Is anybody making their own bio diesel?? I've spent about 100 hours researchng this and I'm about ready to make the first test batches.
It looks almost fool proof and there really aren't any bad things except for the chemicals. But if common sense is used there should not be any problems.

It looks like about $0.75 gal not counting equipment. That's buying chemicals in small lots too. You can cut this in half by buying in quantity. You just have to be careful with storage. I can probably recover the cost of material in a few months then I can drive anywhere and now feel pinched for cost of fuel.

It doesn't look like it is tough to make 20-30 gal a week just in small lots.
I need a new hobby that doesn't cost $$$. In this case it will return $$$ LOL

Anybody with experience??

betnwings

 

I am VERY interested in how you come out. I want to do this myself eventually. Are you buying pre-made equipment or building your own tanks etc...?

The Lye would seem to me to be the most hazardous chemical followed by the methanol. The oil isn't really hazardous at all unless you start it burning or splash hot oil on your skin. If I read correctly you should bring the oil to 150 F for proper catalysis. Then dump in the methanol/lye mixture and stir. After that you let it settle.

Are you using virgin oil or Waste oil? How do you titrate it to determine how much lye to use?

If fuel keeps rising I expect to see a lot of people on this list to start looking real hard at homebrewing bio.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Edwin

 

Can't wait to hear the prelim results..... This is something that I would imagine interests quite a few of the members here. Isn't Rocket Science right? Theres rednecks all around us (closer than we would like) brewing up meth, it's gotta be much easier and safer than that poison?!

 

check this stuff out. A turn key system. It's a little spendy but you could probably recover the cost in 6 - 12 months if you drive a lot.
http://www.azurebiodiesel.com/index.shtml

Hope the link works. otherwise just type it in. They have several systems. I did find find some "colored ink" about them however. Need more info.

Right now the big problem is there aren't any alcohol distributors near by. Buying it from a chemical supply place is pretty expensive. It really needs to come from the racing fuel people. I guess I'll have to search out some of my old race pals and see if I can get back on the "list" so to speak. I hate to have to drive 150 miles each way just to get alcohol. I would have to get a couple barrels at a time to make it practical. Storage becomes a problem then.

Handleing the chemicals is a bit of a hazzard but again common sense and proper precautions are all that is needed. The system I want is totally enclosed so there is no real venting so it doesn't even smell bad. Lye and alcohol make a pretty powerfull base just as strong as strong acid but don't spill it and handle with care.

My plan is to make a small set up first to get a handle on the techniques and get ued to the process. Then scale it up into a small production. Enough for my use.

Just for laughs I looked into making the oil from seeds ..IE soybeans or sunflower seeds. I don't know what q canola bean looks like so I'm obviously uneducated on the farm end. This turns out to be beyound the scope of the project however.

Gas went from 2.14 to 1.97 over 2 days and now back up to 2.02 tonight. E85 is 1.75 at the 3 local staions that have it. I didn't see any long lines there and plenty of cars at the regular pumps. Diesel went down to 2.24 from 2.29 but I think it is going to stay there for now.

bentnwings

 

My internet connection is giving me fits tonight. I edited the previous post 4 times now and lost it each time.

here is a great wealth of info
http://www.journeytoforever.org/

To answer questons: how to determine the amount of lye and even the amount of alcohol is a great debate. Some say just follow previous guide lines and you are ok others say you need to really test each batch. This is why I want ot start small. I need to find out.

Heating and cooling are part of the process. Also "washing" the final product... how to and why. Again there are some trick cheap tools needed. As well as some technology.

It's not quite as simple as mixing up some lye and alcohol and dumping it in the WVO and letting it settle.

This connection is a mess. I'll have to come back later.
bentwings

 

Those are nice set ups but like you say very pricey. But they are nice and compact, with everything you need.
I think there are some cheaper systems out there. Appleseed rings a bell.

 

Very interesting (and tempting). But, what about the road tax? Could I get a fine for running home-brewed bio on the road?

 

Big problem is you need quite a bit of land and a combine, a $100,000 plus piece of equipment.

The Azure BD systems look really nice but are way too expensive, someone is making a lot of money there. Shop around, I've seen lots of complete system for under $500.

How about making your own alcohol? People have been doing it for thousands of years.

 

Thats interesting, (what cethane posted) wonder how mcuh that set up is. Seems like it's "Plug and Play"? Don't know if I believe the $.50-.70 a gal. That is probably more like $1.50-1.70 depending on where you are getting your oil from added to the price of the other chem.s and equipment. Okay, looked at the site and the prices, WOW! That would be great if we all had 5 g's to set up a fuel processing plant in our garage. I would love to see when you start getting returns on this package, got to be years minimun.

 

Plus your time invested.... From what ive read it takes a ton of time.. Id rather work 2 more hours a week for money for fuel than spend several hours every sunday mixing up my fuel for the week.

 

I have read that you can make up to 200 gallons of biodiesel for your own use without needing to pay any tax but to be safe check it out. IMHO, since there is no tracer or dye in the fuel how are they to know how much you made before they stopped you? This seems like a situation where they depend on your honesty to get you in trouble. I wouldn't worry about it as long as you're not selling fuel.

Edwin

 

Couple of ways around that. If you use less that X % in your tank premixed with regular diesel then its and additive and they cant tax that.

If you stay over 399 gal/mo then you dont have to pay federal road tax, just state

3rd. Ive tried many times to pay my road tax. No one in iowa knows how to accept my mola haha. SO i said screw it

It sounded really good at first too, but is becomming a pain in the butt. The thing people usually dont tell ya are that the big resturants like Mc Ds and what not cant give you their oil. THey have to account for it throught a contracted collecter. So they bring in 400 gallons this month, the collector better get 400 gallons ect.... So finding it is a lil harder than thought

 

Quite a few good points here. Starters. Go to your local menards or tractor supply and buy the tubing and what not. Couple of things to think about The mixutres. especially the methanol will eat plastic. SO if you go plastic its gotta be rated to handle the chemecals. no need to spend that kind of money on a processor. Mine cost 160 bucks and i Spurged a bit.

The cost of the fuel at 70cents isnt too far off. Mine cost around 90. But I also dont reclaim any methonal or any of that. I just let her go. If you really get into it right now it can be had around here for 65-60 cents a gallon. But its quite a bit more work to do so.


The thing i can not stress enough is filter filter filter. expecially waste oil. You have to get all that inital crap out of it. Then after you process it. You have to let it settle for a decent ammount of time. If you dont it can really screw some things up. Especially if you dont get all of the wash water out of the fuel. If done correctly it is very safe on you. your truck, and your pocket book.

IF you have younger kids. Id honestly wait till there older, or make sure there is NO way for them to get anywhere near the processor. Unless you have a 100% self contained processor kids are kids and can get to stuff that is untimatly deadly. Id really hate to see something like that happen.

Hope that enlightens everyone

 

What has happened in my area since a crop oil BD plant has gone in that buys waste oil is that independent contractors have scammed on it and have tied up most all waste oil sources.