General FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions)
What is the difference between vegetable oil and biodiesel?
Vegetable oil is a common oil used to make biodiesel. Biodiesel, in fact, can be made from virtually any fat or oil including vegetable and animal fats. Most biodiesel in the U.S. is made from soy (soya) bean oil. Making biodiesel requires a chemical reaction called transesterfication. Biodiesel can be poured directly into the tank of any diesel vehicle. Vegetable oil should not be poured directly into the tank of a diesel vehicle. It can be burned but it requires a conversion kit to be installed on the vehicle.
How do I convert my car to run on biodiesel?
If it burns diesel, no conversion is required. Just pour it into the tank and go. There are some issues that you may have to deal with on some older vehicles and in colder weather.
How do I convert my car to run on vegetable oil?
There are many options available but all kits have one thing in common: heat. At room temperature vegetable oil is much thicker than diesel fuel. At lower temperatures vegetable oil has high viscosity (is more difficult to pour) and at higher temperatures has lower viscosity (is easier to pour). Heating the vegetable oil to at least 160 F makes its viscosity similar to diesel fuel. This allows it to be used in diesel engines.
What is SVO, WVO and UVO?
SVO is Straight Vegetable Oil, WVO is Waste Vegetable Oil and UVO is Used Vegetable Oil. WVO and UVO are the same thing. People often use the term SVO regardless of whether it is new or used oil. For example, “my car has a SVO kit on it”. Also, new oil is usually referred to as virgin oil.
What is the difference between a 1-tank and 2-tank SVO system?
A 2-tank system involves adding a second fuel tank and valves that allow
switching between diesel and vegetable oil. The additional fuel system has heating
components to heat the vegetable oil before it gets to the engine. Diesel or
biodiesel is kept in the unheated tank and vegetable oil in the other.
A
1-tank system uses the existing fuel tank and allows blending of vegetable oil,
biodiesel or diesel. It also heats the fuel. Some more complex systems also may modify some operating
functions of the engine. This typically includes leaving the glow plugs on for
longer and increasing the pressure at which the injectors
open.
What is B20 or B100?
Fuels that have the “B” designation are some blend of biodiesel. B20 is 20% biodiesel and 80% petroleum diesel. B100 is 100% biodiesel. The most common commercial blends are B5-B20 although many people successfully burn much higher blends including B100.
What is ASTM biodiesel?
All commercially sold biodiesel must meet ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) specification D 6751. The fuel should be able to pass the rigorous set of 13 tests to meet this standard. This is similar to the requirement for petroleum diesel to meet ASTM D 975. An even more rigorous standard is for the producer/supplier to meet the BQ-9000 accreditation. For more information, go to www.biodiesel.org
What is the difference between canola, soy, sunflower and other oils?
The composition of all vegetable oils is somewhat different. The biggest way that it impacts SVO and biodiesel users is for cold weather operation. For example, palm oils begin to gel and solidify at relatively high temperatures whereas canola has very good cold weather properties and can be used down below 15 F. For a heated SVO system, once the system is warm, the oil will melt even if it is palm oil but it can be very difficult to try to collect or fill your tank if the fuel is not liquid. For biodiesel, the gel point is directly related to the feedstock. Since most diesel fuel systems are not heated, the feedstock used to make the biodiesel has a major effect on cold weather capability.
Still confused? Send us an e-mail: info@SVOlink.com