges (1 fuge would have been fine) and all of this could have been done in just one or two tanks, which would reduce costs by about £600. However this way enables fuel without mess and eliminates the bottle necks associated with single tank systems. This way in the autumn you can make enough fuel to take you through some of the cold weather, when you are less inclined to want to mess around.

So I could have

 

[jbecks]

Anyone know where I can buy wvo or veg oil in essex? I don't really want the hassle of driving round hippies etc and picking it up,

 

[Andykdj95]

SAVE YOURSELVES TIME AND MONEY
Have been running my Nissan van on WVO for 2 summers. Did all the messy filtering shit at first.
What I have found is time is your friend poor oil into dustbins,leave for six months then draw the clean oil from the surface,( I pump if with an old central heating pump threw a 5 micron sock filter ) just cos I have one, but after 6 months all the water and crap is at the bottom of the dustbin easy no mess trust me I've been there with time consuming messy filtering.

 

[tony rodaway]

think your all paying to much for (svo) and shopping in the wrong shops .
i called into hondo,s Chinese wholesalers in liverpool as was just passing and found there (svo ) £14 for 20lts but when the sales person asked what i wanted it for he then told me he had pallets of water damage drums upstairs for £12 unopened so i would buy 4 each visit total tank fill £48.
IM NOT SAYING DONT GOT TO BOOKERS OR COSCO THINK ABOUT CHINESE WHOLESALE AFTER ALL THEY ARE THE COOKING EXPERTS

as the saying goes its food for thought.