Simple Additive Turns Raw Soybean Oil Into Fuel

Simple Additive Turns Raw Soybean Oil Into Fuel ENERGY Alternative Fuels 26-4-26 It doesn't take an expensive fuel plant to turn soybean and other vegetable oils into diesel fuel, says Duncan Nesbitt, Kenansville, N.C. Nesbitt is a distributor for Insta-Pro extruders, which farmers use to make raw oil. He saw that his customers were having trouble competing with large oil producers in selling raw oil to refiners. So, he went looking for something that would make it possible to market oil directly or burn it themselves. What he found is an additive that, when mixed with raw vegetable oil, allows it to be burned in diesel engines without the residue buildup problems normally associated with burning raw oil as fuel. The additive is DFX, produced by Oxypro, Inc., a small family-owned California company with a long history of producing engine lubrication additives. Nesbitt signed on with Oxypro to distribute DFX east of the Rocky Mountains and then began working with several Insta-Pro extruder owners to blend DFX-treated oil into diesel fuel to test in their own engines. "The appeal for the small oil processor is they can produce a biodiesel-type fuel without the high cost of adding extra processing equipment," Nesbitt says. "There is no glycerin by-product to try to market or dispose of when DFX is used, either. To smaller processors, that's a positive." Chris Hallberg, owner of Oelwein Custom Commodities, Oelwein, Iowa, is one of the processors who opted to test DFX with Nesbitt. "We process soybean meal and oil for livestock feed, and there are times when we end up with more oil than we can sell for feed," he says. In the past when that happened, Hallberg would load up a truck and deliver the raw oil to a soy-oil refiner. Trouble was, refiners weren't always that interested in buying smaller quantities and usually discounted the price accordingly. "This product goes against the grain with respect to bio fuels, in that it makes the crude oil into fuel without first transforming it into methyl ester," Hallberg says. Soyoline is what Hallberg calls the blended fuel he makes from diesel DFX treated soybean oil. "I tested it for seven months in my Ford LT9000 feed truck. It has a 300-hp Caterpillar engine in it. During the test, we used 20 percent soybean oil, but we've tried several different ratios, all the way up to 85 percent treated oil and we have yet to see any problems with it." Hallberg kept performance records before and during the test period, so he could compare engine performance between regular diesel fuel and his Soyoline. While using 20 percent treated soybean oil, miles per gallon increased by 7.4 percent and fuel consumption decreased by 9 percent. Hallberg says the blended fuel is slightly more viscous than regular diesel, but that has not caused problems, even in the winter. Nesbitt says all test results he's seen are similar to those Hallberg reports. Ag Commodities, New Oxford, Pennsylvania, a DFX user, is currently working with Pennsylvania State University engineers to conduct testing that is expected to show the DFX treated soybean oil will meet national fuel quality standards. Blending DFX into raw soybean oil is simple. Solids must be settled or filtered out of the oil. Then 2 oz. of DFX is added to for every 5 gal. of oil. To make a 20 percent blend, that 5 gal. of treated oil is added to 20 gal. of diesel fuel. "The additive is not that expensive. Price of the blended fuel, though dependent on the value assigned to the oil, is similar to that being charged for diesel with 2% methyl ester added," Nesbitt says. Hallberg adds, "I've had several companies say they'd like to buy it, but they can't until it's been tested and shown to meet fuel quality standards." Nesbitt says being able to use excess oil as fuel without first having to transform it into methyl ester gives smaller oil processors and even farmers who own extruders the opportunity to produce fuel for their own use. If you do produce your own fuel, he recommends checking with the proper authorities regarding fuel taxe

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.