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Beyond Biodiesel –Running on Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO)

The green tree has many branches. In thesearch for new fuels that will make our farmsgreener and less dependent on petroleum deriv-atives, several solutions are being investigated.For example, New Holland has been at theforefront in the development and promotion ofbiodiesel for nearly two decades.

Technologies based on the use of hydrogenand fuel cells are also being developed as cleanalternatives to traditional fossil fuels to addressclimate change and reduce greenhouse gasemissions. The revolutionary prototype NewHolland T6000 Series NH2, with hydrogenfuel cells generating the current to drive electricmotors and power the tractor, has recentlyreceived awards and publicity.

Less well known is New Holland’s involve-ment in producing alternative fuel from bio-mass, a promising fuel source for the future.

Another fuel alternative was recently report-ed on by Lori Burkholder of WGAL-TV inLancaster, Pennsylvania, as one of that station’sspecial “Green Week” presentations. She com-mented in her script, “In State College, PA,there's something new on the fields of PennState University. For about a year, there havebeen a New Holland tractor and a Case wheelloader working there which are the first in thecountry to run continuously on straight veg-etable oil.”

Rudolf Diesel’s first engine ran on peanut oilat the WorldExhibition inParis in 1900,much to theastonishment ofscientists andengineers. Eventhen he could seethe advantages inagriculture andfor the environ-ment. But he diedbefore his visionof vegetable-oilpowered enginesbecame a reality,and the enginesthat bore hisname were soonadapted to run onfuel derived frompetroleum.

Diesel's original engine injected fuelwith the assistance of compressed air, whichatomized the fuel and forced it into theengine through a nozzle, almost like anaerosol spray. The nozzle opening wasclosed by a pin valve lifted by the camshaftto initiate the fuel injection before the pis-ton’s top dead center. This is called air-blastinjection, and worked reasonably well withpure oils derived from peanuts and oilseeds. As diesel engines evolved, however,fuel injection changed to suit petroleumfuel characteristics.

Diesel engines today raise fuel toextreme pressures by mechanical pumpsand deliver it to the combustion chamberby pressure-activated injectors withoutcompressed air. In common rail systems,the separate, pulsing, high-pressure fuel lineto each injector is eliminated. Instead, ahigh-pressure pump pressurizes fuel at upto 2,000 bar (200 MPa, 30,000 psi), in a“common rail,” a tube that supplies eachcomputer-controlled injector containing aprecision-machined nozzle and a plungerdriven by a solenoid or actuator.

These sophisticated, high-precision sys-tems can only tolerate vegetable oil if it isspecially processed and introduced in alow-percentage mixture with petroleumfuel. Hence the development of biodiesel.

Paul Trella, New Holland Director ofProduct Marketing for Under 100-HPTractors, is a graduate of Penn StateUniversity and has kept in close touch with

his alma mater. Several forward-thinkingcompanies, including New Holland, haveinvested in the resources and research tosupport higher blends of biodiesel, and,for some time, Trella has been workingwith Glen Cauffman, Farm FacilitiesManager at Penn State, to further NewHolland’s biodiesel agenda.

Trella and Cauffman were invited toattend a Biodiesel Conference in Vienna,Austria, in 2007, to talk about the collab-orative efforts between New Holland andPenn State on the subject. They alsoattended the renowned AgrotechniaAgricultural Exhibition in Hannover,Germany. Billed as the world’s largest farmequipment show, Agrotechnia attractssome 2,200 exhibitors and 340,000 visitors from around the globe to a site 3.2million square feet in size. The equipmentand technology highlighted at this eventreflect the increasing importance of farm-ing efficiency to supply the people of theworld with food and renewable energywhile protecting the climate.

While at Agrotechnica, they wereapproached by a representative of ElsbettTechnologie GmbH, an award-winningcompany in Thalmaessing, Germany, witha unique conversion technology. Elsbetthas been converting diesel engines to oper-ate on Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO) since1977, extended to heavy goods vehicles in1988, and regards itself as the world leaderin this technology. Among their satisfied

Single-cylinder diesel engine, circa1906. Rudolf Diesel’s first engine ranon peanut oil at the WorldExhibition in Paris in 1900. (Photocourtesywww.speedace.info/speedace_images).

Several forward-thinking companies have invested in the resources and research to support higher blends of biodiesel. Forsome time, New Holland has been working with Penn State University to further its biodiesel agenda, as evidenced bythis display of tractors running on a 100% blend.

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Another question arose – is it possible topress out the fuel on the farm? As a land-grant university, Penn State is always keen toanswer such questions and to disseminate theresulting information to the public. Aftermuch searching, they found a “portable,” on-site press capable of producing enough SVOto run both pieces of equipment. So, theSVO fuel used by Penn State in this researchis made by cold-pressing canola seeds on cam-pus. Any oil-seed crop such as soybeans orCamelina can also be used. The key is a cropindigenous to the area that is capable of creat-ing a constant supply of fuel. The cool thingis that, after the oil is pressed out of the cropseeds, what's left over is an oily cake calledthe meal. This meal gets used to feed the ani-mals on the farm, and they seem to like it.

