First lets break it down into 2 questions.

Question 1.
Is it legal to gather waste vegetable oil.

Who knows?!?! Depends on who you ask, where you live, how much you are hauling, And most importantly, Is anybody really asking?

For 99.9 % of the people who are using waste oil as a fuel, this is not even an issue for them. They make a deal with a local restaurant, pick up a few jugs of oil every week, (which is basically a take out order of greasy fries, minus the fries) and go on about their business. No one bothers them. There is no reason to bother them.

The rendering companies, over the years, have paid for a few laws in a few states, that make it "illegal" to haul waste oil without a permit. (its for your own good you know. It is too dangerous for you to haul 10 gallons of used oil, sitting next to the 10 gallons of new oil you bought to fry a turkey and some fish in) The permit is usually $100 or under, and that is that. The good old American way, use the force of government to favor one business, and require you to pay the ransom for the "right" to do something. To my knowledge the only people who have ever paid attention to this law, is the rendering companies in very competitive oil markets in big cities. The DA has better things to do than to prosecute a dangerous guy with 10 gallons of oil in the back of his Mercedes. I have only heard of 1 or 2 cases where guys that were collecting thousands of gallons of oil, and got into it with the Renderers, and had their hands slapped at the request of the renderers. Like I said they are the only ones who care. It is kind of like some one getting all excited and turning you in for having a garage sale and not collecting sales tax. It isn't going to happen. The only time the powers that be would care is if you went from a garage sale to a legitimate business open 5 days a week, then they want you to collect the tax. For most of our customers, they are gathering oil from places that don't have a recycling contract to begin. To me it is a non issue.

There are many arguments you could make for it, how about this one. The oil is food. The restaurant is in the business of selling food, they sell allot of oil with their food. You want the oil, The owner wants to give it to you, buy a burger and fries and ask for a healthy side of oil. You are not hauling grease, you bought food. Will it stand up in court? I don't know? The chances of you going there are nil. There are many ways to approach it, use your imagination.

But a few things to remember are that people are not getting into trouble over this, and IF there is a "law" it is very questionable if there is any relation to an individual picking up oil for personal use anyway. Whether you burn it in your car feed it to your dogs, or use it to keep the dust down on your gravel road, It doesn't matter.

If you are gathering on a grand scale, or are in a particularly socialist state and are nervous about it, you might decide to get a renderers license. I encourage everyone to do your home work, study it out in your own mind and decide where you stand on the issue. Ultimately there are endless situations for a variety of different people. It is up to you to decide what your tactic is going to be.

For me personally, I am never for supporting and possibly furthering regulation on something that is so clearly harmless and a natural right. If there is a grey area, which this certainly is, I will side with personal freedom and less regulation. Some people are not comfortable with that. It is for each person to decide for themselves.

Question 2.
Is it legal to use vegetable oil as a fuel?

Most States have no idea where they stand on Vegetable oil as a fuel . It is not an EPA recognized fuel, there for not a "legal" fuel . (Neither is sunshine, water, peanut butter, or small mammals.) Just because something isn't specifically legal, doesn't necessarily make it illegal.

In 99% of the cases where people have gone to the state authority and asked "who do I pay for road tax, and how much?" they are told "we don't know, we have no forms for it, and it isn't in the book, go away and don't worry about it." Every once in awhile they will get the " You cant do that, you have to fill out the forms, pay the tax, and buy the secret decoder pen to be official!" It is usually and arbitrary decision from a low level administrator that is looking for job security. I have also heard of people getting two different answers out of the same office. The bottom line is nobody really knows in most states, and more importantly very few care. And if they care at all, it is usually positive because they see something good for the environment.

A very interesting point is, the states that will except a voluntary payment of highway tax, are doing so on a "non-legal" and unrecognized fuel. I am sure there is room to explore the ramifications of that concept.

OK, so if there is confusion and different answers amongst the "officials" , then the question has to be asked, why is the question coming up?

Except for 2 instances I know of, which I will discuss later, the only reasons people are getting these varied answers, is because they are doing the asking. This issue is not even on the radar, and the only reason it is coming up is people are asking.

