College catering van runs on waste fryer oil from the kitchen

WOOSTER, Ohio - If you find yourself with a sudden yearning for french fries while walking across The College of Wooster’s campus, the reason could be a nondescript white van from the school’s catering service. It’s not actually carrying any fries. It just smells that way.

The 2001 G.M.C. diesel has been converted to run on used cooking oil from the campus dining halls' fryers. Because vegetable oil contains no sulfur, it burns cleaner than diesel while providing comparable power and fuel economy.

The conversion, by Full Circle Fuels of Oberlin, Ohio, allows the driver of the van to switch from diesel to straight vegetable oil (SVO) power with the flip of a switch. Because it has a much higher viscosity than diesel fuel, the vegetable oil cannot be used to start a cold engine. The driver must start the vehicle with diesel and use the heat generated by the engine to warm the SVO sufficiently to reduce its viscosity. After about five minutes of diesel operation, the fuel supply can be switched and the rest of the trip made using SVO.

The conversion of the catering service van was an initiative of the college's environmental task force, a group made up of students, faculty, and staff. Chuck Wagers, director of hospitality services and the group's co-chair, says that during the academic year, the college generates about 50 gallons of waste cooking oil a week. The converted van will consume 10 to 15 gallons of that amount and if the vehicle performs as well as anticipated, the task force hopes the college will convert one or two more of its diesel vehicles to SVO.

Converted vehicles such as the one now traversing the Wooster campus represent a return to the diesel engine's roots. According to The New York Times, "Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the combustion cycle bearing his name, originally intended his engine to run on vegetable oil. In 1912, seven years after he introduced his engine at a Paris exposition," he said. "The use of vegetable oils for engine fuels may seem insignificant today. But such oils may become in the course of time as important as…petroleum."

The College of Wooster is an independent liberal arts college, nationally recognized for an innovative curriculum that emphasizes independent learning. Each Wooster senior works one-on-one with a faculty mentor to create an original research project, written work, performance or art exhibit. Founded in 1866, the college enrolls approximately 1,800 students.