Biodiesel in the beginning

[thedeliverator]

Houdel -
Thanks bunches for bringing that thread up! That centrifuge is *exactly* what the local student group I've been working with on biodiesel is looking for, to filter used oil from the cafeteria and a few local restaurants. They've got a budget of a few hundred dollars each quarter, plus access to a lot of testing systems. The goal is to design and build a biodiesel processor along the lines of the ones seen at Journey to Forever - http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_processor.html We're currently making small test batches, getting a better idea of how the process works.

Your third though is exactly along the lines of some of the ones we've been having here - heating 30-gal drums of used oil is expensive in the winter, even in an insulated shop. I think JtF has more info on oil-burning heaters that can run on the glycerine by-product somewhere on their site, can't find it right at the moment. A used hot water heater, converted to burning glycerine, with a pump and some tubing, would be a great heat source for working with used oil.

 

[No.2Diesel]

I like all of your "crazy" ideas Houdel but I really like #3. Using electricity to heat your batch seems counterproductive so using something that would be thrown out is great. And it's much easier to turn on a glycerin powered heater than to set up an elaborate solar box system.

I too am finding that WVO sources are shrinking in mumber for the home braurei.

 

[houdel]

The only problems I see with "Crazy Idea #3" is first you'd have to find a propane/natural gas water heater for you processor and them somehow duct it to use the glycerin burner as the heat source. Then you'd have to figure out a way to use the thermostat to regulate the glycerin heater to keep your brew at the appropriate temperature. Finally, although the water heater is a closed system, I'm concerned about using an open flame heat source in the presence of all that methanol in the biodiesel mix. From what I have read, they ARE doing this in some less developed regions of the world, so I guess it is possible to do, it would just take some thoughtful engineering to make it work without creating a potential catastrophe in the process!

 

[superburban]

I like the idea of using glycerin to heat your bio! I use electric heat, and it costs me about 21 cents/hour @ about 3 hours to make a batch of 30 gallons. Not a huge cost, but if I were able to use my glycerine for something productive, I would be tickled pink.
Word of Caution:
If you are planning on using a gas heater to heat your oil, just remember that methanol is extremely flamable! I was thinking of using a small gas heater to heat water that has a closed loop running to some coils in a large bio reactor. That way, you could use a flame to heat the water that heats the bio, and the flame can be kept away from the vessels that have methanol!

 

[Ferroequinologist]

Do what I do-
Burn some bio in a generator to heat your mix. No open flame + Methanol, = NO BOOM. (not that I've done that too...)

I charge some batteries or unplug the freezer from the grid and put it on the gen for a good load on the gen.

Burns about 1/2 gallon for the 3 hours. And that's with more than one 1500watt water heater element for a load. I have a heater in my garage that I save and burn the Glycerin in it over the winter.

But being a fan of steam power, I am planning to install a boiler for my shop in SC.

So I will heat the bio mix with a heat exchanger, using steam or return (condensed steam) feedwater. You can make all of that automatic, with air operated valves that control the flow of steam to keep the oil temp output at the desired level. They worked great on the ship, until the saltwater got to them. Hopefully I won't have to worry about saltwater in the foothills of SC.....

Plus, I can burn the glycerin in the boiler. Heck, I'm going to make it so I can burn ANYTHING in the boiler, solid, liquid, etc. Even the waste from straining the WVO that I get.

Until I get the boiler set up, I was going to get an old Lister diesel (or India copy) and use the cooling system on that to heat the mix. I will probibly have the gen running a good bit anyway, and can just divert the hot coolent from the radiator (cooling tank) to the bio processor.

Just my