P A Biodiesel centrifuge

[jwright]

Any update on the setup

 

[DAP]

Yes keep me in the loop also

 

[jwright]

Well did you get it set up?

 

[MacGowan]

Hi, Army Nurse. I'll be in Muskogee at some point in May for the Ren Fest - any chance you'd like to show off your system? I'd love to see it.

James

 

[Hank.]

I have the barrel almost complete. One more fitting to be welded on the bottom to drain the water.

 

[Crazyguypa]

Well I finally got around to taking some pics of my setup. It's a PA Biodiesel 55gph centrfuge (my 120gph is backordered still). I'm using a 3/4 hp motor coupled to a Oberdorfer gear pump and a 1200w band heater to warm the oil to ~160F. I opted for the bung connections rather than welding a fitting on, as my welding skills are not the best and leaks in the drum are not an option. The bungs work great, no leaks and no complaints about them.

So far I've filtered 25gals of oil. Since I work at a power plant i have access to tons of waste turbine, motor, gear and transformer oil along with used motor oil and atf from fellow works.

I've got a 55/45 mix of diesel/WMO in my M1009 right now and other than the little bit of smoke when it first starts up I haven't noticed any problems. No power loss, still getting about 17mpg. The MPG seem to be going up as the temps warm up, is this common?

With diesel at $4.29/gal here my fill up yesterday went from $92 to $50. I figure i save about $96 in just this past week in fuel cost alone.

The PA Dept of Revenue officer came to my house yesterday too, to check my setup (requirement by state). I'm legal now I should have my blender's permit in about a week.

 

[Hank.]

I pumped 30 gal of WMO into the barrel last night and turned the heater on. Went from 78F to a steady 210F this morning. I turned the heat down a bit. I drained almost 2 gal of water from the bottom tap. I turned the centrifuge pump on and I had to back the pressure regulator down ~20 psi to get 85 psi. It's been 2 hours. 2 more to go! Pictures and videos to follow.

 

[army_nurse]

my set up is very much like the one above. i have ran my oil throught and have filtered for several hours (more than 10 hours) i am still getting aprox a half of an inch of crud out of the bowl every clean out. i am going to try to thin it with diesel apox 5 gallons into the 20 gallons of UMO in the tank.... it is filtering but not at the rate i thought it was. however i have contacted Joe at PA biodiesel and i think we are going to get it worked out. This oil is from an unknow source and was extreamly dark and thick at the start of the spinning. more to follow. pm me if you are arround and want to see my set up.

 

[army_nurse]

UPDATE

just got a PM and realized that i had not updated this thread. I have got the centrifuge to work the to a point that is exceptable to me. I started by mixing 15 gallons of diesel into 35 gallons of diesel and letting her run. at this point i started getting out a hard graphite like substance not just a tar like slime when i cleaned out the centrifuge. i was able to get the oil to a dark tan color. i now have started adding 5 gallons of E-85 and 10 gallons of diesel. this has made the process quicker and the color was lighter however was cloudy. i soon will try my hand at some WVO. all in all i am satisfied with the centrifuge. if i had to do it all over again i would buy a bigger gallon per minute centrifuge to make the process faster. hope this helps.

 

[mikey]

UPDATE

just got a PM and realized that i had not updated this thread. I have got the centrifuge to work the to a point that is exceptable to me. I started by mixing 15 gallons of diesel into 35 gallons of diesel and letting her run. at this point i started getting out a hard graphite like substance not just a tar like slime when i cleaned out the centrifuge. i was able to get the oil to a dark tan color. i now have started adding 5 gallons of E-85 and 10 gallons of diesel. this has made the process quicker and the color was lighter however was cloudy. i soon will try my hand at some WVO. all in all i am satisfied with the centrifuge. if i had to do it all over again i would buy a bigger gallon per minute centrifuge to make the process faster. hope this helps.

I have the PA biodiesel centrifuge also. What are you using to clean the tar/crud from the inside of the fuge? I tried dawn and a brillo pad with no luck. Brake cleaner maybe?

thx

Mikey

 

[army_nurse]

i use a little plastic scraper and little brass scrub brush (like a tooth brush style) these get it all broken up. if its real stubborn i use some break cleaner spray. just happened to have some on hand and it worked well to get that last little bit out. they make some paper liners but i have never used them but those that have used them say that it makes clean up a snap. well thats my

 

[area52]

thanks for the update.

How big of unit would you go with now if you had to do it all over?

 

[army_nurse]

i would go with the 108 gph (i think thats right if not its 120) I plan to add another 60gph to the pump i have now if it will supply enough pressure for the both of them. that will do the same job in half the time or twice as good in the same time. when i get some time i will post some pics. hope this helps. if i ever get the chance i would also like to have one of the other style centrifuges and compair them side by side, but that requires more money than what i want to spend right now.

 

[curtnaz]

This is my first post, but I've been reading quite a bit. Anyway, this was a primary interest that I wanted to read on as my Father in law and I have acquired a few trucks (and counting), and he insists on WMO for fuel, so he also purchased a PA Diesel kit. Not sure which one it is, but I know it has either the 108 or 120 centrifuge.

We have 2 large 140gal aluminum semi tanks which we store finished oil in (we're gathering oil from the assortment of small businesses in out little town to include gear oil, tranny, motor oil, etc.)

