The Uraidla Show saw the Troopie being run on Straight Vegetable Oil for the first time.
The modifications had been done for about 2 weeks and tested with a couple of tanks of 100% Biodiesel to test out connections, heat exchanger operations, change-over valve operation and to clean out the system (because Biodiesel is a very good solvent for cleaning up after Petro-Diesel).
With these tests out of the way, it was with a little trepidation, I poured some of the oil that I crushed during the demos at the field days last year into the 2nd fuel tank and set off down the road.
After reaching operating temperature, the button was pushed to start running on the Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO). After waiting a suitable time, I carefully smelled the exhaust, and it smelled pretty good. Pretty much like cooked Canola! (The Exhaust had smelled pretty good before, as I was running B100 as my starting fuel)
The neighbours complained about the noise after about 20 minutes of idling, so I changed back to the B100, let the SVO be purged from the injector pump and turned it off.
At the end of the day, same thing, get the engine hot, switch to SVO, drive home, change back to (Bio)Diesel and turn off.
It was just like I had read in books, but seeing it myself was something else.
There were a number of people at Uraidla who expressed an interest in SVO modifications to their vehicles and now we will have kits available to suit their needs.
For those who want the security of a company with long experience in SVO conversions, or who want a Single Tank Conversion, we also have access to kits from Elsbett in Germany.
Labels: Biodiesel SVO "Country Show"
