Water Heater fueled by Fryer Oil

Safe, Clean, Reliable

In 2006 an owner of a Culver's Restaurant in Wisconsin asked INOV8 to provide him with a boiler capable of burning waste fryer oil to offset their natural gas water heater costs.  INOV8 assembled a small boiler package modeled off of our waste motor oil-based boiler.  INOV8 learned a lot from that installation that has since been applied to heaters burning fryer oil. We learned that fryer oil is difficult to combust compared to motor oil - for three main reason:

  1. it has a very high flash point (500 to 600 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to 200 to 300 degrees for waste motor oil, 
  2. it has a lot of water and oxygen in it from the frying process that causes combustion problems,
  3. it has a deleterious effect on soft materials in the burner.

Our technical staff worked to address these issues and applied devices and technology to improve the overall reliability and combustion success of waste vegetable oil.  That was accomplished by protecting or enhancing the combustion zone temperature, preheating the oil to a higher level than motor oil, and replacing soft material with more durable Viton or Teflon.  We've also monitored all installations using bio-fuels to record their experiences and shared that information and incorporated new installation guidelines for subsequent users.

The results are amazing! Generators of fryer oil (even if it contains animal fats) can offset hot water and heating costs by using their oil instead of new fuel or electricity. These systems are sophisticated with the highest levels of safety and durability - unlike anything else on the market or made in the garage.  INOV8 WVO burning furnaces and boilers and water heaters have very low maintenance because the oil has little residual ash and they achieve complete combustion with no gummy mess.  The smoke is clear, the CO2 emissions are less, there is no SO or NOx emissions, combustion efficiency and other combustion results are similar to fuel oil.  All of these results were validated during the certification process in 2010 and is available upon request.

INOV8 waste fryer oil heaters can be sized and configured to meet any need. Two burners allow the option of the lowest priced fuel, a ready back-up to either gas or fuel oil, and the ability to burn fryer oil, bio-diesel up to B100, some glycerin, and other approved fuels.  

Our Culver's customer is still using that boiler setup seven years later and we've sold every possible configuration of boiler, furnace and water heater since then.  The media attention has waned but there is still considerable financial, environmental and energy benefits to be appreciated.  We've included many links below for additional information.  

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