Anyone here using purolite, I just got some but havent used it yet. Let me know what youve heard, good, bad, tips, whatever.

If it works like it is supose to then it should speed up the fuel making process.

We use it. We have 2 tanks with 150# in each tank. The tanks are 16"x65". We can flow 1gpm through the Purolite. DO NOT use PVC to make your tanks. PVC will split. Get 2 FRP tanks from a water treatment company. If yyou get 2 tanks 8"x44" you can put 25# in each tank and flow 0.165gpm. Use a 70 mesh screen on the bottom to keep the media in the tanks. Keith

that is a lot of purolite, how many gallons are you producing?

So the flowrate should be real slow then, the guy that told me about it wasnt happy with it and I hope thats why, he was flowing it through real fast.

I am only making 40 to 60 gallons at a time, so can I get by with a smaller amount of purolite, what is the calculation to find the flowrate?

and one more question for you, how many gallons can you put through your 150# tank before it is depleated?

thanks

Hm, magnesol and all of those dry purification media seem a bit iffy. Has anyone ever done tests to check glycerine and methanol content in fuel cleaned that way?
I think you can regenerate the media.. do you do that or just dispose of it and replace?

We do 250 gallons at a time right now. But, we are going to step it up to 500 gallons.

To do 1gpm you need 3cubic feet, or 150 pounds of Purolite in each tank. If you are producing 40 to 60 gallons at a time you can use the info in my first reply.

We can run 80,000 gallons before the media is depleted. It can be regenerated when you get 600 pounds of media.

Keith

I'm using purolite in my (40 gal per batch) setup.
I have 2 tanks, 1 twice the size of the other. In my big tank, I have 50lbs of resin, the small ('polish') tank has 25lbs. (I'm using a combined 75 lbs of it).

Here's the prices & specs of my tanks when I bought them several months back.

8 x 44 Price $89
Structural Polyglass Mineral Tank with Base
8 x 44, 2.5 inch threaded top opening
Holds 0.75 CF of media

10 x 54 Price $139
Structural Polyglass Mineral Tank with Base
10 x 54, 2.5 inch threaded top opening
Holds 1.5 CF of media

I got them from Excel Water Technologies: http://www.excelwater.com/eng/b2c/showproduct.php?cboCategory=10&txtKeyWord=structural&WL_Session=a2669bc809aef33d953c1a62036a1b8e

Tip: After mixing the methoxide with your oil and letting it settle, make sure you don't have a (3rd) layer of soap (aside from the 2 other layers of BD & gylcerol) before running it through the purolite.

I have a buddy that had a 2 (small) tank purolite setup (8x44 size) and ran several 40 gal batches with the layer of soap, thinking it would filter it out. It did, but it was too much after awhile and clogged/gummed up the resin, making it useless. He had to clean it out, dispose of all the resin, buy more and start again. (very costly & very time consuming)
1st mistake was that he should have water washed first with that much soap, to get that out of there before running it through the purolite.
2nd he should have had a bigger tank (similar to my setup, I learned from his misfortune).

No knock on him, he didn't have someone to blaze the trail like he did for me.

My first couple batches have not produced the dreaded soap layer, so I haven't water washed and have run it directly through the purolite at ~.5 gal/min or less. Don't rush this process!

FYI - the (combined) size of my 2 tanks may be a little overkill (could have probably had a 8x44 & a 9x48 (or 10x44) and been ok...but the math worked out better, as I was restricted at buying 50# of purlite at a time...and my buddy needed more...so we were able to work something out so all resin purchased was used.

FYI 2 - IIRC, when purolite is wet, it expands roughly twice it's size....so if you have a 1 cubic foot tank, don't put more than .5 CF of resin in.

For more accurate info about resin expansion & flow rates, I'd contact your purolite dealer.

I hope this helps.

This is from the Purolie rep in Philly.

"I re-worked vessel dimensions for the home brew guys as follows:

The following dimensions will apply for an application that will allow
you to filter at a rate of 1 gallon/6 minutes or
0.165 gpm.

1st Choice - 6" dia X 65" tall: 7.955 Gallons

This vessel has a total internal volume of just slightly more than 1
cubic foot or enough room to hold 50 lbs. of virgin media, however, you
will only put 25 lbs. of PD206 into this vessel as you will need to
leave room for expansion of the media, up to 100% of its original
volume.

The 25 lbs. of Purolite PD206 added to this vessel will actual provide
you with an initial virgin bed depth of 30.5 inches still leaving you
room for expansion of the media.



2nd Choice - 8" dia X 42" tall: 9.14Gallons

An 8" dial vessel X 42" has a total internal volume of just slightly
more than 1 cubic foot or enough room to hold 50 lbs. of virgin media.

However, the goal with the 8" column is to fill it almost half full (25
lbs. of media or 17.2" of depth). It will be short of the 24" minimum
bed depth that we suggest however, I think you will be ok since we do
build in extra margin into our recommendations with the media but that
is why these vessel dimensions are 2nd choice.

I would actually build your columns 36" to 42" tall to allow for a
little extra free board above the expanded resin bed.

Lead-lag columns are always recommended for these applications."

Keith