Veggie use in heavy haulage vehicles

[Alga]

Re: Veggie use in heavy haulage vehicles

I have a 671GM common rail in my motorsailer and it has been running on SVO for about 10 years, same with my 12m converted bus running a 6BD1T Isuzu on SVO, massey ferguson backhoe and Mitsubishi canter tipper. A mate runs his entire trucking/earthmoving business on VO/dino, he has a Kenworth, 2 x DAF, 2 x volvos 1 Mac, various dozer's and excavators. Know a bloke from Broken hill that runs his road trains on VO, but haven't seen him for a few years so no idea whether that is still the case, haven't been that way for awhile.

[3DB]

Re: Veggie use in heavy haulage vehicles

I've heard stories of earthmoving contractors and long-haul trucking companies using both bio & SVO, but have no direct knowledge either.

I can't see why a big indirect injection Caterpillar, Detroit Diesel, Navistar, Cummins, Scania, Volvo, UD, Hino would be any different to the engines in the light vehicles we drive.

Regarding the CRD engines, I also caught up with Alexander Noack here in Sydney and was surprised to hear how successful he's been with SVO in these engines. The key take-away points for me were:
1) Fuel quality - it has to be free of water, particles, salt & other contaminants. Contaminants are the key downfall with any fuel in CRD engines;
2) Tuning - the ease of tuning the modern CRD engines with programmable Engine Control Units (ECUs) is their biggest asset. It is extremely easy to adjust injection timing in particular with a few simple keystrokes on a laptop to get the best possible combination of power, economy and emissions. Noack has a few projects where the clients run multiple fuels (e.g. palm oil, dino diesel and one other...maybe Jet A1 or kerosene) in the same engine, depending on what is available and he has different tunes programmed for each.
3) Veg fuel degradation of fuels system rubbers & plastics appears to not be an issue for Bosch & Denso (Toyota etc) components.
4) Diesel Particulate Filters (DPF) still cause issues, but these can be resolved. Modern European trucks are fitted with DPFs and NOx control systems like AdBlue (mostly urea). The AdBlue appears to be an added bonus for veg.

Hope that is all correct - someone will tell me if not

[Tony From West Oz]

Re: Veggie use in heavy haulage vehicles

What is CDD?

My apologies, I inadvertently created a "Typo".
It should have been "CRD"
I have edited my post to correct my Typo.
Tony

[83Patrol]

Re: Veggie use in heavy haulage vehicles

What is CDD?

Alexander Noac (www.greasenergy-shop.com) does conversion on CDD engines,

[Tony From West Oz]

I was asked about using veggie oil in heavy haulage vehicles.
What follows is my response.
Please feel free to critique it.

I have no experience with cooking oil use in heavy haulage vehicles.
However, diesel engines will happily run on vegetable oils. The main things to consider are:
1. Common rail injection - there is little experience in using vegetable oil in CRD engines. Alexander Noac (www.greasenergy-shop.com) does conversion on CRD engines, including modification of the computer program to ensure optimal combustion of the vegetable oil fuel.
2. Direct or indirect injection - CRD engines are Direct Injection, so see above.
- Direct injection (non CRD) engines normally require to have a 2 tank system so that it can be shut down on diesel, to prevent polymerisation (gumming) of oil in the Injectors.
- Indirect Injection engines may be used with vegetable oils, see below:
3. Inline or Rotary Injection pump. If it has a Rotary injection pump it may require a 2 tank system to prevent strain on the Injection Pump when cold starting.
4. Climate:
- Tropical climates allow greater usage of vegetable oils without heating the tank, fuel line or fuel filter.
- Temperate climates may require heating of fuel filter to prevent filter blockages due to solidification of the high melting point components of the oil (animal fats, hydrogenated oils). Selection of oil sources for those who provide a low melting point oil may allow operation without heating the filter.
- Cold climates may require filter, fuel line and tank heating to allow cold weather use.
5. Oil types
- Animal fats and Hydrogenated oils. These solidify at temperatures below 30°C and may require heated fuel system, even in tropical climes.
- Liquid vegetable oils. Depending on the history of the oil, these may also contain Animal Fats or Hydrogenated oils. A test to determine the point at which these oils solidify will be useful in determining their usefulness in your climate. Less than 10% of the oil solidifying at the coldest overnight temperature would be the most I would consider using, unless blended with diesel (or petrol - at up to 10% concentration).

This is just some thoughts I have put together to help you with your choices and the fuel you wish to use.

The above is when using 100% or low diesel % blends. If used as a diesel fuel extender at lower percentages (say 10 - 50% with diesel), then you may be able to use the oil in colder climates or in different diesel engines.