UNI leads green movement

The University of Northern Iowa's National Ag-Based Lubricants  Center is leading the movement to go green with its Continuous Oil Recycling System, which will make the use of bio-based engine oil in diesel engines a reality.
   
For years researchers have stumbled over bio-based fuel's tendency to break down. NABL has taken a different approach to this issue with CORS. Instead of altering the properties of the oil, NABL's technology instead cleans and recycles the oil, reusing it as fuel before it has the opportunity to break down.
   
"We thought rather than forcing vegetable-based oil to last in an engine for 10,000 to 15,000 miles, we would change the oil before it breaks down and replace it with fresh oil," said UNI-NABL Center Director Lou Honary. "If soybean oil or other vegetable oil can safely perform for, say, 50 hours or 2,500 miles, the computerized recycling system would ensure the oil is consumed as diesel fuel before the 50 hours of performance."
   
The oil is contained in a reservoir. Sensors closely monitor the physiochemical properties of the oil, determining the correct time to replace the old with the new. The old oil is then burned as fuel.
   
"We put the oil in the engine and, before it has a chance to break apart, we use it as fuel," Honary said. "So, we first get lubricity out of the oil, which is a lot of value, and then we get value by burning it as fuel."
   
The technology not only makes the use of bio-based engine lubricants like common vegetable oil possible, it also eliminates the necessity of oil changes.
   
"The idea is to continue to put fresh oil in there, so the engine always has fresh oil in the crankcase," Honary said.
   
The NABL center has been researching vegetable-based lubricants since its establishment in 1991. The CORS technology was derived from a product designed to continuously steal a small amount of engine oil for use as fuel. However, petroleum released far too many harmful emissions, which inspired NABL to research the use of vegetable-based oils with such technology.
   
"People have tried to do this with petroleum engine oils, but it causes emissions to get really out of hand," Honary said. "But with vegetable oil, you improve the lubricity and the engine runs better and improves the emissions."
   
The technology goes a long way toward making the 20-year-old dream of clean engine fuel a reality.
   
"The CORS concept offers an opportunity for the earlier adoption of engine biolubricants," said project consultant Bill Mitchell, a retired Deere & Co. engineer. "Features of the bio-based engine lubricants in the CORS concept offer extraordinary natural lubricity, reduced petroleum dependency and waste-oil elimination."
   
The CORS technology will initially be marketed toward larger stationary engines, where the addition of an extra oil tank isn't a logistical conundrum. According to Honary, subsequent versions will focus on construction and agricultural equipment, and eventually trucks and passenger cars.