hello everyone me and my dad are considering buying a appleseedreactor to produce biodiesel out of waste vegtable oil and we have a few questions
Question 1: would we want to mix the biodiesel with road diesel during the winter and summer
Question 2: is there anti gelling agents that work well with biodiesel in the winter so i can run strait bio in my truck during the winter (wisconsin winter)
Question 3: how much do you have to filter the wase vegtable oil to get it to a level that you could make biodiesel out of it
Question 4:how hard is it to make bio diesel
Thank you for your time and answers

 

Biodiesel is so easy to make you can do it in a 2 ltr bottle! Making QUALITY biodiesel is a little more involved, but well worth the effort.
#1. I blend my bio to either B-80 or B-50 during the winter, and have not had any problems.
#2. I've tried several anti-gels, but have not found anything that works as good as blending with #1 dino-diesel.
#3. If it will go through a 1/16" hole you can make bio with it, any small "bits" will end up in the glycerol by-product.
#4. Biodiesel is not hard to make at all. I've been making it and using to run a 6,000 acre farm for almost 5 years. You must focus on quality, and safety first! I grow my own canola now and don't use WVO nearly as much as I first did. I don't water wash my bio. I use Magnesol to drywash my bio.

To get a better understanding of the process try here: Welcome - Collaborative Biodiesel Tutorial Website They have free plans for "appleseed" style processors, and also contacts for available kits.

 

thank you for the link im trying to do my homework before we start going in too deep im getting my waste veggie oil from the county fair(they throw away 12000 gallons a year) since i work on the fairs grounds crew how long have you made biodiesel fabmandelux

 

I've been involved in alternative energy for the past 20 years or so, but I started making and using bio on a bigger than "home-brewer" size about 4 1/2 years ago. I was never happy with the "appleseed" style of processor, and with a background in farming, and research and development I took a different path. Along the way I built and tried a lot of different systems. I now have a system that will produce 100 gallons per hour of ASTM spec biodiesel on a continuous basis.

I started growing my own Canola oilseed 2 years ago. This year I raised enough canola to produce 22,000 of biodiesel on 100 acres of ground.

Not bad for an old fart ( and my name is Don)

 

hey don how many acres are you running and what kind of equipment do you use i work part time on my uncles 350 cow dairy farm and he uses a 5% bio/ 95%dino blend of diesel during the summer and during the winter he runs strait dino

 

About 7,800 acres. Just under 1,800 acres of pasture and hay, and 6,000 acres of wheat. We dry land farm tho, so we only have 3,000 acres / year in wheat. The other 3,000 acres are in summerfallow. I use B-100 from march untill the end of Oct, then switch to either B-80 or B-50.

I use Cat D-6D, and Cat AG-6 farm tractors, and John Deere combines.

 

Don:
I wish I lived in your area. I love to farm. In fact I take my vacation time and go help a friend farm.

How do you filter out your Magnesol? I have been using vacum and pressure to move it around through cannister filters after running it through sock filters. My 1 and 2 micron cannister filters are stopping up too fast even after running through the socks. So I am thinking about a Dieselcraft centrifuge or a bag filter housing from Fryer to Fuel.

I would greatly appreciate any guidance you will offer.

Thanks, Jim

 

Morning Jim. I use a diaphram pump to force my bio through a 50 Micron bag filter, than a 25 micron filter, both in filter housings. Once the bio is filtered below 25 microns, I switch over to a system that uses 2 canister 10 micron bag filters. The bio is sent to the first filter, when that plugs a pressure switch sends a signal to switch an electric valve over to a second filter, and lights a red light to let me know to change out the first filter. Then the whole thing starts over again. After I've filtered down below 10 microns, I let it settle overnight, then decant the bio off the top and run it through a 5 micron, then a 1 micron absolute to my storage tank. I've found a continious discharge centrifuge that I want to buy, but the price is still a little high ($2,500) Don.

 

Don,

Tell me more about the centrifue you want.

Bryan Will

 

Bryan, The one I'm looking at is a continious flow, self cleaning, and will flow up to 150 gph. Do you know of any around that are cheaper?

 

TF Hudgins

They are not self cleaning.

Do you still have my phone number? Call me.

 

Don
Will the centrifuge be used in lieu of or in conjunction with your hydroclones

Dave

 

I've seen the "Spinner II", not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for a continuous style to remove glycerol from the "mix", but it needs to do 100-150 gpm, and remove the glycerol only. One of my friends at the University of Idaho has been experimenting with this and suggested some changes to my system. Next month after I get moved, I'm going to build a test chamber and try stripping the glycerol on a continuous basis. I've seen it done in a test tube, but I want to try doing it in a flowing environment with electrolysis, through a 4" clear tube ( still looking for a piece of tube). If I use a fairly long tube at an angle I should be able to get the glycerol to come out of the bottom, and "clean" biodiesel out the top. Just trying to make this whole process easier, and faster.


Could'nt find your phone #, PM me..............

 

In conjunction. On a batch system, the hydro-cyclones are very sensitive, and must be "tuned-in" for each batch. This results in "carry-over" glycerol which must be dealt with, hence the centrifuge as a final "filter". I really have high hopes for electrolytic separation. It could potentially replace all this equipment, and be scalable to "home-brewer" use.

 

WOW what an idea.
Wish I'd a thunk of it.