if interested, i can post the titrant chart. and, as said above, start small. you don't want to screw up 50 gal of oil.

 

In 2004 I did a lot of research into Biodiesel. That's why I bought my truck. I then decided not to subject the truck to it when I started having visions of driving this thing a million miles. After your initial purchase of methanol, don't you distill the methanol back out of solution with a distiller? That would cut the cost of production considerably and allowing 4 to 6 gallons of methanol to escape into the air seems not to be a good thing. I would suggest that anyone interested in making Bio to first make a couple of batches using a 2 liter soda bottle so they know what they are doing.

 

What's with the methanol and distillation thing? I have never heard of this.

I've been "brewing" my own WVO for about two months now and just use:
10 Gal. WVO
2.5Gal Diesel
1 Gal Unleaded
32 oz. Power service
8 oz. Marvels

Stir, run through 2-5micron filters and a water block.

Haven't had any issues yet.

If I'm doing it wrong, PLEASE, tell me now.

 

Info on methanol recovery can be found at http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_aleksnew.html about 3/4 down the page along with a link to plans for a recovery still. It will save about a quarter of your methanol investment. Fryartruck, sounds like you are running mixed wvo. I would suggest that you develop a system to start and stop your engine on pure diesel. I don't understand the reasoning for the 1 gal of unleaded gas but I am sure that someone will chime in. I probably won't attempt bio until I can find a diesel VW. Good luck to all.

 

The gas mix sounds a lot like that diesel secret crap. dangerous for your motor and injection pump.
If youre going to brew biodiesel youd need to titrate to find the acidity, then look up on the chart the amount of lye youll need and add something like 6.6gal of methanol per 30gal oil. Mix lye and methanol for 20min in another container and add it to the oil which should be pre-heated to 130F. Give it a day or so to settle out and drain all the black gunk off. The rest should be washed, dried and filtered.
Too much lye makes soap which makes emulsions and gunked filters.

 

Can you post the chart and/or calculations for us? thanks.

 

I found this online and think it should work for you http://www.biodieselcommunity.org/recipecalculator/

I haven't used it yet but I am planing on it as soon as I get my processor compleated...

 

I'm planning to start making bio in the next couple months. The sites I use are : www.biodieselforum.com, www.b100supply.com, and www.utahbiodieselsupply.com. THE book to read is the one from Girl Mark. She seems to be the Yoda of the biodiesel community. I believe her website is www.girlmark.com. Just about all of these websites will have any and all the info your gonna to need. Good luck!!

 

I have a 125-gallon cone-bottom tank that I have plumbed to a 75 gallon water heater. The processor's pump circulates the oil through the water heater until the whole mess is at 135-140degF. Then I close one valve, open another and pump all the oil into the processor and off I go.

 

so where is the reliable source of grease?

 

You have to do the legwork to find restaurants that will give you waste oil. Not all will do this.
dont take anything from the waste oil bins at the back of a restaurant even with the owners permission. The rendering companies that own those bins sell the oil for animal feed and such. Taking it from that container might get you arrested. Provide your own drum if necessary.
Its a lot of work. start small and make sure you can secure oil sources and afford to buy supplies and chemicals.
call around and price methanol in your area and calculate the cost per gallon. assume 12gal per 55gal oil. add up all your costs and see if its worthwhile in the end.

 

You may want to check out the BioPro 190. They're pricey but with diesel prices at $4.00, your ROI is pretty quick if you use lots of diesel (my truck and my house burn diesel).
BioPro's are sturdy, no-brainer machines that will make you 50 gallons every 48 hours - washed and dried.

 

any one calculated the amount of thier time into price equation? also how about the payback period after the investment into equipment...maybe in gallons...bio would be cool, MUCH cleaner for th environment, more complete combustion (it sprays better, forgot the proper word), however it has slightly lower energy density than petro diesel

 

Look Here

As far as time, I find that a few hours over the weekend doing something useful over sitting in front of the boobtube to be fulfilling.

 

excuse me but how do you "wash and dry" fuel?

also is there any HP loss or gain with running 100% homebrew? what about engine reliability?