This is really a grey area with white shades in our favor. I have heard and thought of many very plausible arguments as to why using waste vegetable oil is exempt from taxes and is not under any specific jurisdiction.

Without going into great detail, I will mention a few for you to think about, and I am sure if you are inclined you can think of a few yourself.

1. The oil is gathered for free, it is not bought or sold, so there is no taxable event.
2. Sales Tax was paid on the oil when it was bought by the restaurant.
3. Because the vehicle is started and shut down on petroleum diesel, taxes are being paid on that portion, and the veggie oil is only a fuel extender or additive.
4. It is not a recognized fuel, and because of that there is no statute stating the rate of taxation.
5. You only burn veggie oil when you are on private property, or off road, and are not liable for taxes.
6. If no one is asking, (and even if they are) keep it to yourself. It is no one else's business.

Now the 2 cases I know of where people were "turned in" "fined" or hassled by the Gubment, They could have been totally avoided if the person would have been educated and approached the situation with some anatomy, knowledge and discretion. The "agents" in both situations didn't have any precedent, they were just applying statute that was similar to see if it would fly. (remember that there is next to no precedent for SVO/WVO cases.) The "guilty" parties were fined. In both cases, within a week there was enough public outrage that the state legislatures passed exemptions for the fines and set the precedent in the positive. So in that sense the people who were involved did ok not resolving it at the scene. The reality was, that once it got past the petty bureaucrats, and went up the line. no one was going to go after these guys for recycling and using a clean alternative fuel. In this day and age it is political suicide to do it.

There is also a very positive movements in several states, and it is gaining momentum. New Mexico and Illinois have "legalized" veggie oil. But one of the most exciting was getting Act 690 passed into law in Arkansas in March 2007. It redefines the law in Arkansas to exempt pure unmodified vegetable oil as a fuel. Essentially saying that they will leave us to use it as we see fit, and they will not tax it or regulate it. Since the passing of the bill several other states have requested information on the bill, and are looking to enact similar laws.

There are essentially 2 paths an individual can choose to take.

1. Seek out regulating agencies, determine if they will take your money, and if they will, volunteer how much oil you are using and pay them.

2. Gather and burn veggie oil, save money, help the environment, don't support foreign oil, and take the very slight risk that at some point in the future you may have to explain why you chose to do what you did without asking permission and checking if it was OK first.

There are some people who do not feel comfortable with option 2, There is a risk that at some point you will have to explain yourself. Everybody has to study the issue and make up their own minds on the issue.

At this point we are not on the radar, and there is no effort to go after veggie burners. We are seen as hobbyist, and not a threat. There are just too few of us, in the grand scheme of things, to spend the time to create a policy.

In summery, all have to decide for themselves, taking into account their situation, where they live, and how they use the oil, which option they will go for.

Post Script

Now, although my personal position is probably apparent in this essay, I want to stand up and be counted, and state exactly where I personally stand on this issue.

I believe in personal freedom, and along with that personal responsibility. I value my right to gather my own fuel in the private sector, without government intervention or permission, and to provide for the needs of my family. I categorize it under "The pursuit of happiness" It is a God given right, not a privilege granted by statute.

I have not been quiet about my use of veggie oil as a fuel, I am in a high profile situation with my business, and the fact that my vehicles have the fact plastered all over them everywhere I drive.
I feel that with the situation that we have, where we are being left alone for the most part, that we let things be. But if the situation arises to make a difference or to get policy changed we need to be in the fore front and keep things in the private sector and as unregulated as possible. The Exemption we were able to pass into law in Arkansas is a perfect example. We don't need government help, just get out of our way and let us do it.

I understand that some of us are on a very fine line, between minding our own business and being perceived as thumbing our nose at the powers that be, but with next to no precedent on most of these issues, someone has to stand up and be counted. There is risk involved I for one want to be able to look my kids in the eye when I am old, and know that I did all I could to appose encroaching regulation on our freedom. I hope that the present trend of exemptions for Veggie oil will continue, but if not, there is a need for people to stand up and do what they can to promote less regulation, and the freedom to be a part of the solution on the grass roots level. Pollution and foreign oil are big problems, problems largely created by bad government policy. I for one, am not going to wait around and hope more government policy will fix it.

