| | |  | Renewable Energy | Home » » SVO: Powering Your Vehicle With Straight Vegetable Oil | | | | | | | Description: | | "There is a lot of information out there about the pros and cons of biofuels - more cons than pros recently. but still, nothing seems to beat Straight Vegetable Oil (SVO). It's cheap, carbon-neutral, uses a waste product and does not depend upon centralized corporate infrastructure.
And now there is a definitive guide to fueling your diesel engine with this alternative fuel. SVO-Powering Your Vehicle with Straight Vegetable Oil cuts through the masses of often contradictory, erroneous and confusing information on the subject and provides a practical guide. It also, importantly and uniquely, explains what is necessary to convert a diesel engine and how to do it properly. there are facts, figures, charts, grpahs, diagrams, and lots of technical detail but, with all its detail, the book is still very accessible.
Gregg knows his stuff; he is a former researcher with Frybrid, a leading developer of veggie oil conversion systems, and has worked as a designer, fabricator and installer of SVO conversion systems." - Natural Life Magazine The benefits of straight vegetable oil (SVO) as an alternate fuel for diesel engines are many. SVO is cheap, carbon-neutral, uses a waste product, and does not depend upon centralized corporate infrastructure. Authors Christopher Goodwin and Forest Gregg are the founder and designer, respectively, of Frybrid, the most respected vegetable oil conversion company in the United States. They have many combined years of expertise in the use of straight vegetable oil as a fuel and have sifted through the masses of contradictory, erroneous, and confusing information on the subject, extracting the very best information available. Chapters include: - Vegetable oil sources, extraction, and refining
- Viscosity
- Chemical degradation
- Fuel properties
- Contaminants
- System design
- Engine modifications
SVO is the only book available that explains exactly what is necessary to convert a diesel vehicle and how to do it properly. It gives readers the tools to sort through the different companies and online plans to find something that works well. While technical in nature, this fully illustrated book is very accessible. Each concept is introduced and described in great detail. Designed to educate new consumers, it is also a resource for current conversion owners. Forest Gregg is a researcher with Frybrid, and has worked as a designer and installer of the conversion systems. Christopher Goodwin has been in the automotive business for twenty years, has owned two shops specializing in German auto repair, and is the founder of Frybrid, the most respected vegetable oil conversion company in the United States.
| | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Forest Gregg | | Paperback:
| 240 pages | | Publisher:
| New Society Publishers | | Publication Date:
| July 01, 2008 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
| 0865716129 | | Product Length:
| 8.75 inches | | Product Width:
| 6.06 inches | | Product Height:
| 0.61 inches | | Product Weight:
| 0.81 pounds | | Package Length:
| 8.9 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.9 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.8 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.7 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 8 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 8 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 Buy this book, borrow this book, steal this book!Aug 20, 2008
By Joe Beatty
"Grzpdlr"
What ever you have to do, you must read this book. What Mr. Gregg has accomplished in publishing this book is nothing less than remarkable. Drawing on a wealth of first hand experience in system installations as well as several years of research involving some of the most complex research documents on diesel engineering and advanced organic chemistry, combined that with hours of conversations with some of the leading experts in the field and you have is a state of the art treatise that corrects many common misconceptions, introduces many new concepts, and is still surprisingly readable.
So if you're a beginner or an expert with 20 years of experience you will learn a lot from this book.
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
This Book is a MUST have if you are at all interested in Alternative fuelsAug 18, 2008
By J. C. Hammerle
"Just a Dad"
This work represents over a year of research into the use of an alternative fuel where there are no schools that teach its theory or use. The work is a compilation of different sources whether online or in traditional print.
It is written in a simple conversational tone and is unassuming of the readers past knowledge base. The author even states that he hopes that the material contained within the pages becomes obsolete. Not many authors are so willing to have their work fall to the archives of "old works". However, once you read the book, you will gain a deeper understanding of the rapid changes at work in this field.
