It is my understanding that the super tankers bringing coconut oil up from the Islands do so at a wholesale price of 4 cents per gallon. I'm in the process of checking one of the ports on Lake Michigan as to availability.

Has anyone run this stuff as SVO? Is it too thick?

Does anyone have access to it on large volume?

Thanks

Don

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With a gel point at around 70 degrees F, you can use it, but you are going to have to have a well-designed conversion plus a well-designed filtering apparatus.

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Bummer

I don't like the gel point at all.

Would SVO need to be filtered or is this raw stuff pre SVO?

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SOLD:
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I don't have any idea. If it is refined oil, then it probably is pretty well-filtered already. If it is unrefined, then filtering is a definite must.

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.04/gal? Wow! I'll be willing to bet you have to contract for tens of thousands of gallons/month for that price which would make storage a real issue.

That said, I'd still be filtering that oil to <10 microns, regardless of the source. Howsabout cutting it with diesel or B-100 to lower the cloud point?

FWIW, here some info on the cetane ratings of various oils.

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.04 is what they're paying the islands for it. After having a tanker ship it up here a million gallons at a time, I suspect a fair markup. I was hoping to beat the $2 per gallong and run it straight during the summer.

I'm still waiting for a buddy to call me back on that however.

Thanks for the chart on oils.

Don

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SOLD:
'82 240D 229k (Matt's - Converted-300DT w/ 4 speed

We make soap out of coconut oil. It is a solid at 72deg. I can't see how you could run it straight. Sure would smell good, though.

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I've read the book several times "The War Journal of Major Damon 'Rocky' Gause". It's a great book about a WWII prisoner in the Phillipines that escapes and makes it all the way to Australia. Much of his sea travel was in a diesel powered boat that they ran mostly on coconut oil.

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I know of the story, but haven't read the book. Somewhat misleading post as it was a sailboat with a diesel engine, but interesting nonetheless. Does the book give any specifics as to how they managed to use the oil? It does melt very easily; maybe it was hot enough where they were that it was liquid? Coconut oil might be restricted to "tropical" applications?


Found this...

and even better, this...

It would just need to be heated. Of course peanut oil and canola oil also need to be heated in cooler environments anyway so its not a big deal.

I'm still kind of keen on the idea of keeping waste oil out of the landfills. Both the places I am getting my WVO from were just illegally dumping it before I came along.

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I'm not a certified mechanic, but I did stay at a HolidayInn Express last night.

Your link leads in some interesting directions.

http://ag.arizona.edu/OALS/ALN/aln40/jatropha.html#Renew

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=Lister-type+engines+&btnG=Google+Search

http://www.amproexports.com/peter-diesel-engines.html

http://www.amproexports.com/sewing-machine.html

Coconut oil has a high cetane number (70) which is good. It also has a high iodine number which is bad in that this indicates it gells easy. Find a way to heat it. Maybe blend it with something like diesel or biodeisel so you dont have to heat it as much to bring down the viscocity.

Yes you have do filter it. You might have to degum it too though!!!! Maybe do a google search on "coconut oil gum"?

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It was used as both a lubricant and a fuel. It was pretty hot in the tropics, so I guess gelling wasn't an issue. If correct, I think they knicknamed the engine 'The little swede'. I didn't recall them relying on the sails much.

I guess I'd filter it and mix it with diesel.

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Michael LaFleur

'05 E320 CDI - 86,000 miles
'86 300SDL - 360,000 miles
'85 300SD - 150,000 miles (sold)
'89 190D - 120,000 miles (sold)
'85 300SD - 317,000 miles (sold)
'98 ML320 - 270,000 miles (sold)
'75 300D - 170,000 miles (sold)
'83 Harley Davidson FLTC (Broken again) :-(
'61 Plymouth Valiant - 60k mikes
2004 Papillon (Oliver)
2005 Tzitzu (Griffon)
2009 Welsh Corgi (Buba)

Make Biodiesel out of it. ANY virgin oil you can get for even ten times that amount is a good deal and reacting it would cure most of the gelling issues.

LMK if you find out more, would consider putting some $'s into importing it here. Rail-car quantities for local BD makers.

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=========================

"If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there". Lewis Carrol

You are both right and wrong. It does gel easily, but that is because it has a low iodine number. The higher the iodine number, the more double bonds you have (or the less saturated an oil is). The more saturated it is (fewer double bonds) the higher the gel point.

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