wondering if any one has made a kit at home to make bio-diesel... i have found lots of kits for like 1000 to 7000 but i would like to try and make one my self.... for just a few hundred if it is posable... thanks for any input.... mark

 

Do a google search on appleseed processor and girl mark

DON'T spend anywhere near that much money..........

 

I made one back before the hot water tank method became popular. It was really pretty easy using a couple of plastic conicle tanks. If you can, I would recommend making it gravity feed since some of the stuff doesn't like going through pumps. Also, a lot of people think that they can just get away with putting a heating element directly into the vegetable oil but you will burn them up, you need to make a heat exchanger but you can do that for $50 and two hours of your time.

My major source of info was the book From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank but that is quite dated now. The advantage of the commercially available systems is that some of them determine the amount of lye needed for you but if you don't mind doing a titration each time, it isn't bad.

 

Here's a link that I quite frequently use in research on any topic for Bio-Diesel. You might find it interesting... http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html

 

Go here on the DTR Bio Forum there is lots of reading there.

 

Didn't Trucks! do a show on this a while back? He said the kit he was usin he said costs like 500 bucks.

 

So far after doing this for a couple years I like the appleseed reactor setup. Theres a variant called an 'apple turnover' that uses the heater upside-down to take advantage of the slightly rounded dome in the water vessel inside. I use the base method which is easier to do but makes soap more often. I buy lye online and get my methanol from a local place. Just paid 199$/55gal with barrel fee. Keep the barrel sealed it absorbs water and makes the chemical less useful.
I mist wash the fuel with garden hose mister nozzles and dry it with a heated spray method. Im looking at doing this with a heated pipe and a dieselcraft spinner centrifuge. Supposedly gives great results for water and particulate.