I have 2 questions. I've read somewhere that the PA centrifuge will filter down to like 3M, but he insists on having a 80M barrel filter under the lid. Is this overkill because I think it is (running the oil through the centrifuge and having it run through a micron filter?)

Second Question is: This thing is LOUD!!! Not like abnoxiously but loud enought to where you have to almost yell to talk to each other. I'm thinking it's because the lid of the barrel is not strapped on (due to the filter being there) but it doesn't seem to bug him. Do you think this is the reason or could it be something else?

I'll try to snap a couple of pics of this system in the next day or so when I have some more time.

Thanks.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

Curtnaz:
Welcome Aboard !

 

[mikey]

This is my first post, but I've been reading quite a bit. Anyway, this was a primary interest that I wanted to read on as my Father in law and I have acquired a few trucks (and counting), and he insists on WMO for fuel, so he also purchased a PA Diesel kit. Not sure which one it is, but I know it has either the 108 or 120 centrifuge.

We have 2 large 140gal aluminum semi tanks which we store finished oil in (we're gathering oil from the assortment of small businesses in out little town to include gear oil, tranny, motor oil, etc.)

I have 2 questions. I've read somewhere that the PA centrifuge will filter down to like 3M, but he insists on having a 80M barrel filter under the lid. Is this overkill because I think it is (running the oil through the centrifuge and having it run through a micron filter?)

Second Question is: This thing is LOUD!!! Not like abnoxiously but loud enought to where you have to almost yell to talk to each other. I'm thinking it's because the lid of the barrel is not strapped on (due to the filter being there) but it doesn't seem to bug him. Do you think this is the reason or could it be something else?

I'll try to snap a couple of pics of this system in the next day or so when I have some more time.

Thanks.

I have the 55gph PA Biodiesel setup and it hums but it's not too loud. I have it attached to an open top drum, but the top IS secured, so that may be your issue. The fuge seems to be louder while getting up to speed. Once it hits the 90+ PSI it needs to spin optimally, the hum is still there, but much lower. You may also want to check and see that the fuge is level.

If your dad insists on using the bag filter, which in my opinion is not necessary, you should find a way to secure the drum lid OR you could probably put some sort of weather stripping or other cushion on the underside of the drum lid, under the rim where it contacts the drum, and see if that reduces the noise.

 

[curtnaz]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not sure if it's a "bag" filter. It's like a tray fitted for the 55 gal drum so who knows. I know he bought like 5 which varied in Micron size. Who knows. He's pretty stubborn as well. I know he doesn't even turn his heat band on or insulate the tank most of the time so hopefully I can turn him around.

My first project is to find a trailer and move the MVO filtration system over so I can have the M35 it's sitting in

 

[xjfanatic14]

how to cut black diesel

UPDATE

just got a PM and realized that i had not updated this thread. I have got the centrifuge to work the to a point that is exceptable to me. I started by mixing 15 gallons of diesel into 35 gallons of diesel and letting her run. at this point i started getting out a hard graphite like substance not just a tar like slime when i cleaned out the centrifuge. i was able to get the oil to a dark tan color. i now have started adding 5 gallons of E-85 and 10 gallons of diesel. this has made the process quicker and the color was lighter however was cloudy. i soon will try my hand at some WVO. all in all i am satisfied with the centrifuge. if i had to do it all over again i would buy a bigger gallon per minute centrifuge to make the process faster. hope this helps.

So I know it's been a while since anyone's posted to this but E-85 should not be used to thin out the mix, yes specific gravity is key(actually viscosity is but they're pretty close to each other without a vizcup) but if you do just some simple things your engine life can be extended even with the excess carbon buildup from wmo. WMO has approx 10% more btu's per gallon than diesel but it also creates more carbon buildup add in ethanol(e-85) and it redeuces the flash point of the mix, which in turn cools the exhaust gasses too much and allows the soot/carbon to build more rapidly. If you use another petro product you can reduce the viscosity and btu's to approx what diesel is, gasoline works ok (and it's btu is approximately10% less than diesel) but due to the fact that in most gas mix today there is ethanol in smaller amounts kerosene works even better.
long story short to make your mix run more consistently and with the power of diesel then you should make the viscosity/ specific gravity as close to diesel as possible, as to the level of purification you guys are doing awesome. you should read up on the effects that just a 1 micron particle does, they do 77% of the wear and tear on your engine its called the avalanche theory I believe. Now I have my m931a2 and my f250 to work out some black diesel for. And please feel free to criticize I'm a chemistry major but always appreciate someone calling me on my mistakes.

 

[Jake59]

I had a dieselcraft setup originally. Was not happy with it and built a new system around a motor driven unit.

Link to orginal setup.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/alternative-fuels/10416-stretchs-used-oil-centrifuge.html

Link to newer setup.

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/alternative-fuels/63232-homemade-centrifuge-pump-v3-0-a.html

If you read through the first thread, you can see all the fun I had getting the dieselcraft unit working. I am much happier with the motor driven one.

Dennis

Hello,
Interetsing read, but unfortunately the links are no longer valid. Perhaps as a result of website make-over?
Would love to see your improvements and learn.

Jake

 

[gringeltaube]

Interetsing read, but unfortunately the links are no longer valid. Perhaps as a result of website make-over?

No, if you mean those links in post #18, they went dead long before this last change.
They are now updated.


To all readers: Please feel free to report ANY posts containing dead links; most of them can be restored.