WVO burning in a 7.3 (lotta dang photos, dialup beware)

DeepRoots

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part 1:
First the idea behind this conversion:
least parts, least expense to acheive 150degrees F fuel temps prior to the fuel filter. I was happy burning a blend of diesel and WVO but due to much of the oil being partially hydrogenated alot of it was nearly solid (or at least really thick) at 70degrees.
My philosophy is to build something simply, monitor its running condition and adapt as needed.

the truck:

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the parts:
fuel tank cost $60 from a junkyard. It's from an international dumptruck, I liked it because it had a huge inspection port, lotsa extra fittings, drains underneath, and because it's heavy as hell. They tried to sell me the tank straps for $100, but I made my own out of wire rope and ubolts (scrap I had here at the farm)
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2, 3 port fuel switching valves form Greasecar, $55 each, they are rated up to 300 degrees, and high pressure. I'd heard the stock 6 port valve on fords can't handle the heat....
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1, Flat Plate Heat exchanger, 26 plate type.
This unit cost about $95 shipped from OmarSales (great fella btw). This thing heats up some fuel in a major way. This thing works by the fuel entering A2 and exiting A1 with the coolant entering B1 and exiting B2. The opposing flow obviously helps with heat transfer
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1, Tanktherm Heater from John @ fattywagons.com
This thing cost $150 but I figured it would insure the vo was warming on the way up to the filter. I was going to build my own to save a few bucks.... but I work alot, and John's smarter than me :)
My only issue with this unit is the fittings which leaked at first. It may partially be my fault as I'm a wussie with tightening down certain things.... I've cracked too many fittings in my time.
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this is the bottom of the tanktherm heater:
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a little ingenuity with a bucket to catch metal shavings and a 3/4'' holesaw and I got the tanktherm installed, obviously the tank was cleaned after all this cutting/etc
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the view from the inside:
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complete:
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in the truck, note the return line too:
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DeepRoots

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part 2

the fuel and coolant line bundle headed up to the engine.
at the time of this photo it was uncovered/uninsulated and barely bolted in place for the sake of getting a good photo.
after this picture was taken, I seriously over did the insulation and got it so nothing could pull off or move the fuel/coolant lines. Due to the fact I'm in the hottest section of hell.... errr I mean Georgia I wasn't concerned as much with heat insulation as I was vibrations wearing a hole in a line.
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Fuel switching selenoid pics:
the first is the return line valve.... It is mounted to the inside of the frame about level with the trans.
the second and third photos are of the incoming fuel switching valve. I didn't know where to put them or the FlatPlate Heat exchanger so I moved the vaccum resevoir and a few other things. So they are right behind the passenger side battery.
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Flate plate heat exchanger mounted:
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Mission accomplished. I honestly thought it would have taken more parts. 155 degrees is the fairly constant temp prior to the filter and IP.
I can see the need for more work this fall, prior to winter and my northern trips. I think having the return line run back to the incoming fuel line instead of going to the tank would help. I also fully expect to buy a 300-400 watt inline fuel heater and add that as well.

This system despite being overly simple has run about 1,400miles (100gallons) of the nasty WVO I couldn't blend with.
I havn't had any clogged filters or anything. I filter the oil at 125degrees and it is 150 before the fuel filter in the truck, so perhaps that helps.

This project (as I mentioned) is a work in progress and I expect to add to it over the next few years.

any questions/comments appreciated,
Drew
 

DeepRoots

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few notes:
I would add alot more equiptment for you northerners, here its currently in the mid-upper 90's during the day, and 70's at night.

I can flip to wvo tank as soon as the truck is warmed up, and it takes about 4-5miles to purge the oil out of the fuel system on shutdown. As such I'm averaging 65-85 mpg of diesel. Longer trips would obviously do better, but this is mostly a work/service truck for my irrigation install company.

this post w/ pics doesn't really contain all the photos/wiring for valves etc, if you want to see how something else is hooked up, just ask.

drew
 

SKimballC

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Looks good, same damn setup thats in my truck more or less. Um, dead truck, that is. Careful with that WVO. Get ALL the water out. I have seen the inside of that dead engine...
One question- where's your grease filter? Don't run that stuff through your stock filter. You need to run fuels through dedicated filters.
 

cscmc1

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Nice setup! I have been trying to decide whether to use one of my factory dual tanks for WVO or use an external tank in the bed, as you did. Getting the tank heated sure looks easier with a seprate tank in the bed. Food for thought!

Are you burning straight WVO or a blend? I have read that a 90/10 WVO/Kero blend mixes best and is least likely to cause the waxing problems sometimes encountered in WVO burners. Of course, those problems really don't exists in heated systems (that I have read about, anyway). I think I'll try the WVO/Kero blend with some PowerService additive thrown in for good measure; my non-scientific batches survive the freezer best with this mix (compared to WVO/RUG and WVO/diesel blends).
 