Penn State grows on their own farmland

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customers, the representative pointed out,were a number of New Holland tractor owners in Europe.

The Elsbett conversion system involves twoseparate fuel tanks. The engine starts on con-ventional diesel and switches automatically toSVO fuel, held in a separate tank, thenswitches back again. In this way, low tempera-ture problems with the “gelling” or “crystaliz-ing” characteristics of SVO can be avoided.

Coolant temperature is one parameter tobe met, but the primary condition for theswitching to SVO is exhaust temperature.Elsbett claims that the negative impacts ofSVO on the engine are minimized or negatedwhen the engine is operating at greater than25% load. When the tractor goes back to idleor light load it switches back to conventionaldiesel, and before shutting off the engine, theoperator must switch back to conventionaldiesel fuel in order to purge the system.

Back home again in Pennsylvania, Trellaand Cauffman made arrangements for twoElsbett systems to be delivered to NewHolland engineering, where they wereinstalled in a T7060 New Holland tractor anda Case 621E wheel loader, both with tier 3engines and common rail, high pressure fuelsystems. These specially-equipped units werethen transported to Penn State University,where they have now been working satisfacto-rily in normal agricultural conditions for thepast year. Kenny Roush and his team at B &R Farm Equipment, New Holland dealer inMilroy, PA, have gone above and beyond thecall of duty helping to support this project.

all the canola they need to supply the fuelto keep both units running. They raised10 acres of the crop last year and another25 acres this year, using both spring andfall varieties. Studies in Germany indicatethat 20% of a farm’s acreage can produceenough oil to fuel all the equipment andstill have some left over for cooking andheating. In the U. S., using no-till meth-ods, less acreage would probably suffice,maybe as low as 10%.

The T7060 tractor has been used in justabout every job that could be expected ofit on a 1,500 acre farm, from hauling andspreading manure to mowing hay with a15 ft. disc mower-conditioner to pulling ano-till drill and a 12-row corn planter. It

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Elsbett systems were installed in a T7060 New Holland tractor and a Case 621E wheel loader, both with tier 3 engines and common rail, high pressure fuel systems,then the specially equipped units were transported to Penn State.

A field of canola with close-up of the plant in bloom. SVO fuel used by Penn State is made by cold-pressing canola seeds.The key is a crop indigenous to the area capable of creating a constant fuel supply. (Photos courtesy www.flickr.com).

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has also been used as a stationary power sourceto run their power-hungry pneumatic grain-bin-filling system.

In all cases, the performance did notchange one bit when the system switched fromdiesel fuel to SVO and back again. In fact, theonly way to know that the switch had occurredwas by the lights on the system monitor.Running on SVO, the exhaust has less blacksmoke and smells a little like cooking oil in ahot pan on the stove. Emissions such as carbonmonoxide, hydrocarbons and particulates areall significantly lower than from burning con-ventional diesel.

Although the agreement between PennState University and New Holland calls for thetractor and wheel loader to continue workinguntil the end of 2009, Glen Cauffman is hop-ing that the period can be extended. The unitsare performing extremely well, and he is con-vinced that the more hours they can workbefore teardown to examine the effects of SVOusage, the more that can be learned. He com-

ments, “At this point, we are not ready toendorse or promote the use of SVO fuel, butthe results so far are very impressive. In fact,I’m so impressed that I want the university tobuy the units afterwards so they can stay atPenn State.”

“We found that cold weather was easierto deal with using the SVO system thanburning biodiesel. We just parked the unitsoutside all winter, not even under roof. Evenon the coldest days, they started normallybecause they were operating on pure dieselfuel until they warmed up enough to switchover. We didn’t winterize our biodiesel, so wehad to keep the biodiesel-fueled units insidea warm shed to avoid problems,” saysCauffman. “Another advantage I see withSVO is that the hazardous chemicals andhard-to-dispose-of by products of thebiodiesel production process are avoidedentirely.”

“We believe that producing and burningSVO will open doors to permit farms to be

self-sustaining,” Cauffman continues. “Infact, our broader vision is to create a modelfor the environmentally friendly enhance-ment of rural economies that can be duplicat-ed in all parts of the world. It would involvetownspeople and farmers coming together toproduce and process oil for fuel, cooking andheating in sufficient quantities to greatlyreduce or even eliminate the need for petrole-um fuels.”

Trella and Cauffman have been invited bythe A.O.C.S., an association of internationalchemists, to make a presentation about thejoint New Holland-Penn State work on theuse of SVO fuel at an international biodieselconference in Munich, Germany, inNovember of this year. That will be an honorboth for the university and for New Holland.What the future will bring for this interestingand unique branch of the “green tree”remains to be seen, but at this point, the out-look is very promising.

The New Holland T7060 tractor has been used in just about every job that could be expected of it on a 1,500 acre farm.

Douglas H. Schaufler, P.E., Ph.D, Senior Project Associate in Farm Operation &Services, checks out the Penn State on-site press.

