Waaaaaayyyy OT...biodiesel

Re: Waaaaaayyyy OT...biodiesel

JamieDonaldson

>I just sold my F350 Powerstroke, but did you know that diesel fuel is now being made from peanut butter? It does have one limitation- it sticks to the top of the tank!!!!

Re: Waaaaaayyyy OT...biodiesel

Dale Stansbery

>Why don't you figure a way to expand your soap market, maybe to specialty stores outside your home area, or Ebay. I think glycerin is also used for preserving flowers, but I'm not sure they're marketable.

Are there any laws you have to skirt to run this little enterprise? :-)

The family story goes that my dad used to distill his own gasoline from crude oil when he was a very young man. And a couple other great great uncles distilled other spirits, but no one made diesel. Can you enlighten us a little on the process. Somehow I figured that was a little beyond home tinkering.

Unbelieveably simple...

BubbaBob

>...but first the legalities of it...

As long as it is for personal use and sold only as off-road fuel, while I technically should pay road use taxes (7 cents/gal in Georgia) on the amount I burn in my truck, the state ignores me. If I was making and selling a few hundred gallons a week, which would be easy, I'd have to deal with the tax folks.

As to how to make biodiesel, it is simple.

Mix 1/5 gal methanol with caustic soda (Lye), the amount of caustic soda varies. If you use (and pay for) new vegetable oil, the lye content is 0.35%...if you use used veggie oil like me (free from restaraunts for the asking) the lye content can go up depending on how used up the oil is.

Heat one gallon of veggie oil, new or used, to 120-130 degrees F., then slowly mix in the transesterification mix (the lye/methanol mix) and mix for an hour.

Turn off mixer, and allow to settle 24 hours. Glycerine and excess methanol (about 75% of what was originally used) settle to bottom and I drain that off. What you have left is biodiesel.

"Wash" the biodiesel. I "bubble wash" by adding 20 gallons of water to an 80 gallon batch and use an aquarium pump to pump air thru the biodiesel/water from the bottom of the tank for 24 hours.

Let settle again, drain off water from bottom, and you have biodiesel.

Short version...mix lye and methanol, add to veggie oil, mix, let settle, drain waste methanol/glycerine, wash, let settle again, drain waste again, done.

Making 95 gallons of biodiesel takes about 1-2 hours of work and costs 50-55 cents a gallon.

One drawback...your diesel vehicle smells like a McDonalds french fry going down the road...

BubbaBob

Instruction link

BubbaBob

>http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_make.html

Re: Waaaaaayyyy OT...biodiesel

john Lucas

>Bubbabob

My good friend from Laos runs his diesel VW on used French fry oil. Works great. Smells like he's cooking barbecue when he drives by.

Any engine?

Georg Waldhof

>How does biodiesel effect engines like the Cummins in a Dodge Ram or the engines in a John Deere tractor? Is there any modification of settings which needs to be done?

George

The only caveats are...

BubbaBob

>...first, on road vehicles made prior to the mid 90's you need to check that there are no real rubber parts/hoses, etc that would come in contact with the biodiesel, as natural rubber is degraded by the biodiesel. All vehicles made since about 95 are OK, and most made since 85 are fine as well. I don't know about tractors and such, but a farm implement dealer should be able to tell you. There are no modifications to the motor needed in ANY diesel when burning biodiesel.

Also, biodiesel gels at a higher temperature than fossil fuel diesel...I use 35 degrees as a safety temperature. When temperatures are any lower you have three options:

1. A fuel tank/fuel line heater.

2. Fuel additives you would use with normal diesel fuel, just added at a higher temperature than normal.

3. Running a mix of fossil diesel and biodiesel...usually 70% bio and 30% fossil, though that may vary depending on severity of weather. The fossil diesel purchased during winter months already has anti-gel additives in it.

BubbaBob

Minor ooops...

BubbaBob

>...I forgot one thing.