The science is sound. The book gives good advice. Sources are properly credited. While it is not a "how-to" manual it does cover the basics. The book uses science to back up the "why" of a particular method used. I would encourage the reader to read the credited sources themselves.
It is not a definitive work on the subject. At this point, there really can't be any one definitive work. The technology is too new. This book, for now however, comes as close as possible.
If you are at all interested in alternative fuels, this book has to be in your reference library.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
The best resource available to date.Aug 17, 2008
By Darryl Peterson
Whether you are a 20 year veteran WVO consulting engineer, or a novice that is just starting to investigate the possibility of running a diesel powered vehicle on vegetable oil, this is the textbook that you should have in your collection. Starting with the basics of how a diesel engine operates, the author then moves on to how the fuel burns - and explains how vegetable oil can be used in place of normal diesel fuel. There are some issues with the use of vegetable oil fuels and the author describes the 3 various ways they can be overcome. The focus of this book is the method in which the vegetable oil fuel is heated to break down viscosity and allow it to be injected into the engine in a pattern approaching that of diesel.
While this book is largely about theory and goes into great detail explaining fuel properties and diesel operation, it also describes conversions and presents some generic diagrams. It provides enough detail that a mechanically-inclined person could design and build their own WVO system for an older vehicle. Enough detail is presented that it is not a matter of cobbling together a barely adequate system - rather the reader should have a pretty good idea of what it takes to get the alternative fuel into a temperature range that allows for long term use without engine damage.
The other aspect of vegetable oil fuels is gather and filtering - processing it it so that it can be used in a vehicle. Sources of oil need to be obtained and the author doesn't spend too many pages on this topic, but presents enough detail for the reader to understand the issues and work with restaurants in order to get started. Each situation will be unique, so the reader will need to do some investigation first hand. Filtering the oil is the next step - removing both food waste and other impurities such as water. The author describes several tried and proven methods and he also covers some misconceptions that experimentation has demonstrated do not work well. This is not about a hack-job filtration system using used denim jeans for an inconsistent filtration media, he instead covers some common methods of filtering used successfully by many people.
This book is a must read for anyone considering running vegetable oil fuel in a diesel engine.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 A dense but accessible compendium of current SVO practice and theory.Dec 15, 2008
By W. Taygan
Forest Gregg's book "SVO: Powering Your Vehicle with Straight Vegetable Oil" is a great contribution to the vegoil community.
He has coupled an extensive literature review with substantial personal experience to create a dense but accessible snapshot of this quickly evolving science.
Gregg has included lots of goodies for the SVO geeks: an introduction to the chemistry of oxidative polymerization, the basic physics and bulk modulus in vegetable oil fuel injection and a comprehensive annotated bibliography for further reading.
I agree with probably 90% of his assertions, and appreciate how Gregg acknowledges the gaps in our understanding of veg-fueling diesels. The only section that really caught me off guard was his diagrams of alternative fuel routing. The examples seemed to point out unsatisfactory designs, but left out other acceptable designs - at least he didn't included the routing method we use here in Alaska.
This is not an introductory arm-chair read for those thinking about converting to SVO. That honor goes to Ray Holan's humorous "Sliding Home," (available through the major SVO kit suppliers) with its emphasis on which SVO system is right for you - and whether you really want to run SVO at all.
Gregg's SVO book shines as a fabulous compendium of current cutting-edge vegoil practice and theory. A great read for those interested in designing a robust vegoil system, and for current SVO drivers who want summary of the science behind their conversions.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Buy this BookAug 17, 2008
By P. Canzonetta
Thinking about running your car/Truck on Grease? Been running your car/truck on grease for years? Know nothing about running your car/truck on Veggie? Know everything about running a car/truck on Veggie?-This book is for you.
Whatever level, this well researched and documented book has information I bet you did not know-from how Veggie runs in a Diesel at the molecular stage to filtering.
I have been doing the veggie thing a few years & it was great to learn WHY something works as well a HOW something works.
Book is well worth it.
See all 8 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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