FAQ's

Seed Pressing

How do you get the oil from the rapeseed?

This is a “cold-crushing” process, which produces the highest quality oil possible. This is done in seed presses that use a rotating screw to squeeze the seeds through a cylinder that decreases in size as the seeds travel down its length. Before the seed passes into the presses we pass it over a series of vibrating sieves known as a seed dresser. This removes any broken seeds and straw residue in the seed that could otherwise block the presses. This is however the only thing we do to the seed before we press it; unlike larger mills we don’t use any chemicals as a pre-treatment.

How much oil do you get from the seed?

Typically we get 300 to 350 litres of oil from every tonne of clean seed we press. This is approximately 80% of all the available oil in the seed. We don’t heat our seed or use chemicals to extract this extra oil, because we don’t want to compromise the quality of our oil. We also use this oil to bind our briquettes and pellets together.

What do you do to treat the oil?

Once we have liberated the oil from the seed we filter it, that’s all! We remove any bits of seed that were carried over, right down to 1 micron. The oil is then ready for use as a high quality food product or fuel.

What is the solid co-product used for?

The solid by-product from the pressing process is known as rapemeal. Rapemeal is conventionally used as an animal feed; our rapemeal is highly nutritional and especially high in protein, so some is still sold straight to farms for this use. The majority of our rapemeal however is used to produce our unique solid fuel alternative, Green Dragon Briquettes.

What can the oil be used for?

Our high quality, cold pressed rapeseed oil has two main uses; as a food product and as an alternative to diesel.

Oil for Fuel

What type of engines can run on Pure Plant Oil (PPO)?

Pure Plant Oil can be used as a direct replacement for mineral diesel in converted diesel engines. Bio-ethanol is an environmentally friendly alternative to petrol.

What’s the difference between Pure Plant Oil and biodiesel?

Pure Plant Oil (PPO) is pure vegetable oil that has not been changed in any way, whereas biodiesel is produced from vegetable oil that is then reacted with methanol to form a compound chemically very similar to mineral diesel. PPO has a smaller carbon footprint than biodiesel because it doesn’t have to be reacted, whereas biodiesel can be used in most diesel engines without a conversion, unlike vegetable oil.

What’s involved in an engine conversion?

Engine conversions required to run an engine on pure plant oil depend on the make and model of the vehicle. A conversion will usually involve adding some form of oil heater to stop the oil plugging the filters in cold weather, adding an extra oil filter, replacing the glow plugs with stronger equivalents and potentially a slight modification to the computer management system. All of these changes can be made on a wide array of vehicle makes and models, both private and commercial. The Phoenix Group work in partnership with Europe’s leading engine conversion company Elsbett to organise conversions of the highest quality. For more information about converting your engine please call us on 01623 871755. For further information about our partner Elsbett, please visit www.elsbett.com

What’s the difference between a single and double tank conversion?

It’s important that the oil is hot when it reaches the engine – especially in cold weather - to ensure that it doesn’t thicken or crystalise. The solutions are very simple: in a single tank system a small heat exchanger is fitted in the oil feed line. In a double tank system, your vehicle has a small mineral diesel tank and a normal size vegetable oil tank. This idea is to start your engine on the mineral diesel until it is warmed up and then swap it over to vegetable oil, using the heat of the engine itself to pre-heat the oil. The switch-over can either be performed automatically by a thermostatic switch or manually by the driver. Both systems can be successfully used and the choice of system will depend on the make of vehicle. . For more information please contact us on 01623 871755 or visit the Conversion Technology pages at www.elsbett.com

How will a conversion affect my warrantee?

Converting an engine to run on SVO will void the warrantee offered by the manufacturer on the engine. This is obviously only a concern on new/nearly new vehicles. Elsbett do offer engine warrantees on a selected number of vehicles, assuming they are new (with only delivery miles). For more information, please visit www.elsbett.com

How much would a conversion cost?

Converting your car to bio-diesel is a cost-effective way of helping the environment.

