Green-Trust Heat & Power System
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It's Here!
Green-Trust's combined heat & power system (VeggieGen) is under construction. The core of the system is a Detroit Diesel 2-71 12.5kw water cooled diesel generator provided by Affordable Power. This is fueled with a homemade veggie oil conversion system designed by Green Trust. The cooling system will pre-heat our domestic hot water (propane primary) with a heat exchanger, and the DHW system will keep the engine warm on cold nights for easy restarts.
Photo's of the VeggieGen, oil processing, and equipment can be found in our photo album.
This engine is a 2 cylinder, 142 cu. in. (71 x 2), 2-cycle, 40,000 hours between rebuild, 100% duty cycle (24x7x365) power plant. Parts are interchangeable with all the -71 series DD engines. See How Stuff Works for explanation of how a 2 stroke diesel works.
When you talk to Technical Services at Affordable Power (1-888-454-1193 x 4), make sure you mention you saw them at Green-Trust.
Update: Generator arrived Saturday, Sept. 18th
--Steve Spence 16:16, 18 Sep 2004 (EDT)
It's Running!
Tonight we went live on the VeggieGen. We are running on diesel until the veggie oil conversion is finished, but we have power, and lots of it! Can you identify the power connector on this unit?
--Steve Spence 20:38, 22 Sep 2004 (EDT)
The VeggieGen is running Veggie! Sorta ....
Tonight we fired up on 50/50 Kerosene and Waste Vegetable Oil. The Detroit Diesel is loving the mix and is purring like a kitten! Smells sweet. The details of our oil filtration system are coming shortly. Tomorrow the heat exchanger gets installed in the Veggie tank. We also hope to get the muffler installed .....
--Steve Spence 20:18, 24 Sep 2004 (EDT)
Now on V100!
Two days now running V100 (100% filtered used waste vegetable oil (WVO)) filtered with our VeggieFiltration system. Startup and shutdown is performed with diesel, to clean the system out, so no wvo clogs the filters or injectors. The weather has been warm enough that the vegoil is unheated. This engine handles it just fine.
--Steve Spence 13:17, 27 Sep 2004 (EDT)
Shelter coming soon!
Stay tuned for the Geodesic Quonset Greenhouse that will be constructed soon to house the VeggieGen. The ambient heat from the Gen will be used to heat the greenhouse, dry our firewood, and keep the included shop warm as well.
--Steve Spence 15:44, 29 Sep 2004 (EDT)
Alternator hookups for starter battery charging
Check here how to hookup the Alternator
--Steve Spence 16:29, 1 Oct 2004 (EDT)
Automatic Transfer Switch
Today we received our Automatic Transfer Switch for the VeggieGen from Back Woods Solar. This takes our generator input and our inverter input, and outputs to our AC Breaker Panel. Normally, the Battery Bank/Inverter are connected to the AC Breaker Panel. When the VeggieGen is started, a timer counts to 60 seconds, then switches from Inverter to Generator power. When the generator is turned off, the switch automatically reconnects the inverter. No more manual switching.
--Steve Spence 21:30, 4 Oct 2004 (EDT)
4000 plus hours later
The VeggieGen is still going strong. We have had to replace the water pump, the alternator, and rebuilt the starter, but the engine has been running fine. We no longer use any diesel except in sub zero (F) temps, as the generator is enclosed and we have modified the fuel system so that it starts just fine on cold oil. You can see the fuel system diagrams in The January issue of ESSN Magazine, and more pics of the generator at our Photo Album.
--Steve Spence 09:48, 29 Jan 2006 (EST)
Order your own!
More pics can be found in our Photo Album and articles can be found in various issues of ESSN.
Give us a call, and you too can have clean, free electricity.
Green-Trust
93 Sheldon Rd.
Winthrop, NY 13697
(315) 328-5726
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