BRANDON — When Kevin Therres releases the brake, his jet engine funny car rockets down the quarter-mile track in six seconds at more than 250 m.p.h.
As the smoke clears, the question might be asked, “fries with that?”
That’s because the same oil used in deep fry vats is used in Therres’ 7,500 horsepower jet car. It is fueled by 100 percent canola based biodiesel. The Prairie Gold car is the only B100 drag car in the world.
“We run the exact same canola biodiesel you could put into any diesel car or truck or farm implement,” said Therres, about his food-odoured funny car.
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“If I can use it as 100 percent biofuel to produce 7,500 horsepower in a jet turbine, you can run it in your Cummins,” he said about his choice of fuel for the promotional vehicle.
Therres, a heavy equipment mechanic by trade, got the idea for a canola powered jet car while working on a customer’s combine.
“The fellow said he was going to start growing his own diesel fuel. That’s what got it all started.”
Therres eventually talked to researchers at Milligan Bio-Tech. Once the biofuel company came on board as a sponsor, it took Therres about 18 months to work out the right calibrations to make canola biodiesel perform well in a jet engine.
“We had a couple engine failures before we got it right. Too much fuel gives the turbine a hot spot.
“It actually burns out the vanes. They go shooting out the back. Even in bright sunlight, they glow a bright cherry red. They’re hot.”
At a cost of $100,000 for each rebuilt engine, it was probably the most expensive part of the project.
The J60 Pratt and Whitney engines were originally installed in Sabreliner, Hawkeye and Buckeye jets.
With brand new J60 turbines costing $2.5 million, Therres said he’s content to stay with used engines from older planes.
Tuning the J60 to run on canola oil was the challenge. The duplex injection nozzle has an adjustable spray pattern, which proved to be a big advantage over the simplex nozzles, which have only one orifice.
“We ended up running 200 pounds more pressure than you’d run with conventional jet fuel. And we eliminated as many elbows and turns and other impediments as possible in the fuel lines.
“The system needs a uniform, unobstructed flow to get all that fuel to the engine. The fuel lines themselves are 2.5 inches ID. That’s a lot bigger than the original lines, but we need them that big because we burn 23 gallons of fuel every run.”
Therres explained that bio diesel has a higher flash point and the cetane rating is higher than petroleum diesel.
However, the BTUs are slightly lower so slightly more biodiesel is required to produce the same h.p. as petroleum diesel.
He said because it is canola oil, if there is a spill there’s no hazard as there would be with regular jet fuel. Nature’s micro-organisms eat any spilled biodiesel.
“Virgin Airlines makes a big deal about burning 30 percent biodiesel in their jet aircraft,” said Therres.
“Well, we’re burning 100 percent biodiesel in our jet engines, and they were originally aircraft engines. Without a problem. Maybe it’s time we look at B100 for aircraft.
“So far, nobody else has been able to duplicate the technology we developed for these engines. I’m sure it will happen, but it hasn’t happened yet.”
Therres said the Corvette-bodied car cost about $250,000 to build. He and his wife, Gwen, did the engineering and fabricating themselves.
“It’s our own design. We built it all from scratch. Together, I think we’ve built more than 70 drag cars over the years.”
Therres said there are about 50 jet funny cars in North America and 60 jet rail dragsters.
Half his appearances are for exhibition runs or trade shows. The other half are actual drag races where he competes against other jet cars.
“It’s kind of a David and Goliath thing. Other competitors see we’re running on 100 percent canolabased fuel and they don’t take us too seriously. Then we beat them and they take us seriously. In head to head drag races, we’re right now batting about 500.”
Demand for Prairie Gold at exhibitions and race events has grown so rapidly that Therres has built a second jet funny car, this time with a Mustang body. The second car is driven by Ross Crampton of Moose Jaw.
“We’ve started a new Corvette bodied car. It’s running a General Electric jet turbine, same as our Canadian Air Force flies,” said Therres.
“It’ll be about 20 m.p.h. faster than the current cars.”
He said the environmental aspect of the project motivates him and it shows that people can continue living normal lives without negative environmental consequences.
“Biodiesel reduces emissions of sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide particle matters, which helps reduce air pollutants found in regular diesel fuel exhaust.”
From a mechanic’s point of view, it’s sound as well.
“Biodiesel will make your diesel engine last 20 to 25 percent longer because it does a better job of lubricating the pump, injectors and top end of the engine,” Therres said.
“This is a way for us to leave a smaller carbon footprint. Maybe we’ll all be using it soon.”
Therres plans to appear next with his Corvette bodied car on Aug. 20-21 at Grande Prairie, Alta. For information call Jennifer Metituk at 780-933-9091, or visit www.prairielandmotorsports.com.
