In the first test, no oil was extracted from the arbor press. Not enough pressure had been used to extract the oil out of the seeds. Even crushing the seeds and using a 22 kg pipe to add more leverage could not extract enough oil from the seeds. I used the information from my research to determine the oil percentages of the oils. Canola and Flax have an oil percentage of about 42%, Safflower has an oil percentage of about 35%. Sunflower oil has an oil percentage of 44%. What I had hypothesized was correct. The oil percentages of the seeds were all very close. Since no oil was extracted, I could not use the needed oil in the second or third test. I had to use vegetable oil bought from the store. This means that the oils could have additives that could skew some of the results.

In the second test, Sunflower oil unexpectedly output the most energy changing the temperature of the water by 6.2 degrees C. Canola oil followed outputting the second most amount of energy changing the temperature of the water by 6 degrees C. Safflower output the third most changing the temperature by 5.8 degrees C. Flax came in last changing the temperature of the water by 5.5 degrees C. What I had hypothesized was correct. The different oil had output about the same amount of energy.

In the first part of my third test, I found that the viscosity of water and commercial diesel is much less viscous than the four oils. Diesel took a little over a minute to drain through and water took a little less than a minute. The four different oils had all taken longer than about three minutes. Canola oil was the most viscous taking about four and a half minutes to drain. Sunflower oil took about four minutes, Safflower oil taking three and a half minutes and Linseed oil (flax) taking about three minutes. What I had hypothesized was correct. The different oils all took at least three times longer than diesel did to drain.

In the second part of my third test, I found that Canola oil; the winning oil must be heated to a temperature of at least 100°C to reach the viscosity of Diesel. My hypothesis was that at one temperature, the canola oil will have the same viscosity as diesel and I was correct. The results of this test show that Canola oil must be heated to at least 100°C to attain the same viscosity as diesel. What I had hypothesized was correct. 100°C was the temperature that Canola must be heated to, to attain the same viscosity as diesel. If the Canola oil was heated to a higher point, it would either boil or burn.

Analysis of Economics on a Small Saskatchewan Farm

The tests that I conducted were merely background tests. Tests that would help me gain information about the different crops and their characteristics. From the results from the first two tests, Canola oil was determined to be the best oil in overall yield, performance and economics. In the third test, 100° C was determined to be the temperature in which Canola oil attains the same viscosity as commercial diesel. With the background tests completed, the economical portion of my work needed to be done. An interview with a Saskatchewan farmer would determine if it is economical to create fuel from his crop or not. I first had to determine the amount of oil that could be gathered from one bushel of Canola which is 10.63 L per bushel. Then I had to incorporate that data with the data from the farmer. 7242.1 Litres of diesel was used to run the entire farm such that I had to find the amount of bushels of Canola that would be needed to produce that amount of fuel to run the farm. 681.29 bushels was calculated to be the amount of Canola needed to produce enough fuel to run this farm. For this particular farm, 1900 bushels of canola was harvested from 95 acres. This means that only 36% of the canola harvest would be needed for fuel. If the farmer sold the bushels of canola at $9.25 per bushel instead of converting it, he would get $6301.03.

Facts about the farm surveyed

Location: Close to Lloydminster

Farm size: 524 Acres

Number of acres of Canola grown: 95 Acres

Price of Canola sold at: $9.25

Canola yield: 1900 bushels

Input cost for Canola: $5101

Litres of Diesel used for whole farm: 7242.1 L

Cost of Fuel: $5675.99

Canola conversion factors

10.63 L of Canola oil can be extracted from 1 bushel of Canola

Calculation of Canola oil to be used

Required number of bushels of Canola is 7242.1 L / 10.63 L/bushel = 681.29 bushels

The percentage of the canola crop needed to fuel the entire farm is equal to 681.29 bushels / 1900 bushels = 0.36 = 36% of the whole canola crop

The percentage of the whole farm = 0.36 x 95/524 = 0.065 = 6.5% of the whole farm is needed to run the farm implements

If the farmer sold the 681.29 bushels of canola instead of converting it into fuel, he would get $9.25 x 681.29 = $6301.93

The original fuel cost was $5675.99 so this shows that it is more economical to sell his crop instead of making canola oil. But if the farmer wanted to almost totally eliminate the dependence on fossil fuels, he could use canola oil as his main fuel. In comparison, the difference between the canola price and diesel cost is $6301.93 - $5675.99 = $625.94. This is a fairly low figure but there are also some startup equipment costs and time that the farmer would spend producing the SVO. There is also the question of how to store the fuel for next year's farming and if the oil can be stored over the winter.