so i have been reading... and reading... and reading more on the subject for a solid year now...

i have heard horror stories...

and reports of fantastic results from running waste oils in these trucks.


for the most part... it seems as though the majority of failures (as a result of running waste fuels) typically result from improper filtration at home base...

or improper heating techniques.

some folks have reported catastrophic failures due to attempts at mixing dissimilar oils in the vehicle fuel system...


with what little i have learned from all the reading, and conversations i have had with fellow alternative fuel enthusiasts, i have decided to run waste fuels in my truck. i will be running a 2 tank system onboard. the factory tank will remain a d2/b100 only reservoir. my 91 gal RDS in the bed will serve as my main tank for waste oils.

my intention for the truck is the tried and true TIH method of heating my oil. i will probably also end up using a heat exchanger plate of some sort in the engine bay.

i want to eliminate as many ecv's as i can from the typical wvo/wmo setup.

by using check valves, and seperate fuel pumps for each fuel system... i hope to switch from d2, to wmo/wvo by killing power to one pump... and simply diverting to the other. thus dropping pressure on the d2 side... allowing the oil to enter the system... with cv's at the T where the two systems meet... there is no chance of cross contamination. simple... effective... almost automatic switching.

for the return... my intention is to yet again eliminate some issues...

instead of switching my return from one tank to the other...
im going to eliminate the return to the wmo/wvo tank... and T it into the wmo/wvo pump feed from the tank. should keep the oil hotter and save heat by not dumping it all back into the oil tank.


so thats a little bit about the setup intended for Motorbug...

this is the progress on my base station so far:

foundation


measuring out some plumbing, and getting a measurement for 2nd level support height.


2nd level supports cut and ready to go in place.


2nd level in place.


Plumbing it in. if physics isnt your strong suit... the idea here is to fill this system with raw waste oil at the big pipe at the very bottom. when the 1st barrel is full... as more oil is added... pressure will raise oil into the 2nd barrel. the idea is... water, and most solid contaminants will stay in the lower portion of the 1st barrel.. and good oil will rise to the top barrel.


Another view.


View with the fill tube.



i attempted to try drafting oil from a verticle barrel with various pumps i had laying around... all proved to be utter failures.

an aquarium pump:


a bit larger clear water pump:


a 100 psi diaphragm pump:


and finally i tried the tim the tool man taylor method...
a power steering pump and a 1 1/2hp motor.


i thought the power steering pump was the most promising... but it couldnt provide enough suction on the reservoir side to lift the oil out of the barrel...
i was only in about 20 gallons in a 55 gal plastic drum.



the intent from this point is to have the output from the 2 tier system to flow thru a whole home water type filter and into a reserve tank ready for final filtration. with this method, gravity will do most of the actual work for me. so i should save a little on energy costs running pumps over some people who utilize powered filtration methods only. granted... my method will be more time consuming... but at the rate i currently burn fuel... it well beyond balances out so i stay leagues ahead in fuel costs.

I will update this thread as progress continues.

 

Try a small block chevy pump for moving oil around. Use 3/4" ID heater hose on it. It's cheap to make, self priming, and moves a lot of oil fast. Even chucked into a cordless drill, it will move oil well. I have one rigged up to a 1/2 HP 1750 RPM all purpose 110 volt motor and it moves cold veg oil like nobodys business. Here's one of many how-to links to make one:
Alternative Fuel: Waste Vegetable Oil ( Wvo ) Gear Pump - Yahoo! Voices - voices.yahoo.com

 

Good stuff.
Thanks Brother!

Going to have to build this in a mobile type setup. Maybe i wont have to build a super sucker?
Couple drums in the bed and off we go!

 

Round 2! Fight!

So i didnt like the way i had set up the sub structure yesterday...
I took it all down and rebuilt from bare ground. I cleared the whole corner out of the shed and started again with the game of messy tetris.

Ended up sliding the 1st rack over as far from the wall as i could get within my cubby hole.
With the corner space cleared... i began the construction of rack #2.

Having learned from the first one... construction and plumbing went much smoother.
The only change i made to the 2nd system was to angle my top tank drain to the front of the rack instead of the side like i did on the 1st one.



