Biodiesel in the beginning

[cranetruck]

Here is a shot of one typical batch of my home made biodiesel...18 hrs into the mission.

Approx 7 gallons of used cooking oil
Approx 1-1/2 gallons of methanol
Approx 5 ounces of lye

The glycerin has separated out and is visible as a layer on the bottom and the biodiesel is ready to be filtered and dumped into the fuel tank. I usually wait 3 to 4 days to allow as much as possible of the glycerin to separate out.

 

[wallew]

Bjorn,
Once again, your 'pictures' speak a thousand words. And WOW, I'm impressed! It just goes to show you can do this on a small, medium or large scale and it WILL have an impact on the amount of oil necessary to run our transportation system in this country.

Can you imagine if fifty percent of this nation purchased diesel vehicles and used biodiesel from vegetable oil??

It would ROCK the oil companys back on their heals when they lost fifty percent of their revenues!

Thx for giving us the inside skinny on biodiesel. When I grow up I want to be JUST LIKE YOU!

jim

PS - Of course, that ASSUMES I will grow up ONE DAY! LOL!!

 

[M35A2]

Bjorn,
Once again, your 'pictures' speak a thousand words. And WOW, I'm impressed! It just goes to show you can do this on a small, medium or large scale and it WILL have an impact on the amount of oil necessary to run our transportation system in this country.

Can you imagine if fifty percent of this nation purchased diesel vehicles and used biodiesel from vegetable oil??

It would ROCK the oil companys back on their heals when they lost fifty percent of their revenues!

Thx for giving us the inside skinny on biodiesel. When I grow up I want to be JUST LIKE YOU!

jim

PS - Of course, that ASSUMES I will grow up ONE DAY! LOL!!

The problem you then have Wallew, is that your government will make it illegal, and make you register to use it. Then charge you 48.1 pence per litre tax for the privilege, like ours does.

 

[rmgill]

I'd be surprised if they do. There are federal regs already allowing one to make something like 500 gallon of the stuff a year untaxed.

 

[cranetruck]

Here is a quote from the forum on greasecar.com:

Mar 30, 2006 10:15

OK, I finally got an answer from the National Biodiesel boards' Legal Dept. Scott called me to let me know there is an
exemption for the road tax for"Blended Biodiesel" of 400 gallons a quarter for personal use. He said by law if you use
B-100 you are subject to the 24 cent Federal road tax BUT
if you personally use B-99 the 1,600 gallon a year exemption
applies. How this relates to WVO , I am not sure but I intend
to "blend my WVO as well as my B-100". This is after 3 weeks of trying to find out the legalities of using home brewed Bio-diesel and WVO the best I can come up with. I get the feeling
we are not high on the "hit list" but at least I know what was
stated and I can live with that.

So, accordingly, the key is to use at least 1% regular diesel in the blend.

 

[wallew]

The problem you then have Wallew, is that your government will make it illegal, and make you register to use it. Then charge you 48.1 pence per litre tax for the privilege, like ours does.

Isn't that what caused the Boston Tea Party? Something about taxes for the privilege to burn WVO? Ok, maybe it was to burn tea in your MV?

I can't remember all the details, but I KNOW it had something to do with taxes and MV's ...

jim

 

[rmgill]

B 99 is 1% Diesel fuel. 1600 gallons a year? Wow. That's pretty good. So for a 50 gallon fill up, I add 1/2 a gallon of road Diesel and I'm legal. How are they going to ever prove that.

 

[Polverone]

I would like to see Bjorn's extensive biothread, from over a year ago, that started this topic moved over to his section as it is buried in the backpages.
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/index....&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=biodiesel

 

[Wyattearp]

hi guys im doing some catching up.... forgive me once again for being absent here and in mind LOL

 

[Recovry4x4]

James, good to see you checking in every so often.

 

[jwaller]

I have been trying to find a place to give me their old cooking oil and so far no luck. it seems that around here there is a company that buys back all the old cooking oil and nobody will just give it away. and I was getting worked up to try this out.

 

[rizzo]

Here is a shot of one typical batch of my home made biodiesel...18 hrs into the mission.

Approx 7 gallons of used cooking oil
Approx 1-1/2 gallons of methanol
Approx 5 ounces of lye

The glycerin has separated out and is visible as a layer on the bottom and the biodiesel is ready to be filtered and dumped into the fuel tank. I usually wait 3 to 4 days to allow as much as possible of the glycerin to separate out.

