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Oil Presses Is there anyone out there that thinks the cost of Petrol will be going down now that India and China are demanding a larger share each year? AE DIYers are showing considerable interest in screw presses to make their own vegetable oils. There is now considerable information on the WEB about personal oil crops and their yields. According to my Brother in Wisconsin, there is also a decent supply of used equipment that can harvest this seed and ready it for the screw press. You'll need to do your own assessments of what you can actually do with straight veggie. I know one man who has 4000 hours of running time in Lister (CS) Type Singles using straight and properly filtered and heated veggie, the secret may be the careful monitoring of the carbon build up, and the starting and stopping on biodiesel. The plug found on the CS style head can be quickly pulled to check carbon build up, and injector spray pattern. This head is different than the head found on engines advertised as 6.5 HP Lister types like the (METEX) Metro. Exactly how the new heads work with veggie, I am not sure, I hope my readers will report on the direct injection head, and the use of waste oils. A must is keeping the coolant temp near 200F(place to start), and keeping all fuel lines heated with coolant water. Experienced DIYers who run veggie get used to the normal sound of combustion and can quickly hear the knock that develops when carbon builds up and raises the effective compression. When this happens, they manually clean the combustion chamber or put the engine on a diet of biodiesel, and water inject at high loads, there are additives that people swear will help control this carbon build up, but I have no personal experience with any of them. Clean and properly filtered waste veggie can be run for about 400 to 600 hours before carbon becomes an issue, this is only a guide and starting place for your personal experimentation. Waste motor oil can create problems in only a few hours running time in direct injection engines, but I have received accounts of using this fuel in Lister CS types as well. As of this date, I think the Lister 6/1 CS is one of the best designs to run veggie fuels in.. AE and DIYer Ken Gardner has made several trips from Montana to my Washington shop, and his Dodge Diesel Truck has a good many miles on veggie. There is a good deal of pro and con on veggie use, but I know for a fact that DIYers who are careful to set it up properly and monitor the power plant do quite well. With all of this said, the screw type press is a simple device and has been in service for more than 100 years. Third world countries make use of smaller presses that villages or small co-ops can afford to buy and operate. Presses are sometimes rated by the number of tons of seed or beans one can press in a day, it is important to note that the seed cake is a valuable product of the pressing and this is often sold at a high price to dairy farmers and cattlemen for feed. I would imagine it would make an excellent feed stock for a good many animals. Types of seed used in oil production are numerous, and it will be wise to identify a seed crop for your soils and region, I am sure there are dry land crops, and for those who have the rain fall or irrigation, there are probably high yield crops that could produce many gallons of veggie per acre. Joel Koch has researched small oil presses, and has become the exclusive importer of The Mammoth brand. There may be similar screw presses for sale, but this is one that has been sold for a good many years, and they make from small to very large screw presses. Joel will be stocking a small press that will do a few tons of seed a day, it can be powered by a 5hp Briggs or similar prime mover. This will sell for a hobby price, and not take up a lot of room.
4 Ton Mammoth Press
Above is the typical and simple design of the screw press, note that the oil comes off the screw and then into the drip pan below the screw. Seed cake is dropped from the end of the screw, and falls out the shoot seen at the end of the press to the right. The large lower pulley is driven by an electric motor, or engine like the Chinese 1115. There is a simple gear box to the left of the hopper, and keeping it full of clean oil will assure a long trouble free life. The adjustment to the right sets the proper pressing pressure, adding a little water to the seed can help maximize oil production and assure smooth operation.
Above: Between the segments, there are small holes, the passes thru the holes, and the seed cake continues thru the screw and comes out the end. The press is designed of heavy castings, simple sheet metal pieces could easily be replicated if lost or stolen.
I'll write more as I learn more.. for those readers who wish to share their experience is home or small scale production, please contact me. As for information as to where you can buy a press? Contact Joel Koch (sawyer335@gmail.com) If you are in Canada, contact John Ferguson john@woodnstuff.ca visit a DIYER/FARMER who makes his own veggie fuel to run all his vehicles! 082405 added Video file of running press, amazing to watch!
All the best George B.
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