Disposing of the by-product is my biggest concern. I have been researching it on some of the other forums and sites but I thought I see what you all are doing to get rid of the glop from failed batches as well as the glycerin / lye / meth mixture.

 

Great question, disposal of gylcerine and washing waste is my biggest open issue to solve before I build a processor of my own.

 

There are several ways to dispose of the glycerol by-product. If you are using NaOH the glycerol makes an excellent weed killer. If you are using KOH the glycerol will make a great fertilizer. It can also be used as a dust suppressant for gravel or dirt roads. KOH based glycerol may also be used as a livestock supplement( after the MeOH is recovered). The glycerol can also be used as a heat source with the proper burner. I don't have any wash-water problem because I use Magnesol dry-wash.

 

FAB,

I saw in another post about the Magnesol wash, sounds like the way to go. What kind of processor do you suggest someone start with? I would like to do a 3 x 55 gal drum system so that I can process about 40 gals at a time back-to-back. I have considered buying plans from Murphysmachines.com - looks like a great system and plans look very detailed. He also offers plans for a super sucker to collect wvo from restaurants. How do you do things?
Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Tom

 

I much prefer to dry wash with Magnesol. 0 water to dispose of, better quality bio, and less trouble! I hate to get into a debate over which style of processor to build...........BUT having used both I prefer my "open" style of processor with mechanical mixing instead of pump mixing. As far as picking up my WVO, I have my restaurants put it back in the "cubies" they receive the new oil in. All my restaurants like this system because it removes the stinking barrels from behind their buildings. I "blend" all the oils I get together before using it.

 

Another slick idea is on some other boards, called the GL1 wash method. The guy started distilling the processed bio to get all the meth out, this would then allow all the remaining catalist to fall out of the bio to the bottom of the drum. He recovers his meth and doesn't need to wash then. All you get is alittle bit of soap in the bottom of the drum. No water needed then.

 

Unless the feed stock is totally hydrogenated, heating BD to a temp high enough for distillation would cause serious oxidation and polymerization risk,

 

I haven't read enough on it to know the ins and outs of it. But I do believe his bio is up to standard.

 

Fab, do the restaurants use a funnel to drain the oil into the cubies? In other words is there any difficulties for them to put the oil back in the cubies? I imagine that some may do this to carry the oil out to the dumpster anyway - could be saving them a step(?)

Thanks for the help.

Tom

 

I supplied all my restaurants with funnels. You must explain to them to only pour it back into the cubies AFTER it cools.............I had one cook that tried to pour it back at 350 deg.........can you say big mess?

 

SOme carry it out in 5 gal buckets, one place I get it from has a pump they put on the bottome of the fryer, filter and everything, it already has most of the trash out when I get it.

 

Duhhh, plastic funnel no likie! Did he burn the snot out of himself?

 

If you burn the glycerol improperly you will create toxic acrolein fumes, which mainly form at between 200 and 300 deg C (392-572 deg F). It needs to be burned at high temperature to eliminate the toxic acrolein fumes.

 

Fabmandelux, do you have a photo or description of your funnel design?