Recycling Commitee's truck runs on vegetable oil
Mary Lochner
Issue date: 6/26/07 Section: Features
The USUAA Recycling Committee does its part to make UAA a greener campus, but it decided it could do more and took another look at the vehicle it uses to transport recycled material from campus to the recycling center.
"One of our crew mentioned running a vehicle off vegetable oil, kind of joking about it," USUAA Recycling Committee director Tyler Morris said. "We mentioned it to the rest of our crew, and Eric Snyder, who's a mechanic, said it could probably be done."
The committee was awarded an Environmental Protection Agency grant to travel to a mechanic shop in Eugene, Ore., that specializes in converting diesel engines to run on vegetable oil, to learn how it could be done. The rest of the grant was used to purchase a conversion kit for the truck the recycling committee uses to haul recycled materials. Morris and Snyder completed the conversion in just a few days over spring break.
Used vegetable oil from Commons dining is pumped through a filtration system before being poured in the tank.
"We can definitely save money," Morris said. "Another benefit is we're reusing waste. Something that would normally go to waste is being used as fuel now. We're also cutting down on carbon emissions. It's definitely a greener fuel."
The greener recycling truck can't run entirely on vegetable oil, because it has to be heated before it's usable as fuel. A diesel tank is used for fuel to start the truck, and when a temperature gauge indicates to the driver the vegetable tank is ready to go, he or she flips a switch to get the engine running on oil.
"If you're standing outside the vehicle, you can tell the difference in the smell," Morris said. "It doesn't smell like a particular food item. We were hoping it would maybe smell like donuts or French fries. But it just sorta smells like warm oil."
The USUAA Recycling Committee plans to partner with the UAA Automotive and Diesel Technology department to run emissions, efficiency and other tests on the vehicle. They possibly will use it as a teaching model for auto mechanics students in classrooms.
To contact the USUAA Recycling Committee to volunteer or for more information about their veggie truck, e-mail Tyler Morris at recycle@uaa.alaska.edu.
"One of our crew mentioned running a vehicle off vegetable oil, kind of joking about it," USUAA Recycling Committee director Tyler Morris said. "We mentioned it to the rest of our crew, and Eric Snyder, who's a mechanic, said it could probably be done."
The committee was awarded an Environmental Protection Agency grant to travel to a mechanic shop in Eugene, Ore., that specializes in converting diesel engines to run on vegetable oil, to learn how it could be done. The rest of the grant was used to purchase a conversion kit for the truck the recycling committee uses to haul recycled materials. Morris and Snyder completed the conversion in just a few days over spring break.
Used vegetable oil from Commons dining is pumped through a filtration system before being poured in the tank.
"We can definitely save money," Morris said. "Another benefit is we're reusing waste. Something that would normally go to waste is being used as fuel now. We're also cutting down on carbon emissions. It's definitely a greener fuel."
The greener recycling truck can't run entirely on vegetable oil, because it has to be heated before it's usable as fuel. A diesel tank is used for fuel to start the truck, and when a temperature gauge indicates to the driver the vegetable tank is ready to go, he or she flips a switch to get the engine running on oil.
"If you're standing outside the vehicle, you can tell the difference in the smell," Morris said. "It doesn't smell like a particular food item. We were hoping it would maybe smell like donuts or French fries. But it just sorta smells like warm oil."
The USUAA Recycling Committee plans to partner with the UAA Automotive and Diesel Technology department to run emissions, efficiency and other tests on the vehicle. They possibly will use it as a teaching model for auto mechanics students in classrooms.
To contact the USUAA Recycling Committee to volunteer or for more information about their veggie truck, e-mail Tyler Morris at recycle@uaa.alaska.edu.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Tomas Adorno Montes
posted 4/18/08 @ 12:28 PM AKST
BioDiesel is a result of heating oil after it has been filtered. Later It is heated to 120+Degress and Mathanol and Lye are mixed with it which when left alone for 24 hours separates the soap residue and the you have Biodiesel that you have to filter and wash blablabla. (Continued…)
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