Is it possible to press out the fuel on the farm? Penn State University found this “portable,”on-site press capable of producing enough SVO to run both pieces of equipment.

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Reliance on imported petroleum and fluctuating prices is creating apprehension among users. The desire to move awayfrom dependency on fossil fuels created an interest in alterna-tives. Many of our customers are still involved in basic agri-culture – raising livestock and crops to feed the masses. By itsvery nature, farming is full of uncertainties – after all, wedon't want to mess with Mother Nature for she can be some-what fickle. Planning has become more difficult as fuel andenergy account for higher percentage of input costs. Farmersare constantly looking for ways to minimize risks and control costs.

Biomass generated fuels are predicted to fill the void for bothpersonal consumption and powering industry, replacing someof the dependence on fossil fuel. Agriculture has a covetedposition in this new arena as the stock for many on the new"alternatives" have their base in animals or crops raised onthe farm. Many of us with a little time under our belts canremember a father, grandfather or neighbor concocting afavorite brew to run an old tractor or pickup truck or stationary engine thus stopping the fuel truck from drivingdown the lane.

Biodiesel is an alternative made from vegetable oils or animalfats through a chemical process called transesterification. Thisinvolves a chemical reaction with methanol using caustic soda(sodium hydroxide) as a catalyst. It's a popular option toreplace diesel fuel. New Holland supports the use of biodieselin the engines we make in house with some simple guidelines.The conversion from crops to fuel takes several steps andrequires a basic knowledge of chemistry. This process also posessome environmental and safety hazards for a novice. Theenergy equation - amount of energy out as a ratio of theamount used to create the fuel - while marginal is positive atroughly 3 units of energy out for 1 unit if input. We've comea long way to understand the formation of biodiesel – in fact,it has opened the door into the direct use of vegetable oils asstraight or raw vegetable oil (SVO or RVO).

These options are appealing because SVO and RVO can be used without intermediate processing. However, SVO isnot the same as biodiesel, and is generally not considered to bean acceptable vehicle fuel for large-scale or long-term use.New Holland does not recommend the use of SVO as a fuelin your engine. Although SVO or mixtures of SVO and dieselfuel have been used by some over the years, the impact on the engine and fuel systems are unknown. Current commercially available SVO technology uses canola oil asfuel. Canola, at 125 gallons of oil per acre yield, comparessuperiorly to soybeans that average 50 gallons of oil per acre.Canola meal, the byproduct of canola oil pressing, is a highquality animal protein supplement. Fall seeded canola can

serve as a soil protecting winter cover crop that is harvested in early summer in time to establish another crop.

The question to answer is what impact does SVO have on themodern diesel engine? The published engineering literaturesuggests that using SVO leads to reduced engine life. The mainrisk is caused by the buildup of carbon deposits inside theengine, as well as negative impacts on the engine oil. Both carbon deposits and excessive buildup of SVO in the lubrica-tion system are caused by the very high boiling point and viscosity relative to the required boiling range for diesel fuel.The carbon buildup doesn’t necessarily happen quickly, butover a longer period. These conclusions are consistent across asignificant body of technical information in multiple articlesand reports.

A recent technical paper1 reviews published data on the use of SVO in engines. Quoting from this paper:

Compared to No. 2 diesel fuel, all of the vegetable oils aremuch more viscous, are much more reactive to oxygen, andhave higher cloud point and pour point temperatures. Dieselengines with vegetable oils offer acceptable engine performanceand emissions for short-term operation. Long-term operationresults in operational and durability problems.

Some investigators have explored modifying the vehicle to preheat the SVO prior to injection into the engine. Othershave examined blends of vegetable oil with conventional diesel.These techniques may mitigate the problems, but do not eliminate them entirely. Studies show that carbon build upcontinues over time, resulting in higher engine maintenancecosts and shorter engine life.

Another issue that is particularly critical for use of SVO is fuelviscosity. The viscosity of SVO is much higher than that ofdiesel fuel at normal operating temperatures.2 This can causepremature wear of the fuel pump, injectors, and also can dramatically alter the structure of the fuel spray coming out ofthe injectors to increase droplet size, decrease spray angle, andincrease spray penetration. All of these changes to the fuel spraywill tend to increase wetting of engine internal surfaces withthe fuel leading to increased tendency to form carbon depositsand dilute the lubricant.

1 Babu, A.K.; Devaradjane, G. “Vegetable Oils And TheirDerivatives As Fuels For CI Engines: An Overview.” SAETechnical Paper No. 2003-01-0767.2 Bruwer, J.J., et al. “Use of Sunflower Seed Oil in DieselEngined Tractors.” Proceedings of the IV International Symposium on Alcohol Fuels Technology; October 5, 1980,Guaruja, SP, Brazil.

Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO) as a Fuel for New Holland Engines

by: P. Trella with input from Glen Cauffman, Farm Facilities Manger, Penn State University and Professor Andre Boehman, Professor of Fuel Science, Department of Energy & Mineral Engineering, Penn State University

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