When running biodiesel, retard the timing about 2-3 degrees to compensate for the higher cetane rating.

BubbaBob

smell and furnace use

Tony Costine

>What about using it in a home furnace? My furnace tech just shakes his head and says dourly "yeah, you go ahead and make that stuff".

Is it because it's not reliable, corrosive, or because he sells #2 oil?

Is there anything you can do to fix the smell?

I'd hate to run it in my furnace and have the neigbors think a McDonalds had moved in.

--T.

Re: smell and furnace use

JL work

>There isn't an inexpensive way to deal with the smell. The filtering media that would remove the compounds that make the smell would make it a lot more expensive to run. You are stuck with the "french fry" smell - unless you want to invest in some big bucks.

That smell might cause a weight problem.

Basil

>When I was a kid there was a cotton seed oil mill on the south side of town where they processed cotton seeds. It smelled so good when we drove by it that it always made me hungry. Burning Bio-diesel that smells good might make you and your neighbors hungry all the time causing a weight problem, thereby exposing yourself to possible lawsuits for potential health problems caused by their obesity.

All that was said tongue in cheek but in this wonderful world we live in today, who knows?

Just move in nextdoor to my lazy self and I'll buy some or all of the extra diesel you happen to make. I'm already overweight and unhealthy, so no potential problems from me, pre-existing condition, you know....LOL

Basil

It will work, and work well...

BubbaBob

>...in anything that burns diesel, kerosene, or fuel oil.

As for the smell, so far as I know you are stuck with that.

BubbaBob

Re: smell and furnace use

Lou Krupnick

>For more information regarding using Bio-diesel as a heating fuel source, check out older issues of Environmental Building News from BuildingGreen.org

Re: It will work, and work well...

Tony Costine

>really? Kerosene?

What do you have to do to use it for kerosene? Does it have to be refined any more than for diesel?

And if this is getting too far OT (I'm not sure it is...I use kerosene as part shop heat ), email me about it?

Thanks,

--T.

Re: Unbelieveably simple...

Alan Tolchinsky

>Hey Bubba, Are you kidding, the McDonalds home fry smell is a plus to me. :) But then I LOVE home fries. Alan

Yep, it replaces kero...

BubbaBob

>

Re: Smelly & Way OT of Way OT

Arch

>Some nostalgic smells from my part of the country before the Judicial System protected us from cradle to grave: Remember?

Yummy! The local bakery, The local coffee roaster. The local barbecue pit. Mom & Pop's grocery. The main street diner.

Cane grinding and syrup making. The beauty parlor. Our Best Girl's aura.

Phew! The tannery, The paper mill, The abbatoir,

The town dump. The upset skunk. The Chick Sale outhouse. The neighbor's overflowing septic tank. Our brother's sneakers.

We'll all get back on topic beginning with the new year, meanwhile what have you smelled?

Turn to Safety, Arch

Dare I?

TD

>Naw.......better not.

Quite Timely...

Peter Teubel

>I just bought an '04 Dodge 2500 Diesel and was looking into bio-diesel or SVO as a way to keep running costs down (and the environmental aspect isn't a bad thing either). The higher mileage I'm getting (20mpg) is offset by the higher diesel fuel costs ($2.30/gal).

Of course, I do have oil heat in the house... ;)

Be careful using home heating oil.

Basil

>I used to feed 12 diesel engines of my own plus the home furnance and a pickup. The DOT stopped me one day in my pickup pulling a fuel trailer. They checked me for a CDL lincense with HAZ-MAT endorsement, environmental insurance, placards, proper safty equipment, etc., everything was in order which seemed to tick him off. He pulled out his little fuel test kit to check the fuel in the pickup, had a smirk on his face when he stuck it in the first tank. He had a disappointed look with only a slite smirk when he checked the second tank. Boy was he mad when he found I had only "Highway" fuel in both tanks. He just "knew" he had caught someone with "off road fuel" in their tanks when he got me.... LOL

Basil