SsangYong Tests Waste Veg Oil as Dual Fuel in New Zealand
22 July 2005
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| The WVO Envirocar |
Red Book. South Korean car manufacturer SsangYong—known for its SUVs and now owned 51% by China’s SAIC—is apparently using New Zealand as a test-bed for Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) as a fuel.
The company has provided a 2.9-liter turbo-diesel Musso that NZ firm Renewable Energy Solutions has converted to a dual-fuel vehicle running on either “Envirofuel”—recycled waste cooking oil—or conventional diesel fuel.
Renewable Energy Solutions is also in the process of converting a 2.7-liter, common-rail diesel SsangYong Stavic (a new 7-seater MPV) to test the fuel.
One issue with using straight vegetable oil in a diesel is its viscosity. The oil must be heated (thinned) so that it can be properly atomized by the fuel injectors. If it’s not properly atomized, it won’t burn properly, forming deposits on the injectors and in the cylinder head, leading to poor performance, higher emissions, and reduced engine life.
The solution is basically two tanks (one for diesel, one for vegetable oil), a heater for the vegetable oil and an injection management system that can handle both.
Chairman of SsangYong importer Rapson Holdings, Russell Burling, told GoAuto the use of Envirofuel was still in the “embryo” stages but that he would like to trial the technology in Australia.
The company is planning to bring in a NZ engineer next month to look at the local requirements.
“SsangYong Korea is also interested,” Mr Burling said. “Definitely with the way fuel prices have gone we must investigate alternatives.”
The Renewable Energy Solutions conversion costs NZ $5,000 (US $3,425), and provides the recycled waste oil for NZ $0.40 per liter (US $1.02 per gallon).
At the time of SAIC’s initial acquisition of 48.9% of SsangYong in January, SsangYong CEO So Jin-kwan noted that a new mid-sized sports-utility vehicle (SUV) was coming (now the Kyron) and would be marketed in China badged as a SsangYong.
He also stated that SsangYong will concentrate on developing environmentally friendly engines, with a diesel-hybrid engine possible. Currently, SsangYong uses Mercedes technology in its vehicles.
While the WVO option is most likely not what So Jin-kwan had in mind as a strategic development, the openness to exploring different avenues is interesting.
Resources:
EnviroCar (Renewable Energy Solutions)
SVO division of Neoteric Biofuels (Canadian/US SVO conversions)
No offense to the Kiwis, but they should just buy the Greasecar system from the Massachusetts company: Greasecar
Total cost $800 plus installation. http://www.greasecar.com
Posted by: Garth | 25 July 2005 at 04:18 AM
if our friend from the comment section can provide me with a full blown kit including install,auxcillary tank and all electronic automated componentry, holding tank and 1000 ltrs of fuel, brand new, ill buy 100 thank you very much,
Posted by: dave | 26 July 2005 at 04:40 AM
HI, WHY HAVE PUT UP THE PRICE OF VEG OIL TO 49 CENTS FROM 40 WHEN YOU SAID AT FIELD DAYS THAT THE PRICE 40 CENTS WAS GUARANTEED FOR 10 YEARS ?
Posted by: craig | 31 July 2005 at 12:13 AM
We are in Indonesia, today we in hard trials to introduced the advantages of straight vegetable oil as Diesel fuels to our government and the community as well as known oue country has 50 million hectares of wasted land, but some friends say it has no future because the Hydrogen fuel will take over soon, it is true ?, According you how the future of vegetable oil mainly the straight vegetable oil or waste vegetable oil as fuel, mainly through the consideration that in Indonesia remaining so many poor peoples as fishermen which nowadays they using the single cylinder Diesel motor made in Republic people of China (brand Dong-Feng, Jiang-dong etc.)as their small wooden fisherboat prime mover. Are they within next ten or fiveteen years would using the Hydrogen fuel ? I'm sure that is impossible, please give me reply about your knoledge so far. Thanks a lot, Best Regards, Effendi, city of Surakarta, Central Java province, Indonesia.
Posted by: Effendi Syarief | 03 August 2005 at 05:39 AM
Hi, we still can't be sure if svo/wvo can be use in diesel cars. Lot of things can damage the engine such as
iodine, Viscoscity,cetane numberof vegoil etc. So I will be saver to use petrodiesel.
Posted by: Rudy | 25 December 2006 at 10:44 AM