Hey guys. ok i know this has been talked about before, i have been looking a sites that sell Biodiesel Equipment to make your own, is there anyone out there doing this, and if so how is it working out , does one use this with out mixing it to diesel as i was thinking it was mixed ( like 20%), is it safe to use as it is being made with Methanol, if i rember right this is a form of alcohol, and i know what alcohol can do to our eng, thanks
jman

 

jman: In the production of biodiesel you will use methanol- but if doen properly all the methanol is used up for the transestherification. Good biodiesel does not contain free methanol.
One very important thing to consider is the washing and the refinement. You will need some test set to determine the actual quality of what you produced. I'm running up to 100% bio in my truck. I don't know whether the fuel lines and the pump seals of the 12V are bio-proof. If it's just the rubber fuel lines you are due for a change anyways since they like to rot and make your truck lose prime.
Good biodiesel has a higher lubricity than no 2 and higher cetane rating. (if you have your timing bumped up massively this could pose a problem)

HTH

AlpineRAM

 

The real safety issue is the handling of methanol. One, its not good for you to come into contact with. Inhalation, ingestion, or skin contact (enough to lead to absorbtion) with methanol is hazardous to humans. Second, it is flamable. I don't know of any one that has a garage that is designed to store and dispense flammable liquids, at least in significant quantities. Granted we all have gasoline or diesel in containers at home, but its not the same as dispensing methanol into a vessel and agitating.

Just a few thoughts.

 

I just posted this URL on another post about it.
http://www.journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_UScars.html

 

same site as above
http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_processor4.html