Yes, there is risk involved in any cause that is trying to change the status quo. I want to be able to look my children in the eye when I am old, and know that I stood up for what I believed in, and did what I could to make the world a better place.

This may seem like an extreme rant to some, and it may resonate with others. Some may believe that in a business forum that I would be better served taking a bit more neutral approach, but why stop now!?! At the risk of angering a few, and not being very politically correct; I second the words of Samuel Adams,

"lf ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animated contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen."

--Samuel Adams

Jeep> 2005-2006 Jeep Liberty 2.8L

The Jeep Liberty was the first mid-size sport-utility vehicle available with a diesel engine in the U.S. It’s equipped with a bullet proof 2.8 L CRD (Common Rail Diesel) engine produced by VM Motori, which is owned in part by Detroit Diesel, a DaimlerChrysler company and lends itself quite nicely to running on SVO. Unfortunately, the Liberties were plagued with transmission recalls, suspension recalls, and torque converter/ECM recalls among other issues. Although this vehicle exceeded sales expectations, DaimlerChrysler claims to have discontinued the Jeep Liberty with a CRD due to the 2008 emissions regulations. Due to the compounded issue of these inherent flaws and reliability concerns as well as the lack of qualified technicians in this country to work on this vehicle, GFS does not recommend purchasing this vehicle. However, if you do own a Liberty and believe it to be reliable, then it might be a good candidate for an SVO System.

In regards to driving on SVO, Jeep Liberties are fine for driving long distances, but are not as well suited for city driving. When running on SVO, the Jeep Liberty has a tendency to smoke when idling, even for 30 seconds with a hot engine. In addition, there is a big plume of black smoke when pulling away from the stop light. This is not a comforting image for the owners, so GFS made it a priority when we were developing our Computer Modification Programmers to get the Jeep Liberty software to address this issue. By altering the idle timing circuit we were able to clean up the smoking and increase the power and fuel economy.

Besides the smoking issue, which can be addressed, they have some other quirks. Liberties do not take well to shutting down on veggie. With any other diesel that we have converted, you can shut it down on veggie and as long as the engine stays hot it will restart on veggie just like diesel. With the Liberty, it can be 90 degrees outside, engine hot as can be, and if you turn off the vehicle for even 5 minutes on oil, you will have to crank on it for 10 seconds or so for it to start. This means that every errand and quick trip you make, you’ll have to flush with diesel. However, the Liberty is not ideal for a short range driver, or a driver that is not "in tune" with the whole conversion process and theory.

For more information on a Jeep Liberty System click here.

Gathering the Oil > Liquid Gold DVD

The subject of gathering and filtering Waste Veggie oil is a very important one.
Once the vehicle is converted, putting good, clean, filtered oil in the tank is paramount.
We always get the Question What does good oil look like? Where do I get it? How do I filter it?
Although we can give some general info it is really a subject that needs to be approached visually.
This is why we made the DVD Liquid Gold, it covers all you will need to know to go out and find good oil.
We strongly suggest that you get this DVD if you are going to be gathering and using waste veggie oil as a fuel. It will save you from making a lot of the mistakes commonly made.

NEW! Liquid Gold DVD

Charles Anderson from Golden Fuel Systems shares the Do’s and Don’t's of Gathering and using Waste Vegetable oil as a fuel. Perfect for anyone who is currently using, or planning on using Vegetable oil or Bio
Diesel as a fuel!


Click Image These questions and more are
answered on this DVD

• What makes good waste vegetable oil?
• How do I identify bad waste vegetable oil?
• When out gathering what do I look for?
• How does salt and sugar affect waste vegetable oil?
• How do I tell if there’s water in the oil?
• How do I filter the oil once it’s gathered?
• How do I filter in colder temperatures?

