You will need the following things to get started using vegetable oil as a fuel:

>A diesel powered vehicle
> A Frybrid system
> A place to filter and store your vegetable oil
> A place that will supply you with oil

In order for waste oil to be useful as a fuel it must first be filtered and dewatered, this process is accomplished through various methods many of which are discussed in the filtration section of the Frybrid Forum, here we will de describing the Frybrid still.

For this method you will need a small indoor or covered space about 8'x 8', the end of a garage, corner of the basement, even a garden shed building will work. You will need to build a Frybrid still and get one or two 55 gallon drums.

The still is composed of an electric water heater, these can be purchased or recycled from your local land fill or city dump. Typically the dump will collect the for a week when a recycler will arrive and pick them up. I called 4 city solid waste disposal facilities and all invited me to come and choose which of the many electric water heaters they had and take it away. At the first location I found a two year old 80 gallon water heater with nothing wrong with it, it was most likely from a home purchased where the appliances were replaced by the new owner or a home that had converted to natural gas. Once home I replaced the lower heating element with a stainless element as many are made of copper which is highly reactive with vegetable oils, this cost me $10.

In addition to the water heater you will need some assorted lengths of black pipe, ball valves, a pump, a filter housing and some spa hose or good quality " coolant or PVC hose. Links to the filter and pump as well as full construction diagrams are available on the filtration pages of the site. The pump will cost about $230 and the filter housing another $260 so by the time you are finished you can expect to spend between $500 and $600 building the complete Frybrid Still.

Oil is collected from a restaurant where they have poured it back into the 4.5 gallon "Cubies" the oil comes in. The dirty oil is taken to your filtering location where it is pre-strained through a filter made of old bed sheets stretched over a 55 gallon drum (Construction diagrams and photos). The oil is now free of French fries and large food particles and while pouring you were able to notice if any free water or solid material was present in the oil and stop pouring before these unwanted materials entered the barrel. The oil can be allowed to settle in the barrel for as long as you like, I typically allow it to settle until I have two full barrels, which is enough to fill me 80 gallon still.

The pump on the still is then used to suck the contents of the pre-filter barrel(s) into the still, this takes about 10 minutes, once full the still is switched on and the oil is heated to 130 -140F in about 3 hours. The still is switched off and allowed to sit for 4 to 8 hours. During this time the oil is still, there are no convective currents created by the heating element and any remaining particulate matter and or water can settle through the hot thin oil to the bottom of the still. After 4 to 8 hours about a gallon of oil is drained from the bottom of the still into a bucket and a sample taken at the end of this draining.

The sample (1/2 a small mason jar) is then used to test the oil for any remaining water content. This is done using a "Crackle test" where a cast iron pan on a hot plate is heated to 320F and about a teaspoon of oil is dropped into the pan, large bubbles denote the presence of water in the sample. If no water is present the oil in the still is pumped through the filter and cycled back into the still where it can remain until its use, or pumped through the filter and into a storage container such as a 275 gallon tote or 35 gallon barrels for storage. If the sample fails then it is allowed to settle for 4 to 8 more hours and is retested.

Variations on the crackle test include the "Hot pan test" where a cast iron pan is placed on a hotplate, a smear of oil is put on the surface of the pan and the pan heated until the speared oil begins to smoke, at this point the sample (maybe coffee cup) is poured into the pan and is checked for bubbles. A variation on the HPT or crackle test using a large spoon or ladle, smearing the spoon with oil, heating with a torch or burner until the smeared oil smokes, then filling the spoon with the sample and checking for bubbles. All of these tests can be performed with a simple hot plate or electric skillet a couple of mason jars and a turkey baster - it is not rocket science.

There are some YouTube links here:

An alternate method that is less expensive to set up but is also slower is the "Ron Schroeder upflow filtering method" discussed on the Frybrid forum , in this method two barrels are connected via a Whole House water filter available at any home depot store, the first barrel is fitted with a filling funnel made from another barrel attached to a pipe running nearly to the bottom of the first barrel. Oil is poured into the first barrel and it slowly fills up, when it reaches the top of this sealed barrel it flows through the filter and into the second or "clean" barrel.

The only force used to get the oil through the filter is the weight of the full funnel of oil waiting to drain into the first or "Dirty" barrel, so it may flow only 5 or 10 gallons a day of clean oil. The advantage of this system is that it uses no electricity, heat or pumps. The disadvantage is that it is slow and should be in a heated space. Several diagrams are available here.

Establishing a relationship with a restaurant should be straightforward. It is always easier of you frequent the restaurant but regardless there are a few things to consider ; they may currently be paying a rendering company to collect their oil, they may be illegally disposing of it in the dumpster or someone may already be collecting it. I have found it is best to simply ask the manager how they are disposing of their oil, he or she will likely looked puzzled and before they respond I tell them that the reason for my question is that I collect oil from several local restaurants and make it into fuel for my vehicle. I then pause and give him a chance to respond, if he seems receptive I hand him a card I have printed with my name, cell phone number, etc. and ask when it would be convenient for me to have a look at the oil to see if it is suitable and if so when would he like me to start collecting it.

Make a point to be as flexible as possible, kitchens are busy places and you want the cooks on your side, not against you. I have one place I collect from once a month on the last Friday of the month, they usually have about 40 gallons of oil for me and when I pick it up I make a point to leave a 6-pack of the cooks favorite beer. It is clear that he takes care to provide me with oil that does not have all the fryer scrapings or water in it and he makes a point to change the oil on Thursday night so that I get as much as possible when I come.

Another place I collect from I show up after they close on the day they call me, they leave four 5 gallon buckets with lids filled with oil next to the back door, I collect them and leave them four empties. I have never seen the cook in 3 years of collecting there.

The best sources of oil that I have found are teriyaki places, sushi places, and small sandwich shops although fish fry places are said to be good as well. What you are looking for is a place where they use soy, peanut, canola or corn oil, preferably non-hydrogenated oil as it is easier to handle being liquid at room temperature and a place that changes their oil before the food tastes like dirt. I have been offered oil that looked like brown jello from a place that cooked bar food and used the oil until people complained before changing it, I passed on that oil but I get oil from a Sushi place that is so clean that I simply pump it from the cubies it comes in and into my fuel tank. This oil is slightly more amber than new oil but a sample I took and sat on my windowsill in my shop for 1 year had no particulate matter settle out! The more carefully you select your oil the less waste you will have to dispose of and the easier the oil will be to filter.

Another option is to send a letter to restraunts in your area using the local phone book, Yahoo Local or other internet services to get their addresses. Make the letter short and to the point, there are some examples here and here. I have a very short letter explaining that I am a local resident and I would like to collect their oil free of charge and that I purify the oil to be used as an environmentally friendly fuel. That I can pick it up at their convenience, on their schedule in the plastic containers it comes in or buckets allowing them to get rid of any outside barrel or dumpster that may be attracting vermin. It is written in English and translated into Japanese and I distributed it to every Sushi place within 5 miles of my home and shop.

Some interesting threads on the subject of how to get started collecting oil.

http://www.frybrid.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16061