Just bought the raw chemicals to start makin my own. 50.12 lb of sodium hydroxide known as lye = $27 and change and the methanol was $211 and change for 54 gallons but im starting with small more expensive quantities. So the free oil and these numbers equals what, 54 methanol makes about 540 gallons of bio and the lye will last me anywhere between 800 to 900 gallons by using i think a little over 6 oz per 100 gall..anyone else out here in AZ?

 

Your numbers are a little off. I've been making biodiesel for almost 2 years, and it takes 5 gal of methanol, and 2 POUNDS of lye per 25 gal of waste oil. FABMANDELUX.

 

A young apprentice I am. How clean is your wasteoil before you start? Can you send pics of your system so that I may observe your magnificent contraption? I went and purchased plastic barrels and I have quite a number of 55 metal barrels also. I went through and read all I could , of course a small test batch is in order. Im always interested in talking to the real deal instead of a paper printout. I also have someone coming from back east that can bring me e85 which is 85 percent ethanol and 15 of gasoline. I should be able to use this as a cheap alternative to the methanol. Do you have a recovery system to reconstitute the methanol out of your glycerin and reuse it? I got lots of questions...thanks for you imput. I need all the help I can get..Troy

 

Using e-85 will not work. When using ethanol it must be 100 percent, anything less will cause an incomplete reaction. Most commercial ethanol is at best 98 percent, and you cannot remove the remaining 2 percent by distilation, it must be removed by use of a molelecular seive. Yes i do have a "still" to recover the methanol from glycerol. I recover 25 percent of the origonal 5 gal input. I do not use an "appleseed" processer, but one of my own design. I posted pictures of my "setup" in the galleries section here. Any other questions? Always willing to help, just ask. FABMANDELUX.

 

ok, ill see if i can find your gallery later today. Thanks ...what type of vehicle are you running it in?

 

1996 ford F250 4x4,1991 dodge 3/4t 4x4,1981 vw Pu, 2 D-6 cats, Ford 9000 tractor, International wheel tractor, 2 International 6 cyl irigation pumps,Yanmar 18 hp pump, 38ft sailboat, 50ft powerboat, shop heat, home heat. I am now building a new heating system that will use the glycerol waste from my processer to heat the shop & house from a central location between the two. If you go to the archives and look up my previous posts you can get a better understanding of my system. FABMANDELUX.

 

Are you going to use the glycerin dried or wet with the methanol in it?

 

I ALWAYS recover the methanol first. That's how I keep my price per gal as low as possable. FABMANDELUX.

 

do you mind sharing your price per gallon? thanks ryan

 

30 cents per gallon.

 

I looked at your photo gallary on that. It looks complicated. You still didnt answer on how clean your oil is before you start the process. Im looking at filtering through salt to seperate the water and other filter bags and pumps before starting. How do you get 30 cents a gallon. Mind sharing the math? Thank you once again Jedi master.

 

It's a lot less complicated than an "appleseed" processer! One of the major problem's with an "appleseed" is precleaning the oil before you can put it in the processer. With my system ALL the oil including "chunks" goes into my open top heater-cleaner. After it is heated to 150 deg I open the valve and the oil slides down the punch-plate trough where the "chunks" slide off the end, and the cleaned oil drop's into the mixing barrels. No pumps required! I used an "appleseed" first and thought "there has to be a better way" I've found that stiring the oil is much faster and a lot less hassel than pumping. I can do a 25 gal batch every 30 min so doing 400 gal in 8 hrs is no problem!

As to cost; cost
25 gal oil $0
5 gal methanol $6.90
2 lbs lye $.90
total cost $7.80
Less recovered meth - $1.72

total finished cost $6.08

25gal biodiesel / $6.08= 24 cents per gal [ i added 6 cents per gal for elect and misc costs

Also, after the oil is heated, 99.9 percent of any water drops out and settles to the bottom of my "heater-cleaner", And unlike the "appleseed" you can SEE the oil when it comes out and i catch any water in a waste barrel before I dump it into the mixing barrels. FABMANDELUX.

 

that makes me sick........ it looks like its time to start doing a lot of reading. man thanks for sharing that is all the motivation in the world right there to start doing this asap.

 

Well my 50.12lb of lye cost 27 and change. I wish I could have got the methenol cheaper though. Its a little over 8 bucks a gallon for five and a little over 3 if I buy 55 gallons at a time. Interesting why its more expensive in Arizona.

 

I pay $1.38 a gallon for my methanol true, BUT I by 300 gal totes twice a month on a commercial account, so I get wholesale pricing. In order to pickup 300 totes you MUST HAVE a CDL with Haz-Mat endorsement, which I do have.
Even though You are paying twice as much as I am It is still cheaper than $3.00 a gallon dino-diesel!! Good luck on your system! FABMANDELUX.