CT is this still your formula?

 

[cranetruck]

RE: Re: Biodiesel in the beginning

Yes, still works well.
The methanol and lye are mixed in a 2-gallon glass jar. It takes about 20 minutes for the lye to dissolve into the methanol. It gets warm (about 90°F) and gives off fumes. I use a wooden spoon and stir it every so often while doing other things. It's done outdoors on a table.
The used cooking oil is heated to about 130°F and poured into the plastic tub in the picture.

Next I dump the methanol lye solution (methoxide) into the oil.
It's stirred as much as possible for about 1/2 hour or more after which I let it sit covered for several days.
The biodiesel is the amber liquid on top, which is filtered and poured into storage jugs, cubies, or dumped into the fuel tank for immediate use. I don't "wash" the biodiesel.
To reduce the amount of processing, I use a large percentage of filtered used cooking oil along with the biodiesel in the fuel tank. Up to 80% WVO during my last trip. Heating the tank makes it possible.

 

[sermis]

RE: Re: Biodiesel in the beginning

I have a source for oil and plan on starting after the holidays. I guess it will smell like fried chicken.

 

[cranetruck]

RE: Re: Biodiesel in the beginning

At one time at Aberdeen in 2005, a couple of guys nearby wondered what we were cooking before they realized that it was the deuce burning biodiesel/veggie oil.

 

[rizzo]

RE: Re: Biodiesel in the beginning

haha funny,

I plan on getting started soon.

 

[Recovry4x4]

RE: Re: Biodiesel in the beginning

Funny story. I met up with the yellow serial of the East Coast Convoy in 2005. We met Wed night in Doswell VA. Thursday morning the march was set up and we departed for the next rendezvous point in MD. As we were pulling out of the lot of the hotel I got the distinct smell of a Waffle House. I looked all over and couldn't find one. We hit the interstate and went up a bit. When we exited and started slowing down I could smell another Waffle House but again couldn't find it. Now I'm thinking I'm crazy. It wasn't until the next stop that I figured out that it was Cranetruck's exhaust I was smelling while at slow speeds. I love that smell.

 

[rizzo]

RE: Re: Biodiesel in the beginning

lol awesome. I love waffle house. We don't have any up here.

 

[cranetruck]

Sticker made by Polverone (Gary).

 

[houdel]

Bjorn - Here are a few crazy ideas to bounce off you. There is a neat thread in the alt fuels section tittled "Crazy idea for filtering used oil", http://www.steelsoldiers.com/index....topic&t=7397&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0.

As I understand the Biodiesel process, two significant problems are adequately filtering the WVO to get a clean oil to start the process, and at the end of the process getting as much as the glycerol as possible out of the finished Biodiesel to assure a quality fuel.

Towards the end of the second page of the "Crazy idea for filtering used oil" thread is a discussion of the Dieselcraft model OC-20 oil centrifuge, which filters .93 GPM/55GPH for $289 delivered ($239 w/o mounting bracket). The manufacturer claims this centrifuge will remove particles down to 0.1 micron, probably at the higher operating RPMs.

Admittedly, this centrifuge requires some additional hardware to make it work - a 40-90 PSI pump (the user mentioned in one of the links used an old power steering pump), a heating element and a bit of plumbing supplies. I would estimate a complete working system could be put together for under $400 with a bit of scrounging for a few used parts.

Thought #1 - This would make a great system for prefiltering WVO. Cleaning the WVO down to 1 micron or less should greatly improve the Biodiesel conversion process. This should also work quite well for cleaning WEO and WATF.

Thought #2 - With a little extra plumbing, you could use this system to post centrifuge the Biodiesel AFTER the the bulk of the glycerol has settled out by gravity. Removing much if not all of the suspended glycerol after settling should greatly improve the quality of the finished Biodiesel.

Really Crazy Idea #3 - After reading many articles on many websites, glycerin fueled heaters are fairly common in many "less developed" countries. A glycerin based air-oil heat exchanger would greatly reduce the cost of producing Biodiesel by reducing the need for supplemental electric/propane heat sources, as well as reduce the byproduct load to dispose of. After all, just how many showers can you take?

My 2 cents. I realize $400 or so is a lot of capitalization, based on your current minimal expense process. Your thoughts?