Tweet
Last night I cracked open a 55 gallon drum of oil I had collected while I was still in college (nearly 3 years ago)-I had just found out about the concept of running diesel vehicles on vegetable oil and I didn't even have a truck yet. However, I did have a good source of oil and barrels so I started socking it away at my parents' place. I took two plastic barrels and first filled each one with 5 gallons of diesel fuel (which in 2005 I think cost me barely $2.00 a gallon!!!) and the appropriate dose of Power Service (white bottle) for 55 gallons. Then I began to add oil poured from the cubee through old t-shirts, being careful to let the cubees settle for a while and not taking the really wet stuff on the bottom 2-3". Once both barrels were completely filled with virtually no room for air I sealed them. I would periodically crack them open to give the oil a sniff and they seemed fine. They were stored outside, but out of direct sunlight.
Last night I pumped 50 gallons of one the storage barrels into my centrifuge barrel and filtered/dewatered as normal. That 50 gallons is now sitting in my truck and by now has thoroughly mixed with the 10 or so gallons that was in there. I took the truck out for a 15 mile or so drive last night, kind of in a big loop, staying close to home just in case of a poly problem. This morning I did my usual 42 miles to work and not so much as a hiccup. Therefore, I believe, I've found a pretty good way to combat polymerization over the long term, similar to what Jason found in his experiments.
Now the caveat. If you're going to try to replicate this you have to remember something. Once diesel fuel or other solvents (such as fuel additives) are added to WVO the hot pan test no longer works. The solvents/diesel have pretty low boiling points compared to water and you will see bubbles no matter what. Not to mention that the house will smell like heating oil once you're done
Also, any fuel additives with alcohols in them can interfere with settling out water. Power Service does not contain any alcohols which I didn't know at the time, I just lucked out. I am confident that my centrifuge dewaters completely as I'm using a fair amount of heat in combination and oil run through it passes the hot pan test every time. I'm thinking about investing in one of those Sandy Brea test kits to get an actual PPM on oil samples though.
Last night I pumped 50 gallons of one the storage barrels into my centrifuge barrel and filtered/dewatered as normal. That 50 gallons is now sitting in my truck and by now has thoroughly mixed with the 10 or so gallons that was in there. I took the truck out for a 15 mile or so drive last night, kind of in a big loop, staying close to home just in case of a poly problem. This morning I did my usual 42 miles to work and not so much as a hiccup. Therefore, I believe, I've found a pretty good way to combat polymerization over the long term, similar to what Jason found in his experiments.
Now the caveat. If you're going to try to replicate this you have to remember something. Once diesel fuel or other solvents (such as fuel additives) are added to WVO the hot pan test no longer works. The solvents/diesel have pretty low boiling points compared to water and you will see bubbles no matter what. Not to mention that the house will smell like heating oil once you're done
Also, any fuel additives with alcohols in them can interfere with settling out water. Power Service does not contain any alcohols which I didn't know at the time, I just lucked out. I am confident that my centrifuge dewaters completely as I'm using a fair amount of heat in combination and oil run through it passes the hot pan test every time. I'm thinking about investing in one of those Sandy Brea test kits to get an actual PPM on oil samples though.
,also a pain to get rid of.You should have a problem with polymerization unless there is extreme heat(not just UV),and storage in STEEL barrels or tanks.Thats why WVO tanks are either Aluminum or Plastic.I would add some anti-bacterial now,considering your tank is vented therefore oxygen exposure is evident.The bacteria could have been dormant,but now its your tank,with all that heat,its now incubating.Not trying to scare ya,just trying to help a fellow greaser with some of the things I have learned in the last 3-4 years...grease out
Comment