Straight-up veggie power! Friends develop oil processor to fuel their cars

By Kristina Tedeschi
Staff Writer

Published on January 11, 2008

Friends Mike Parham and Julian Ross aren't crazy about oil companies getting rich off their dollars. So a few months back, when the 17-year-olds bought their first cars, they decided to do something that would lessen their dependence on fossil fuels.

Starting last summer, the high schoolers began building a vegetable-oil filtering system from scratch in Parham's basement, using mostly salvaged materials like PVC pipes and a garden hose. After weeks of hard work and a few small disasters, the pair made their first barrel of SVO, or straight vegetable oil, in early fall, using it to help power their vintage diesel cars. (To read about how the duo's biodiesel processor works, visit www.amherstbulletin.com.)

Used cooking oil works in diesel-powered engines because once it is heated to high temperatures, it becomes similar to straight diesel fuel, said Mark Penta, who works in technical support at Greasecar Vegetable Fuel Systems of Easthampton. SVO does not work in gasoline-powered cars and trucks, he said, because they rely on spark ignition. Diesel engines, on the other hand, rely on compression ignition - no spark is needed because compression levels are so high. In a gasoline-powered engine, compression levels aren't high enough for SVO to work.

Though cars can be converted to run solely on SVO, the old Mercedeses that Ross and Parham drive are not equipped to handle 100 percent vegetable oil. They can fill their diesel tanks about halfway with the alternative fuel in warmer months, they said, but in cold weather it can crystallize, forming waxy solids that could clog a car's fuel injector or filter.

Still, getting around, at least partially, on fuel they produced themselves is a good feeling, they said. "I don't think these gas companies should have this monopoly over the car market like they do," said Parham. Using SVO "is the most we can do to show that we need a change," Ross added.

Both said they plan to start collecting used oil again to get ready for spring.

Fuel filtration kits can be purchased from companies like the Easthampton-based vegetable fuel system, which sells them at prices ranging between $900 and $2,000, according to Greasecar's Web site. But Parham and Ross built theirs for $300. So far, they have used one 55-gallon drum of SVO in their cars, and have another batch ready to go once temperatures rise in the spring. With the cost of diesel up to $3.50 a gallon, they believe their system has already paid for itself.

Mutual interests

Parham and Ross met a few years back, when both lived in the same Amherst neighborhood and attended Amherst Regional High School. They have maintained their friendship, they said, through shared interests in science and music, and a general distaste for the oil industry. Ross, who has since moved to Orange and is a junior at Ralph C. Mahar Regional High School, often drives his butter-colored 1980 Mercedes station wagon to Amherst to visit and work on the oil filtration system in Parham's basement.

Parham first learned about sustainable fuels as an 11-year-old summer camper in Wiscasset, Maine, said his father, Charles Parham, a teacher at the Smith College Campus School in Northampton. In an activity focused on green energy, Mike Parham traveled up and down U.S. Route 1 with fellow campers collecting used fry oil from restaurants to convert into biodiesel, his father said.

Biodiesel is not the same as SVO because it has been chemically altered, Mike Parham explained. Running a diesel car on 100 percent biodiesel doesn't require converting a car, as using SVO does, but, Parham pointed out, SVO is simpler to make because nothing needs to be added to the used cooking oil - it just needs to be collected, heated and filtered.

"Michael was just really impressed," his father said of his camp experience.

As for Ross, when gas prices skyrocketed a few years ago, before he even had a car himself, he said, he decided to learn more about making alternative fuel. He turned to the Internet. "As soon as I heard you could run your car on vegetable oil, I thought it was a great idea," he said.

Snags along the way

When Ross finally bought a diesel-powered 1980 Mercedes-Benz last December, he and Parham became serious about making SVO.

"That really jump-started it," said Parham's mother, Roxanne Schneider.

Parham followed his friend's lead and bought a diesel-powered 1983 maroon Mercedes, and soon the two began working on the filtration system.

Parham and Ross said the project entailed long hours over the summer and fall. To pull off such a job, said Ross, "It has to be a borderline passion."

The undertaking wasn't without roadblocks.

The friends said they didn't take into account the complexity of basic aspects of the project, like wiring and drilling, which took considerable time and effort.

Then, there was the matter of getting the vegetable oil. Collecting oil from the Iron Horse music venue in Northampton, which used it to cook everything from chicken tenders to crayfish, was a dirty job, they said. They removed it from a huge vat with buckets, and made a mess, they recall, laughing. At one point, a 5-gallon plastic container of the oil leaked all over the Parhams' basement floor, requiring considerable mopping and scrubbing with bleach to try to remove the stains.

Ross and Parham agree that the worst accident - and the funniest, they said - occurred when a friend was helping them tinker with the system's connections. While the machine was running, the friend was holding the main filter to make sure the top didn't come loose. But the oil pressure was too powerful.

"All of a sudden, the top flew off," Parham said. "It just exploded in his face."

The oil wasn't too hot, and the friend wasn't hurt, according to Parham and Ross, but they have since secured the filter's top.

Always tinkering

Parham's parents said they are proud of the boys' efforts. They said their son is always working on a project, whether it's making a working flute from a section of PVC pipe or building an effects pedal for his guitar.

"It's hard to keep up with what's next," Charles Parham said. "He just goes on the Web and figures it out."

"It's neat, because the kids keep showing us the new way," Schneider said, "and usually, it's the right way."

Kristina Tedeschi can be reached at ktedeschi@gazettenet.com.