You might notice another change in above picture regarding the 2" feed pipe connection at the bottom.

In an effort to use just the fittings i had on hand, i had to go with a 2"npt-1 1/2"npt adapter to 1 1/2"- 1 1/2" pvc adapter to 90* then 2"-1 1/2" rubber reducer.

Full view of new rack built today.


New configuration... not sitting on pallets... very sturdy feet...


Gonna go see what i can do with this kick@$$ air compressor head that was just given to me.
Im liking the idea of an air powered transfer system.

 

Very cool Brother. Will definitely be getting with you on this stuff. Might even talk a buddy of mine out of his waste veggie oil when the time comes.

 

Ted you are more than welcome to what little info my grey matter has soaked in on the subject.
So you have a source for oil?


more progress...

Cleared out more junk to make room, and have a nice surface to work on/mount things to...





Then got busy with getting my compressor situated...



View over the tank racks of the window...


My gosh... i have SO MUCH oil to deal with...


I still need at least 4 more barrels to complete the home base setup... but now i can get busy collecting oil and get the settling racks full. I think im still a good 3-6 months from my truck seeing a drop of oil. But... by then... my hope is to have a couple hundred gallons ready to roll.

 

Spill containment? Because you WILL spill.

Also, WVO weakens the PVC glue so keep that in mind and watch for leaks. The WVO also makes the PVC brittle so replace every 18 months or so, or when you bump the PVC, it can break off.

Don't ask me how I know that....

 

at the point of no return, now Christopher... 91gal tank to heat... With that in mind, i think yo u definetly need the TiH assy along with the FPHE.

Man, i'm glad i pulled the trigger, 1yr strong now bud, and 25k miles...

As to "purging" / reutrn line, i'm just offering my set-up, not try'n to re-invent the wheel, but mine goes like this....

Tank , pump , filter , 3/8 CV , manifold (2nd pic down McMaster-Carr ), 1 port branched to purge valve.. 7876k68 McMaster-Carr ) , FPHE , TiT assy , another manifold located in valley , branched to ports to p/s front and d/s rear. CV's located on factory fuel line ports.

This is the setup i replicated. I use another barrell in backyard to FIRST filter...
Once its time to purge, i kill the wvo pump, flip my d2 switch, and its purges thee entire system up to the manifold. Purging TiT, fphe.

I think, having a "fixed" psi wvo pump, you utilize not having a return line, regulator..etc.

My systems enclosed in a metal box i made, i can send you pics of it along with pics of other systems i have, that they located items along the frame. Some stupid reason, i can not post pics here..

 

I had that in mind when i built the plumbing... but i still need to plumb in drains and im thinking abou some diverter valves so i can play with pressurized air and vacuum.

Honestly i did not really take spillage into account...
I guess i could do plastic sheeting barrier and oil socks.
What do you guys use for containment?

 

You can get really nice oil containment from industrial supply places or you can go low tech like a baby pool.

 

Kirk do you have a pic of your bowl delete?

 

So Chris, hows the progress?

 

Been very busy with Diesel Dr patients...
I have some pressing priorities that i really need to continue doing this... AE is a must... so hopefully i can order my bundle next week... im pretty excited about that...

Then i can gather more plumbing stuff for the truck...
I have access to one of the little harbor freight combo mills and one of the little lathes... so i might get creative with a bowl delete/heat exchange manifold combo.
I see pretty nice blocks of aluminum available at fairly reasonable prices...

Just need to get a couple of end mills and taps.
If i need welding done... there is a guy in town that does great aluminum work at good prices... i need to get him to weld up my cracked tank.

Its getting there tho brother.... i wish it could go faster tho lol!

 

Sorry Ive been on vacation and missed this.

No pics. All you do is remove the fuel bowl and replace it with a spin on filter somewhere north in the fuel system. My fuel filter is mounted under the drivers side. You will need to have a solution for the fuel pressure regulator. My FPR is mounted on my greasecar valve assembly.

 

Apologies if it's already been mentioned but most people have found that mixing WMO with WVO is a no-no and should be avoided. In the first post it seemed like you were talking about mixing it all together...