Specific costs vary depending upon your vehicle make and model.

Phoenix Fuels has extensively researched conversion technology and recommend the use of Elsbett conversion kits - prices are featured on their website www.elsbett.com

Can I fit the conversion myself?

Conversion kits can be fitted by either a mechanic or by yourself.

Can I buy PPO straight from you?

Yes, you can buy oil from us in any quantity to suit your requirements; from as little as a 1 litre bottle to a 30,000 litre tanker, or anywhere in between. Please contact us on 01623 871755 and we’ll be happy to give you a quote.

Can I store PPO at home?

PPO is exactly the same as the vegetable oil you would use in the kitchen and therefore suitable for home storage. We would recommend a 1000 litre storage tank known as an IBC, which is 1m cubed. It can be placed out of the way in the back of your garage and is then ready for you to fill up your car before you leave.

Is PPO dangerous or toxic?

PPO is completely safe and not at all toxic. It will not catch fire if you put a match to it and it doesn’t give off any vapours. However, SVO is not designed for internal consumption and we advise keeping it safely contained, away from children and animals.

Are there any tax benefits to using PPO?

Fortunately yes! Individuals are able to buy up 2500 Litres per year of straight vegetable oil, direct from the producer, completely duty free. This equates to 32.5 pence per litre, up to a maximum saving of £812.50 annually. 2500 litre equals will last around 25000 miles in a mid range diesel car, which is an entire years driving for most people.

How much does Pure Plant Oil cost?

The price of PPO varies and is dependant on several factors, not least the cost of rapeseed. If you are interested in a quotation please contact us on 01623 871755 with your details and how much you are looking for and we’ll be happy to give you a quote.

Oil for Food

Can the oil be used for food?

Yes, our oil is of food quality. It can be used for anything from salad dressings to deep frying, basically for anything you might use vegetable oils or olive oils for.

Does it have a taste or smell?

The smell and taste of our food-grade rapeseed oil is kept to an absolute minimum through careful selection of the seed varieties that we use and careful handling of the seed before we press it.

How healthy is it compared to other oils, such as vegetable oil and olive oil?

Cold pressed, extra virgin rapeseed oil is probably the healthiest and most versatile cooking oil you can use. It contains just 6% saturated fat (the bad ones), much lower than sunflower oils that contain 10% and olive oils that contain as much as 14%. On the other hand rapeseed oil contains as much as 60% mono-unsaturated fat and 30% poly-unsaturated fat, as well as the optimum 2:1 ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 and plenty of Vitamin E. All of these components, especially the mono-unsaturated fats, are known to actively help lower cholesterol.

Can I buy it direct from you?

Yes, you can buy oil directly from us. We’re happy to sell oil in any quantity to suit your requirements; from as little as a 1 litre bottle to a 30,000 litre tanker, or anywhere in between. Please us on 01623 871 755 with you needs and we’ll be happy to give you a quote.

The Environment

How does Pure Plant Oil (PPO) compare to mineral diesel in terms of CO2 emissions?

PPO produces much less CO2 emissions than mineral diesel, in fact it produces much less CO2 than many other alternative fuels. A typical 2.0 litre family diesel car running on mineral diesel would produce around 150 g CO2/km, whilst the same car running on SVO would produce less than 70 g CO2/km!

Even compared to the hybrid Toyota Prius, which produces 104 g CO3/km, the emissions are extremely low. The main reason for this is that the CO2 due to production of the fuels is at a bare minimum, apart from crushing it and filtering it, the oil undergoes no further processing.

By planting rapeseed, are you preventing food crops from being planted?

No. We only use rapeseed oil that has been grown as a break crop in between growing food crops. Well managed farms will grow a different crop on their fields each season to allow the ground to recover, as different crops will take different nutrients from the soil. Growing vegetables is quite intensive on the soil, so every two or three years a ‘break’ crop is planted that is less demanding; this is usually rapeseed or cereals. Therefore the rapeseed that we use was always destined to be grown and has not competed with food crops for land.