Waste Vegetable Oil

Trips throughout the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada are powered by Waste Vegetable Oil. The vehicle is a 1993 Mitsubishi Delica 4x4 Turbo Diesel van imported from Japan, it has been adapted to run on Waste Vegetable Oil by adding a secondary heated fuel system. The majority of the oil is collected locally and processed in my garage turned oil refinery.

First oil is collected from restaurants and is left to settle for a few weeks, the cleanest part of the oil is poured off the top of the containers through a strainer; leaving chunks and other impurities which are condensed into another container and left to settle further.

Oil is processed in 150l batches which gravity feed through a Centrifuge. After each pass the oil is tested for water content via a hot pan test. After the oil is sufficiently cleaned it is pumped through a water blocking filter for extra insurance and it’s ready to be used as fuel.

Canola oil costs $1.25-$1.75 per liter at local grocery stores and you can cook food with it before using it as a fuel (every little bit counts).