$25.00 + $3.50 Shipping

http://www.goldenfuelsystems.com/products_dvds.php

Where Can I find A Heater to Heat My Oil for Pre-filtering

This heater will heat continuously past 150° F and towards boiling, depending on the volume of fluid and if the container is insulated and protected from the elements. Each unit comes with a stainless steel Guard and has an automatic shut-off. This unit can be found at Farm Stores around the country. It is very useful for heating the oil for pre-filtering use. Check it out in action on our Liquid Gold DVD!

Oil must be a magical 178.924 Degrees before entering injection system...

There is a commonly accepted myth out there that when you are using veggie oil as a fuel, that the oil in the tank, filter and fuel lines, up to the injection system have to be at some magical, exact temperature to work properly, and that if the oil isn’t to that arbitrary temp, the system is somehow deficient and there will be engine damage.

Now, to dispel the myth.

How hot does the veggie oil have to be, to burn trouble free, in a diesel engine?
The first thing we have to establish is, why is it a concern?

When a diesel fuel system injects fuel into the combustion chamber it forces it through tiny holes in the end of an injector, causing it to atomize, or in other words, spray in a very fine mist to mix with the air so it will burn completely.
The viscosity of diesel fuel is low, or you could say it is thin.
Vegetable oil, at room temp. is thick, or the viscosity is high, if you tried to spray it through an injector at room temp, it wouldn’t spray well at all, it would just drip.

The problem with that is that the fuel would not combust properly because it would not have mixed with the air. You would eventually get “coking” or the build up of carbon (incompletely burned fuel) on the end of your injectors and in the combustion chamber.

What to do?

There are two ways that you can run this higher viscosity fuel in your diesel, both ways have to do with reducing the viscosity of the veggie oil.
One way to do it would be to make Biodiesel, a chemical process called transesterfication, where you mix methanol and lye with veggie oil to separate out the glycerin. This “thins” out the oil to a viscosity similar to diesel.

The other way to do it, and the one that makes most sense to me, is to thin out the oil with heat.
Every one has put a pot of oil on the stove to cook something, and what happens when the oil is heated? It gets runny, thin, or in other words the viscosity is lowered.

This is the approach that we use:

If the oil is above 160 deg.F, the viscosity of the oil is getting close to the viscosity of diesel, and will spray just like diesel.

It is generally accepted that if the oil is over 160 Deg. F. it is “safe” to inject into and engine, in other words, it will atomize properly.
OK, we have established veggie oil is thicker than diesel, the veggie oil must be thinned in order to spray the oil properly. No arguments up to this point.

But here is where people start to get off track when it comes to designing an SVO system.
The myth has been perpetuated by individuals and other upstart, Johnny come lately conversion companies, that the oil has to reach some magic arbitrary temp. in the conversion system before it gets to the engine, or the whole world will come to an end and your diesel will turn up its toes and die instantly. They design systems with solutions to problems that do not exist.
No matter how hard you tried it would be impossible to inject “cold” oil into an engine that is up to Normal operating temperature.

The part they are missing, is that every component in the fuel injection system IS A HEAT EXCHANGER. Every engine has an ambient core temperature of between about 160 and 200 degrees. This is determined by several factors, the thermostat being one of them. And although the ambient temp. is between 160 and 200 degrees, there are components and parts of the engine that get hotter. The function of the coolant is to take the heat away from the engine and disperse it into the atmosphere through the radiator, and although the coolant is circulating around the head of the engine where combustion is taking place the metal in the head, where the injectors are imbedded is hotter than the coolant. Think of a cast iron skillet boiling water, the water will be 212 deg.F but the metal on the underside of the skillet will be much hotter.
Lets go over a couple of scenarios:

Scenario 1

Lets say we have a diesel engine with a VE style distributor pump, married to the side of the engine, that is up to normal operating temp. of 190 deg. F.
We then introduce veggie oil that has been heated to 95 deg.F, much cooler than the desired injection temp. The first thing it will do is enter a hot pump, that if you shot it with a infrared temp gun will be in the neighborhood of 150 or more. The first thing it will do is pick up the heat from the interior components of the pump that will be hotter than the exterior. It will then start its journey to the injector by being pressurized to thousands of pounds per sq. inch. What happens when you pressurize something? The molecules get close together and start bumping into each other, friction = heat. Think of squeezing a snow ball, water comes out because the temp was raised because of pressure. Also think of a pressure cooker, it is a fraction of the pressure that an injection pump created, but it still has significant results.
To drive this point home I want to share an experience I had when doing the research on the VP44 injection pump used on certain Cummins engines.
I went down to Little Rock, Arkansas to a fuel injection shop that worked on the VP44. While we were there we went into the test room where they had a pump on the test stand calibrating it. The room was air-conditioned to about 65 deg, and the fuel was cooled to 80 deg.F for calibration purposes. The injector lines going to the injectors and the injectors themselves were in the open, cool air, not in a hot engine compartment.

They started spinning the pump to simulate normal operating speed, and within a matter of a few minutes the injector lines were too hot to touch, and the injection pump itself was over 150. This is in an air-conditioned room with nothing but the temp rise from pressurizing the fuel. See my point?
Ok, so we have gone into the hot pump and picked up some heat, then went from no pressure to a highly pressurized state, more heat, then the final stage is the injector.
The injector, no matter what the style will hold a small volume of fuel, this injector is imbedded in the hot block, and the end of it is exposed into the combustion chamber that is thousands of degrees. The new fuel comes into the top of the injector and has a bit of time before it gets spit out into the hot combustion chamber.
This final “heat exchanger” is allot hotter than the engine coolant could ever think of getting.

Scenario 2

Lets say we go through some heroic efforts, and have some oil that we were able to get to 275 Deg. F. If that oil was to then enter the injection pump, the pump which is also affected by the core engine temp, would start to absorb the heat and the oil would acclimate and inject at about the same temp as the cooler oil in scenario 1. was injected.

THE AMBIENT CORE TEMP OF THE ENGINE IS WHAT WILL DETERMINE THE TEMP OF THE INJECTED OIL, NOT THE HEAT EXCHANGERS, COOLANT OR ELECTRIC, INSTALLED BEFORE THE ENGINE.

The massive heat sink, that is your engine, is far more effective a heat exchanger than any coolant or 12 volt heat exchanger you could use.
All you have to do is get a infrared temp gun, a hot diesel engine, and you will see that this is sound Logic. Just shot the pump, and the injectors as they go into the head and you will se what I mean. And that is external temps, the internal will be hotter.
I used the VE style pump as the worst case scenario as far as temps is concerned, because it is separated from the engine by a few millimeters.
If you have an engine with unit injectors where the fuel rail is imbedded in the head, the cards are stacked even more in your favor. Also shoot the rail on a common-rail diesel that is up to temp, and tell me if you think you could actually inject “cold” oil into your engine.

So if the engines core temps dictate the injection temp, what is a well designed SVO conversion systems goal?

A SECONDARY TANK FOR DIESEL TO GET THE ENGINE UP TO TEMP, AND UNRESTRICTED FLOW UP TO THE INJECTION SYSTEM.

Oil that is too cold and thick, wont flow, so by heating the tank, the hoses and the filter, you can reduce the viscosity of the oil and ensure that it will flow, unrestricted up to the injection system, and then, let the engine, your final heat exchanger do its thing.
Trying to get the oil up to some magic temp. in the tank, or putting in a temp sensor so you “won’t inject cold oil” is missing the point and unnecessary.
A vacuum gauge to measure restriction is much more useful than a temp sensor.

Now, I expect from this essay there will be a fair amount of screaming from the other side that “this is blasphemy, everyone knows that the oil has to be 178.924 deg before it goes into the injection system or you will inject cold oil and coke your engine”

Don’t let them, or me for that matter, make up your mind for you. If you have questions or doubts, do the temperature tests. Simple as that.

It is impossible to inject cold oil into an engine that is up to operating temp. The inherent design of a diesel engine will not allow it, and neither with the laws of thermodynamics.