Equipment
Equipment can be broken down into the following categories:
Ø Tanks – Installations require 2 tanks, one for new oil and one for WVO. Tanks can be made from stainless steel, carbon steel, fiberglass, or polypropylene.
Ø Pumps or Compressed gas – The means by which oil is moved within a restaurant. For the New oil, most systems use a pump which is remotely triggered by a user. One vendor uses compressed CO2. For WVO, systems can use the pump in the filter unit, a separate hot oil pump, or a vacuum pump.
Ø Hoses and pipes – New oil is usually moved thru a poly based hose or a nitrile lined hose. WVO is usually moved thru a Teflon lined hose or steel pipe. Sometimes hoses are not used to move oil between the fryers and the tanks and a wheeled “grease caddy” is used instead.
Ø Fryer Connections – Many newer fryers have “remote discharge” kits or adapters which enable hoses to connect directly to the fryer. Other times wands or nozzles are used which enable a user to disperse and collect oil.
Ø Filters – Many newer fryers have built in filter units. Other restaurants use a floor model filtration unit which contains a motor and pump. These units can be adapted to push WVO to a tank. Some restaurants find it more cost effective to forego filtering and use a less expensive oil and change more frequently.
Ø Monitoring Equipment – Refers to products and technology for monitoring oil usage, filter and change frequency. There is a lot of technology out there for monitoring tank levels that is being applied to restaurants. Another aspect is how the information is made available to customers thru reporting and/or web sites. Generally, the idea is to provide “exception reporting”, whereby management is made aware of abnormalities that may indicate problems. For example, oil usage spiked at a particular location.
There are a number of equipment manufactures that offer a wide range of features and benefits. The bulk oil industry is still wrestling with who pays for the equipment. It is common that the cost of the equipment is wrapped into a contract whereby a solution provider recoups the cost in distribution margins and/or equipment surcharges.
