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HomeMy WebLinkAboutGoderich Signal Star, 2017-01-18, Page 3Wednesday, January 18, 2017 • Signal Star 3 St. Anne's student reconfigures tractor for biofuels Justine Alkema Postmedia Evan Krebs's interest in alternative fuels motivated him to take on a unique pro- ject for his Ford 3000 tractor. The Grade 12 student and Hensall resident, whose family farms cash crops as a secondary income, recently reconfigured his tractor to run on biofuels including soybean and canola oil. Krebs is working on the project as a part of the energy specialist high skills major he is a part of at St. Anne's and as a 4H project. The idea was something Krebs heard of and pursued outsof interest. "It was just something I came across," he said. "Dif- ferent people have done it before; a lot of people have done it with cars running it off used vegetable oil from fast food restaurants:' Krebs got his oil from a company in Listowel called Energrow Inc. Energrow sells oil seed presses to farmers which farmers can use to press their own protein meal. They can then sell the leftover oil from that process back to Energrow, where the oil is resold. "So this is one of the applica- tions you can do with that lefto- ver oil," said Krebs. The reason he got oil from Energrow as opposed to say, the grocery store, was due to the specific fil- tration process of the oiL As for reconfiguring the tractor itself, that part was relatively simple for Krebs. "The only thing that -was reconfigured was the sec- ondary fueling route," he said. Krebs attached a second tank onto the front of the trac- tor for the oil. From that tank, the oil goes through a heated fuel filter to take out any for- eign material and a plated heat exchanger. It then meets back up with the diesel fuel path at a three-way valve and goes through the normal fuel injector of the tractor. The News Record caught up with Krebs the day he was testing the tractor to see what fuel was the most effec- tive out of four options - 100 per cent canola oil, a soy- bean oil and diesel mix, a 50/50 soybean and canola mix and straight diesel. The agriculture technology class assisted him that day using a special machine to test horsepower and torque called a dynamometer. Krebs commented on the results saying, "compared to straight diesel, with the 100 per cent canola oil we saw a 19 per cent decrease in horse- power and a 40 per cent decrease in torque. With the half soybean half canola mix- ture, we saw 0.37 per cent decrease in horsepower, but torque went down 22 per cent." They had an issue with the soybean and diesel mix, and were unable to test its capabilities. Krebs called the results "promising." He said they knew the results would be slightly lower for the biofuels compared to regular diesel. And while he was hoping 100 per cent canola wouldn't decrease quite that much, the half soybean half canola oil was quite effective as there was hardly any decrease in horsepower and a workable decrease in torque. Krebs said while wide- spread application is still hypothetical at this point, the fuels are applicable, and for some people's situations, they could implement the biofuels tomorrow. He noted that he, has heard of some farmers who use biofuels for tractors, but it is uncommon. Krebs gave credit to his energy specialist high skills major at St. Anne's for the opportunities he's been able to have with this project and others. "My experience with SHSM (Specialist High Skills Majors) program has been excellent," he said. "I've had so many training opportuni- ties in [things such as] solar panels, working at heights and renewable energy training." He mentioned that, this project included, he has been able to tag along with several agriculture technol- ogy classes, a different SHSM program than his own. He said it's "really neat, espe- cially for our area seeing as we're so agriculturally Huron county leads region with most number of RIDE checks The 2016 Annual Festive R.I.D.E (Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere) Cam- paign has come to a close and the Huron County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Detachment led the region with highest number of RIDE checks during the month and a half long campaign. Huron County OPP offic- ers conducted a total of 264 checkpoints during the cam- paign that commenced on Nov 21, 2016, and came to a close on Jan. 7, 2017. The Huron County OPP results show a total of five warn - range suspensions were handed out during the cam- paign and another eight drivers were charged with Over 80/Impaired/Refusal offences. The increased number of checkpoints and high level of police visibility during the annual campaign certainly played a part in keeping Huron County roadways safe from drunk and dru ;ed drivers; Huron County OPP would like to remind drivers that even though the festive cam- paign has come to a close, drivers can expect to see reg- ular R.I.D.E checkpoints throughout Huron County - Any time of the day, any day of the week. The public is also reminded that impaired driving is a crime and if you suspect someone is driving or about to drive impaired, please call 9-1-1 to report impaired drivers to police. Saving lives on our roads is a collaborative effort that involves everyone. based." He talked about vari- ous trips the agriculture technology class has done and how they partner with local farmers. "It really gives those in the agriculture industry a head start with E O L CTSU) D) cn O Justine Memo/Clinton News Record Evan Krebs and several students in the agriculture technology class at St. Anne's test the horsepower and torque of various fuels in Krebs's tractor on Jan. 13. Those fuels include canola and soybean oil. new technologies." The St. Anne's program was the sole agriculture - related pilot project when Ontario's Education Ministry rolled out the Specialist High Skills Major concept in 2006. Others have since been implemented. As for Krebs' own future, he said he is interested in engi- neering, "so maybe alternative fuels are something I can pur- sue in the future:' Recycle Your Used & Unwanted Electronics Here For FREE! We accept TV's, computers, printers, telephones, home theatre, audio/visual devices and much more. We also accept old batteries and scrap metal for recycling. 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