Homebrew Biodiesel, Success!! with photos.

[Brock]

Mednanu the advantage of making bio-D over WVO is that you can just pour it in your tank. Yes you could buy a WVO kit for a diesel engine, but if you live in a cold climate it might take 30 miles of driving before you can start to burn WVO. Also with WVO you have to run regular diesel for about the last 3 to 5 minutes of run to make sure there is regular diesel in the pump and injectors for the next start up. It makes for a lot more user input, where bio-D is dump and forget. And as Cobb noted, WVO can't be run in all diesels, but as far as I know you can burn bio-D in all diesel, at least up to 20% without any issues.

Realistically the place I buy my soy bio-D from, at 2.49 a gallon at my last fill, is the easiest way to go, but then again you are needing someone to supply your fuel for you, unlike what 3rd shift did (congrats by the way)

You can make bio-D in a similar fashion as what he did only using WVO, the setup is very similar.

 

[turbodog]

FWIW, you can get b99 delivered to your door here (in 500 gal minimum qty) for $2.00/gal. The federal rebate takes that cost down to $1.25.

 

[Sixpointone]

That looks very interesting. In fact, I recalll being glued to my TV well seeing how it was made on the TV shows Trucks.

 

[3rd_shift]

Hmmm bottle he is holding looks almost like...

It's not biodiesel it is .....

Those bottles were in fact the very one you featured. LOL!

Oh, the biodiesel and the glycerin byproduct were quite real.
I'm going to put this in my truck a bit later this week.
Use care and do this outdoors as I did if you want to do this folks.
But being OPEC and a little fuel refinery all in one is a very special feeling indeed.
I will be making more at my Mom's place in the future to save her sink drains and save me money on my truck fuel. :laughing: :nana:

FWIW, you can get b99 delivered to your door here (in 500 gal minimum qty) for $2.00/gal. The federal rebate takes that cost down to $1.25.

Who's the company that does this?
There may be others near your area who would really love to know.

 

[ikendu]

The waste is mostly glycerin with some left over lye and some left over methanol. Some folks are trying to recover the left over methanol by heating the waste high enough for the methanol to boil and then recovering it with a "still" (heat exchanger to condense the boiled methanol fumes back into a liquid). The guys at the local biodiesel recycling club tried this but they wanted to speed up the recovery with a vacumn and the chamber they were using collapsed.

Glycerin, when purified, can be sold for soaps and shampoos.

The unpurified waste can be disposed of in several ways I've read:

1. Burn it at high temperatures in a "waste oil burner"

You've got to be careful here because unless the temperature is very high, it gives off a really toxic fume.

2. Use it as a shop degreaser

3. Some have experimented with using it for a defoliant to control weeds

4. Dispose of at a waste treatment site

This last one is the most popular among home brewers as near as I can tell.

I don't know of any simple, home brewing process for purifying the glycerin. I read just recently that there is a $5,000 prize being offered for the first person to come up with a really good use for home brew glycerin (by the National Biodiesel Board NBB).

You can read more about home brew biodiesel at http://www.localb100.com/

This site is maintained by Maria "Mark" Alovert ...the first lady of home brew biodiesel! Mark is a wonderful resource on this topic!

 

[ikendu]

My poor 50 cent pop bottle took a beating after I drank the pop from it. :naughty:

I recommend that no bottles of this type be used for processing biodiesel.

These bottles are made of PET.

PET will degrade (dissolve) from the methanol and lye mixture (methoxide). The problem this causes is that the bottle will suddenly disintegrate while you are agitating the mixture, thus covering you with lye, methanol and hot oil.

The lye and methanol mixture can cause burns, blindness and death. There is an urban legend about a guy that got methanol on his coveralls. He continued to wear the coveralls and the methanol was aborbed thru his skin. Within a week, he was dead.

I don't know how true this "urban legend" is, but it is certainly true that methanol can be absorbed thru the skin and that it can kill you.

Be sure to always use eye protection and complete covering for all skin (gloves, long sleeves, etc.) when working with either methanol or lye.

The only plastic that I know that is safe for this chemical is HDPE.

 

[cobb]

2 bucks to 249 a gallon, man, thats cheap. Diesel here is nearly 3 bucks a gallon. Id buy it by the 500 gallon containers myself.

 

[PlayboyJoeShmoe]

FWIW, you can get b99 delivered to your door here (in 500 gal minimum qty) for $2.00/gal. The federal rebate takes that cost down to $1.25.

That is VERY VERY interesting! Not sure the company could pony up $1,000 all at once, but the last Diesel I bought was $3.23!!!

Anybody know if it's possible here in east Texas?

 

[3rd_shift]

I talked to the people at dfwbiodiesel a while back and found out that biodiesel is not even considered a hazmat item like petro diesel is.
Dinosaur diesel has a flashpoint of 150 degrees F
Biodiesel has a flashpoint of about 300 degrees F
Looks like this stuff is no worse to store than the vegetable oil it was made from. :thinking:
May want to double check on this 1st though before setting up your own "backyard" filling station.

 

[ikendu]

Yup!

Biodiesel flash point IS 300 F!

Very safe to transport and store.
Also, many places that regulate fuel tanks for petroleum fuels require double walled tanks...biodiesel (in many cases), WAY fewer regulations.

The EPA classifies biodiesel as a clean up agent for petroleum spills.

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