Donut shop for WVO?
 

Searched the forum and found a couple of older references to this. In simplified terms, do I just need to look at the oil and determine if it's solid at room temps? And, would this indicate a hydrogenated oil (or shortening) that is not a favorable fuel? Is this what the donut shops use?
With my limited knowledge it seems that if the oil is a liquid at room temp it would be a good source because there is no meat fried in it and any glazing on the donuts is applied after frying.
I'm not soliciting detailed WVO help here, I can search the universe for that info, I'm just wondering about the donut grease/shortening thing.
Comments, experience and suggestions?
Thanks.

Chuck.

Two things I would to to visually inspect the oil. Is it liquid at room temp, and what color is the oil. Brand new oil is yellow or golden brown. Nasty used oil is dark brown or black. The oil is use ranges from golden to fairly dark brown. You can also put a small sample of it in a jar to see how clear it is. The more clear it is the better the oil. I would also suggest putting a jar of the oil in the frig and see what it does. That is what will be in the tank in the winter months.

As far as donut shops it probably depends on the donut shop. I would talk with the cooks. They will know what kind of oil they use. You want Canola or Soy. Stay away from the hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils. They gel at wamr temps and you don't want to be trying to pump solid oil in the winter. Avoid any place that goes through large volumes in short time periods. They tend to use crappy oil and it's usually really dirty.

Wouldn't the amount of sugars in the oil present a problem for processing the oil?

Can you check the container to see if its hydrogenated? If its liquid at room temperature, you should be able to get it home and filter/dewater it easy enough.

Donut Shops.......
 

RARELY have used vegetable oil. The oil soaks into the donut --- hence why they taste so good.

Have you considered biodiesel? You are in Oklahoma......it gets cold there. Using straight vegetable oil, you will need to make a bunch of modifications to your car. If you decide to use biodiesel, no car modifications and "better" for the IP and engine. Transetherfication is a beautiful thing.

Thanks for the thoughts. Anyone else?
I talked to the owner briefly and have already committed to picking up their used oil tomorrow. Should be about 15 gal. I'll look into it and if it's gonna work I'll keep collecting it but if it's hydrogenated or solidified I'll dump it back in their tank and tell them later it won't work. Don't wanna seem ungrateful.
I'll post findings later.

Answer:
 

YES.

I just missed 85 gallons from a donut shop, they forgot to call me. :mad:

99.9% of the sugar settles or is filtered out, big shops have fantastic filtration to meet FDA for reusing oil. :D

I can't stop thinking of the lovely aroma from the tailpipe ;)
(cue the Simpson's theme music) MMMMMMM DONUTS !!!

Sorry.... just couldn't resist :)

VERY interesting....
 

I went behind a donut shop here......and they don't even have a used oil dumpster. Maybe because, us, memphisians LOVE our greasy food????:D

Transesterification. We're not making ether here, we're making esters

IIRC most donuts are fried not in oil but in vegetable shortening (like crisco) which is solid at ambient temps...not what you want in your IP, or artieries for that matter ;)

I got some oil from a "mom and pops" bakery, for a short time (their son started to make biodiesel for his truck so I lost their oil). They used cottonseed oil, it worked fine, as veggie fuel. I have checked with some doughnut places and they state they just keep adding oil, none to dispose.

Mike

oops....
 

Yep. Spelling error. I even have an animation about the process.

I was collecting coffee grounds for my garden last year from all the doughnut shops and asked about the oil, they very very rarely dump it. KK and Duncan both have such huge conveyor systems they just add when it gets below a certain point, and they filter it during the process... i think they only change the oil like once a month or less...

Yeah, this is a small shop in a small town. They said they only change oil about 4 times a year. Guess this is the beginning of the quarter and I dropped in on the right day.:D I'll pick it up tomorrow and go from there.