I posted some pics in my gallery of some of the new equipment for my new processer. Check them out and let me know what you think.

FABMANDELUX.

 

Dunno what any of it's for, but anything with an auger welded to it is cool.

 

Scott: One of the hardest parts of using WVO or biodiesel is filtering the "nasties" out of the oil. This machine will dump the "cubes" [4.2 gal, 40lbs EACH] 2 at a time by air pressure into a rotary screen cleaner. The auger is for taking the "nasties" out the other end.

This machine will take the WORK out of pouring HUNDREDS of cubes per week. Plus it will give me a lot cleaner oil to go into the new 500 gal heater.

 

Ah....a scraper, got it. Do you also filter it before processing, or is it sufficient to screen the big chunks and let it ride?

 

The holes are 1/16", thats plenty small enough to pump to the main heating tank. The heating tank has a trap that catches the smaller "stuff" before it goes to the mix tank.

FABMANDELUX.

 

I've seen a few pictures of the final product that were so clear it looked like a beer in a glass jar....is there no filtering required during the conversion process to get bio that clean when startng with WVO? Everything comes out during the heating/transferring processes?

 

Mornin Scott, Yep, most everything comes out in the heating stage. After it's mixed any remaining solids will settle out overnight. In my case however, since I've switched to the hydrocyclone, it now comes out within 15-20 min. If I can figure out how to post pics in the threads, I'll post some of my bio. And yes your right mine is a pale yellow, and you can read a newspaper through it!

FABMANDELUX.

 

Fab
Once again tell us why you dont wash you Bio.
Have you had it tested for free fatty acids?

 

Several reasons actually: #1, Washing creates the chance of creating an emulsion, and is very hard to deal with.
#2, To do an effective wash you need to use 1/3 the amount of water as bio x 3 washes. In my case that is 1,300 gal of wash water/mo to dispose of, and you just can't dump it on the ground! As we are hopefully going to expand to around 5,000 gal/mo this year, that will increase the wash water to 4,950 gallons per mo to dispose of!
#3, IF you let it settle for at least 4 weeks the excess methanol will evaporate, and the excess KOH will settle to the bottom of the tank. I use this "slime" mixed with WMO and glycerol to fuel my process.

In the last 2 years I've sent 2 samples out for testing. Both tests met ASTM standards so I can see no reason to wash.

I am now making more than I can use, so we've been selling the excess as Off-Road fuel to area farmers. This allows me to sell it without paying ANY taxes on it. We currantly sell it for $2.00 per gallon, and since I blend it with 1 percent dino-diesel I can receive the $1.00/gal rebate from the feds.

FABMANDELUX.

 

So - starting a refinery soon fabman?

 

My new plant should be in production this month......................

FABMANDELUX.