Whats the difference between straight vegetable oil (“SVO”) or waste vegetable oil (“wvo”), and biodiesel?
Vegetable oil has many properties that make it a good substitute for diesel fuel. However, it has a higher viscosity. Both WVO conversions and biodiesel are attempts to lower the viscosity to mimic diesel fuel. The biodiesel approach is to chemically react WVO or SVO to lower its viscosity. The idea behind using vegetable oil is to convert the vehicle by adding components that heat and filter the WVO. This heat lowers the viscosity to that of diesel fuel. Biodiesel requires that the fuel is modified each time it is collected. SVO/WVO systems modify the vehicle so that the unmodified but filtered fuel can be used. The making of biodiesel requires oil to be collected and filtered, then heated and mixed with lye and methanol. Both lye and methanol are caustic. Then the resulting glycerin byproduct must be properly disposed of. SVO/WVO requires that the oil is collected, filtered and dewatered, and that the vehicle is modified or converted.