DeepRoots

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I've probably run 400+ gallons of vo in the 14 months. most was as a blend. 100 as 100%

Skimball, I have three fuel filter that the wvo is run through before it hits the truck tank. I do some serious dewatering.... I keep a large stockpile (several hundred gallons) so most oil has settled for over a month before I even work with it. One prefilter before hitting the storage tanks helped get alotta junk out.

I also take some oil to a greasetrap. out of every 100 gallons, I've found 3-4gallons that I consider unusable. If it isn't thin and pretty at 125 degrees, I don't fool with it.

dp
 

EvergreenRanch

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well done sir! my system plan varies slightly, but yes that is the essence of the way to do it for our trucks. id recommend against looping back to the incoming fuel line without somesort of check valve, which even then you might have issues working properly because of incoming fuel line having more pressure than return line (i assume). you didnt mention what type of hose your using. that has seemed to be the bain of alot of people.
 

Exekiel69

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Very nice setup Drew. I also have the tank heater but I have it on the front tank. I also have the same heat exchanger you got right before the fuel filter, I will check how it does with that and add more as neccesary.
 

DeepRoots

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a few more thoughts:

as to why I don't use two seperate filters:
Until I can afford/rig up a heated filter it would be a bad idea to have a seperate wvo filter. I feel that if the filter wasn't flushed out with diesel it would be clogged on startup with cold VO.

regarding hose, I used regular rubber fuel hose for the moment. It met my specs regarding pressure and heat tolerance. I'd also bought this hose a year ago for redoing my return lines, at that time I threw some in a jar of vo, and it has faired well... not soft or nasty, just greasy.

probably around oct/nov I intend to swap my current fuel line for a pre-made HIH unit with aluminum fuel line (probably like the one on fattywagon's site). In my climate, I think a lil fuel line heater and the HIH setup will probably get me through the winter.
obviously your own climate will dictate what you do.....

either way fuel temp gauges and wvo systems go together like turbos and pyros.... I wouldn't have one without the other.

dp
 

Agnem

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Looks great. Once you get the bugs out, let's make a tech article out of it. ;Sweet
 

EvergreenRanch

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DeepRoots said:
a few more thoughts:

as to why I don't use two seperate filters:
Until I can afford/rig up a heated filter it would be a bad idea to have a seperate wvo filter. I feel that if the filter wasn't flushed out with diesel it would be clogged on startup with cold VO.

regarding hose, I used regular rubber fuel hose for the moment. It met my specs regarding pressure and heat tolerance. I'd also bought this hose a year ago for redoing my return lines, at that time I threw some in a jar of vo, and it has faired well... not soft or nasty, just greasy.

probably around oct/nov I intend to swap my current fuel line for a pre-made HIH unit with aluminum fuel line (probably like the one on fattywagon's site). In my climate, I think a lil fuel line heater and the HIH setup will probably get me through the winter.
obviously your own climate will dictate what you do.....

either way fuel temp gauges and wvo systems go together like turbos and pyros.... I wouldn't have one without the other.

dp

just from a chemistry point of view, and assuming that pH and other caustic substances in the oil cause the hose degradation, the results are going to be much different when you have a constant stream of it going throught the hose.....the stuff in the jar is just going to react until its acidity/causticness is used up and go no further.... i hope your setup works well for you, but i have heard tale of some oils (palm if i remember) getting down into the 4-5 ph range. id pull one of the hoses that will have seen the most WVO time and check condition.
 

SKimballC

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Well, there's obviously about 40 different ways you can do this. I agree that you need a heated filter. You can make one easily out of a coiled length of copper or aluminum tubing and some thin sheet metal for a shroud. I have made a few like that and they work good. You can get some 5/8" to 3/8" inch tees at Napa and tee of the heater hose and use 3/8" copper from Lowe's. One other thing you could do if you loop your return back into your feed is do so just before your WVO filter so when you switch back to diesel you can stagger your valves so that diesel flushes your grease filter. Of course this requires either separate switches for the valves or both valves wired into a 3 position switch with off being diesel, one side 'on' for grease in the loop, and the other side 'on' for a 'purge' cycle.
Honestly, I hate this ****. I was neck deep in grease conversions for a few months and the bunch of Mercedes-driving-wanting-something-for-nothing-ponytailed-numbnut customers we had made me sick of the whole thing. And then my engine blew.
In my very similar setup with a 40 plate heat exchanger I saw temps of between 165-185 and purge times of under a minute.
Setup looks good. Keep it up.
 

towcat

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EvergreenRanch said:
just from a chemistry point of view, and assuming that pH and other caustic substances in the oil cause the hose degradation, the results are going to be much different when you have a constant stream of it going throught the hose.....the stuff in the jar is just going to react until its acidity/causticness is used up and go no further.... i hope your setup works well for you, but i have heard tale of some oils (palm if i remember) getting down into the 4-5 ph range. id pull one of the hoses that will have seen the most WVO time and check condition.
tom-
just for S&G...take a look under your truck where the feul pump is at. I know I got that fry oil you are running all over the factory feed hose. It would be interesting to see if the hose outer covering is holding up or breaking down.
 

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