MPB's biodiesel tractors use filtration technology

Philip and Michael Bates of MPB Bioproducts are using filtration technology from Parker to run one of the tractors on their farm using 100 per cent biodiesel produced by their own crop.

Parker's latest filtration technology is enabling the biofuel to be used in the tractor's conventional diesel engine.

The brothers have been investigating the potential for green technology on their farm in Willingham by Stow near Gainsborough for some time.

After setting up a compost collection scheme for residents in the area and using the green waste on the farm, they decided to produce their own biofuel from oilseed rape grown using the compost.

They looked at a number of on-farm biodiesel plants, although none seemed to be at the standard that they were looking for.

However, at the annual Biofuels Expo in Newark, they discovered a Lincolnshire company that specialised in biodiesel plants and, confident that they had found the right solution, the brothers installed a GBP200,000 plant on the farm.

They are now running one of the farm's tractors on the plant's biodiesel to prove that it is of a high enough quality to be used as a fuel in its own right, rather than as a five per cent additive to conventional diesel.

Essential to making this possible was the ability to filter the fuel effectively so that the biodiesel would work with the conventional diesel engine.

The tractor being used to display the performance of the homemade fuel was supplied to Philip and Michael Bates with a Racor biofuel conversion kit installed on the filtration system.

This would allow the vehicle's engine to run effectively and reliably on the biofuel.

At the Biofuels Expo, Parker Racor specialists also advised the brothers on the particle counting technology available to help them monitor the water content of their fuel after the production process.

While the production and use of biodiesel introduces many challenges, it also provides a number of benefits, in addition to its environmental credentials, including lower taxation and the ability to use or sell the spent rapeseed as cattle feed.

With effective filtration, the fuel can be used in exactly the same way as mineral diesel and is capable of maintaining previous performance levels.

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