This chronicles my WVO genny exploits. I bought a 1986 VW Rabbit Pickup with a rusted out body, clunking rear end, squealing transmission, and dead tires for $200. The engine purred and burned no (lube)oil, so I shoveled out the cash and towed it
home. This fuel setup should work on just about any diesel engine, from Mercedes to Cummins to Lister. Standard disclaimer: should you blow up, burn down, destroy, incinerate, or otherwise damage anything or yourself, it's your fault.
I hold no responsibility.
Diagram key
Red - Dino diesel path
Blue - WVO path
Green - Coolant path
Filter 1 - No-name remote filter that was in the engine compartment of the bunny truck, takes a PH8A spin on filter,
about $2.50 at Wal*Mart.
Filter 2 - (Prefilter) Racor Liquid Filtration Series 92 w/40 micron screen, bypass disabled.
http://www.maesco.com/products/racor/r_lfs_intro/r_lfs_assms/r_lfs_assms.html
Filter 3 - Ralph Wood Gulf Coast Paper Towel Filter
http://www.bypassfilter.com/index.htm
Filter 4 - Stock VW Fuel filter/water separator
Electric Booster Heater - Racor 300 watt electric booster heater w/homebuilt thermostat
http://www.maesco.com/products/racor/r_dfh_intro/r_dfh_specs/r_dfh_specs.html
Lots of people have asked for pics. I don't have access to a digi cam or a scanner, and can think of several things I'd rather spend the money on(paying off the new tractor, clutch for my car, wedding band for my fiance, etc.)than a digi cam or scanner, so this is the best I can do.
The WVO tanks are 55 gallon drums mounted horizontally, tilted the appropriate directions for fuel draining. They are inside the genny shed, and the bottom drum is completely wrapped with copper tubing(carrying hot engine coolant) and insulation. A line of copper tubing runs along the bottom of the top drum to promote fuel flow. I had to build my own heated fuel line out of regular fuel line and heater hose wrapped in black foam pipe insulation, held in place by nylon zip ties.
The Dino diesel tank is another 55 gallon drum on a stand outside the genny shed, and holds offroad diesel, also used for fueling the tractor. I may switch to a 260 gallon oil furnace tank in the future. Dino diesel is used for 15 minutes or so after starting, to warm things up before switching to WVO. I also burn Dino diesel for 5 minutes or so before shut down to keep from gumming up the motor.
WVO is collected from several restraunts in the area, and the first filtering stage happens on it's own, when the wvo sits in 55 gallon drums and impurities settle to the bottom. I move the next 55 gallon drum to be used into the genny shed to warm up, then pump off the top of the drum using a plastic power drill driven pump. The wvo is pumped through a paint straining screen into the top WVO tank. A two-tank system is used to stabilize fuel temperature. If I was to run a single 55 gallon drum of fuel down to 15 remaining gallons of hot fuel, then dump in 40 gallons of cold fuel, the original 15 gallons of fuel would be cooled considerably. However, if the bottom tank is always full and only has cold fuel added as the engine burns the hot fuel, then the cold WVO will have plenty of time to become heated and fuel temperature will remain steady. The Racor "prefilter"(filter 2) is a fine metal screen that is easily blown out with an air gun, costing nothing to replace. The Ralph Wood filter(filter 3) requires only a roll of high quality paper towel,
which is very economical to replace and filters down to less than 1 micron. Fuel tank and fuel line heating alone brings fuel temperature up to 175-180 degrees F, the booster heater brings the temperature up to 195 degrees or so.
Dino diesel is filtered with a cheap oil filter and the stock VW fuel filter/water separator. It bypasses the WVO filters so that I may switch to dino diesel when the WVO filters get clogged and require cleaning, without shutting down the motor
on WVO.
The engine is cooled with a radiator from a Ford van, mounted outside the genny shed with twin electric cooling fans.
The Bosch fuel injection pump requires power to pump fuel, this is also how I shut down the system. There is a big red switch on the wall of the genny shed that controls power to the fuel pump, it's the "kill switch."
This genny turns four alternators. The first alternator, a 55 amp Delco, charges 160 AH of batteries, which in turn power the Bosch fuel pump, the electric fans, the electric booster heater, and provide power to start the engine.
The second alternator is a 100 amp Delco, it charges 800 AH of batteries, which in turn power 2-3000 watt 240 volt inverters.
(http://www.donrowe.com/inverters/aims_3000_240V.html) One inverter runs my 3/4 hp well pump, the other shares duty running my septic system (2-1/2 hp motors) and my 2 hp shop air compressor.
The third alternator is an 85 amp Delco that charges 320 AH of batteries and powers a 700 watt Harbor Freight inverter, which runs all the lights in the house, and the entertainment area(including this computer).
The fourth alternator is another 85 amp Delco that charges 320 AH of batteries and powers two 800 watt Coleman Powermate inverters. One inverter supplies power for the propane water heater, propane stove, washer, propane dryer, and the propane
forced air furnace, when it's used. We heat with wood, so that's not often at all. The second inverter powers my garage. Lights, tools, everything but the compressor.
The batteries are used commercial truck batteries that I got for $5 each from work. Future plans include: larger battery banks for the house systems, a second filter bank for WVO so swithing to Dino diesel is not necessary when the WVO filters
clog, an inverter large enough to power my stereo(1500 watts would probably work), low oil pressure and high water temperature cutoffs for the engine, a larger alternator for the engine systems, and hot water preheat with the exhaust.
I'll probably put an air compressor on the engine to be driven directly, as that 2 hp motor draws a LOT of power starting.
I haven't added up exactly what I've spent, but I figure it close to $3,000. The 240 volt inverters were the spendiest items.
Many people have contributed to the success of this project, I just hogged all the fun of actually building it. Those people know who they are, and have my eternal thanks.
Demetri
