My Bio Experiment

[Recovry4x4]

When Bjorn was here he showed me how to brew up is recipe of biodiesel. We did just that while he was here and set it in the garege to stew. It sat for almost 2 weeks when I finally got around to seperating it. I started to ladel it out but the lower the level got, the less I could dip so I went to the workbench and got an old 12V diaphram pump and pumped the rest out. Worked good. Dumped the product, around 7 gallons or so, into the tractor. It was low on fuel anyway, maybe 8 or 10 gallons in the tank. Fired it and ran it around for a while. The exhaust smell certainly changed quite quick. The next day she fired right up. Did notice that it loped quite a bit more at idle until warmed up. The tractor does that anyway, just more pronounced. Used it to take half of the pipeline truck to the shredder. Ran fine with no noticeable difference except the smell. I think it was a success. Now I'm starting to look for sources of the supplies needed to make my own. While working at Port Everglades (a huge fuel supply for south fl) I was contemplating where to look for methanol. We have Moroso Motorsports park nearby and figured I would check there. While I'm thinking of this I looked to my left and there it was. The Business is called Port Consolidated and they are a fuel distributer for the area. One of their box trucks had the Port Consolidated logo on the door and "Southern Racing Fuels" on the box. Right there on the truck it said racing gasoline, methanol and racing lubricants. These folks were very helpful after the hurricane and I can't see why I can't buy my methanol from them. Long story short, I'm on my way.
Thanks again Bjorn!
Kenny

 

[rizzo]

so what is the process for making bio deisel? how does it differ from the WVO?

 

[mangus580]

Rizzo, check out www.biodieselcommunity.org

 

[area52]

For those of you who don't feel like clicking the link above,
biodiesel manufacture uses waste vegatable oil (WVO), methanol and some sort of lye ( NAOH or KOH?) to change the veggie oil into a usable fuel.

If you search Google there are a million differnet sites, one site in particular, can't remember which one, has a member called Mark and she shows how to set up your on processing equipment, basically out of an old electric hot water heater and some piping.

since can get WVO for free and only use a small amount of methonal your cost for fuel goes from $2.65 a gallon( here in NM) to less than a dollar. Yahooo!!

 

[rizzo]

I was reading whst Bjorn was writing about his experiment with BD and now it seems he is running filtered WVO by adding a heater to his fuel tank. I wonder why the change. what he was doing seemed to be working. just another experiment? is this easier to prepare.

the thread I was reading was old. It also showed pics of Magnus' BD machine

 

[cranetruck]

Rizzo, I'm still running on biodiesel, but can mix up to 20% straight used cooking oil without a problem in any weather with the heated tank.
The primary purpose of the heated fuel tank is to be able to use bio fuels without mixing with kerosene or petro diesel in cold weather (below 35F).

In more general terms, the need for heating the fuel is because of its viscosity. Heating reduces the viscosity. Straight veggie oil must be heated 180-200 deg F to make it possible for the IP and the injectors to do their job.
Straight biodiesel can be used at temperatures above about 35-40 deg F without heating.
My tank is normally heated to about 100 deg F, which makes it possible to add some veggie oil to the biodiesel without upsetting the IP/injectors.

 

[bassplayer88]

recovry4x4 ... good job on the bio diesel .. Europe has been running B20 for years (20%) Biodiesel it basically the standard..
I'm currently building an cutup m1009 6.2L engine drive train to run on WVO or SVO . We're currently dealing with the area renders on bulk purchases.
As for the comments on WVO being free.. well its not free unless its given to you from the owner.. If you take it out of a waste oil collection bin, your stealing it . With new laws like Ca added WVO transport will require a license/bond even in a car . And other states are catching on .. Keep in mind that 96+% of waste veg oil is sold buy the render to cosmetic companies, and cosmetic companies have lobbiest...

 

[rizzo]

what do you have to do to make it run in the 6.2?

 

[ida34]

If you make the biodiesel you can run it with out modification based on the info on the biodiesel websites. Running straight waste vegi oil without going through the biodiesel process requires changing out some components and heating the fuel tank. There are kits available for a change over.

 

[bassplayer88]

rizzo,

you have to heat the svo or wvo to 165F so it will flow .. wvo/svo needs to be filtered at least 600 micron's .. see fattywagon.com or search the web lots of info . My 6.2l wvo generator project is being built as follows: heated injector lines, fluid heated fuel lines, fluid & 12v heated filter , and fluid heated wvo fuel tank ..
With svo/wvo you start and run on diesel till engine reaches operating temp . From my gauges , temp senders on both heads ,operating temp is 190F. In a vehicle your going to want a tank selector valve, palloc maks a 3 and 6 port valve , to switch from one to the other . prior to shutting down the engine you put it back to diesel so diesel is in the injector lines for starting . DIY'er reports that on 7.3's and 5.9's converted to run on WVO , they are able to shutdown and start on wvo upto 35+ minutes based on the area temp. Since my project is being designed to run 24x7x90 day intervals, I am building my own storage & settling tanks to to dewater and filter , prior to pumping it into my 1st stage tank . My design is a 250Gallon holding tank , thats heated to 100-125F as a final dewater settling tak on the m1009 , then is feed to a 20Gallon tank which heats it to 165-180F . It is feed to the filter which is also headed and keeps it at 165-180F to go to the low pressure pump . The fuel line from the wvo tank to the filter to the pump are all fluid heated to keep the wvo at 165-180F. Once its goes through the IP the injector inlines are heated to 300F , si the wvo being injected is at a temp ofr 275-300F for easy/clean burn .. ignition rating on svo/wvo is 375F .
I origanally started out designing for biodiesel , but with monthly burn rate of 2300-2400 gallons a month the biodiesel wasn't cost effective. Even with a methanol reclaim process, which you loss about 10-25%. For the DIY'r making 5-40 gallons for their own use it a good means for a cheaper fuel . But when you add your labor rate , lye cost, methanol cost and reclaim , the cost excedes our projected operation per hour cost ..

 

[gringeltaube]

biodiesel vs. SVO

Very well thought out and explained, bp88! Same opinion about biodiesel vs. SVO.
I’m working on a similar project, too. It’s for my 6.2 powered Dodge M886.

Gerhard

 

[wallew]

area52,
HERE is the website you were talking about:

http://www.biodieselcommunity.org/appleseedprocessor/