The way things are going it looks like my neighbor and I are going to go in on a bd rig. We haven't decided which yet but even with methanol being pricey it still looks promising.

As tempting as it might be to run the red in the truck to save it seems to me that now's the time crackdowns would start turning up. So, going the other way, if I'm going to invest in this rig, just how far can I go? We have a couple extra 230 gallon heating oil tanks we plan to use for storage and it just struck me that with heating oil here over $3.75 a gallon wouldn't it be nice if that biodiesel would run in my furnace? Maybe it needs to be treated or tweaked a bit for that purpose?

This may not be the best forum for this post but at the same time you guys are one of the most knowledgeable bunches around when it comes to anything diesel related so I thought this would make a good starting point for my search.

Thanks in advance,

RT

 

Google 'appleseed reactor' and buy all the plumbing and make your own.
Id recommend mist-washing and vacuum drying.
Theres a lot of little stuff youll need to buy at first and it all adds up.. but once its done your fuel is cheaper.
I run biodiesel in my oil furnace at home. The viscosity is a little bit different but not enough to cause a problem.
I even attempted to convert a spare burner to WVO but that has been an expensive project and it hasnt produced good results so far.

Try to be careful with the methanol. It is poisonous below the concentrations at which you can smell it in the air. What I did to minimize exposure was to put a pipe in a compression fitting and drill into a barrel plug and mount it.. so its rather like an airtight straw. Then mount an air chuck and regulator on the other plug and pressurize the barrel to dispense the stuff directly into your methoxide tank.
You can make that methoxide tank the same way with a straw on it. Make sure to run a vent from the top of your reactor outside and away from where you work. You may want to get a fan and a dryer vent hose and pull vapors from the first couple water washes until the methanol is gone.

 

Thanks Kawi,

The appleseed reactor is the one we're looking at the closest. The other kits seem to have quite a few drawbacks.

Thanks so much for the advice!

 

Your heater will work on Bio. You will need to have it rejetted, and adjust the fuel pressure. Keith

 

hey

can you add some more detail on this. I have been runnig my bio in the furnace with no problems until the crap all came out of the tank, but that was expected. I never changed anything on the furnace, what should I check.

and not to change the subject, I think its a great idea to do the biodiesel, just make sure you have a good source of waste oil before you invest too much time and money. then start collecting today so you can be selective with your oil.

good luck

 

We donated about 100 gallons to an older couple this winter. Their furnace needed to be rejetted because the flame wasn't right. We also have a torpedo heater that burns B100. We needed to turn the pressure up, and block half of the intake to keep it from blowing out. Keith