Ok, guys, Here is the Hydrocyclone we are using at the Idaho plant. It will handle 30 gallons per min at 30 lbs back-pressure. I've done testing at my shop with it and it works perfectly! Cost.....just under $1,000.







FABMANDELUX.

 

Is the hydrocyclone used to remove solids form the oil?

 

Nope, its used to seperate the glycerol from the Biodiesel.


FABMANDELUX.

 

Did you say Idaho???

What part?

 

Yep, Wilder, Idaho


FABMANDELUX.

 

Thats crazy... I'm over in Boise.

I would love to take a look at your facility.

 

Right now we are having "problems" with the local planing commission...........

We were going to use an existing building on-site, but we are now going to build a new building just for Bio production sited about 500' from the main plant. We decided to move the new plant for safety reasons after the other Idaho Bio plant blew up. So far this plant design should be one of the safest, and most productive in the northwest, and all without ANY Gov $$$$

When we do have the plant up and running [next spring] I'll invite you to the Grand Opening


FABMANDELUX.

 

Sounds like a plan...

 

Are you able to meet ASTM standards using the hydrocylones only or do you use a centrifuge for the final phase? Also, do you use a hydroclone for separating the wash water from the biodiesel?

juan

 

Welcome to FTE Juan!

We use the Hydrocyclones for bio-glycerol separation only. We do not use water to wash the fuel. We remove the excess methanol from the biodiesel first, then filter out the soap, and do a final clean up with Magnesol. Our tests have so far exceeded ASTM specs.

 

Fabmandelux, I wish you could expand to Jacksonville Florida with a plant!! We do not even have a bio station close to us.

 

no water to clean the fuel? that sounds like a good advantage, I guess youcan get at the glycerol w/ this 1000$ device w/out having to 'wet' your fuel?

 

The Hydrocyclone works great for glycerol removal in both commercial plants I've designed.......BUT is very sensitive to the in-feed source. I don't think it's use will have much of a following in the "home-brew" crowd, unless you are using virgin oil. Non-water washing on the other hand, is very doable on a home scale, and produces a much better bio with less chance of Oxidation, and a 0 chance of emulsions. I have a Gas Chromatograph and have tested water-washed, and dri-washed bio. The dri-washed bio has consistently exceeded ASTM specs, but the water-washed bio has had about a 40% failure rate.

 

Fabmandelux,
Thanks for the response. Another post of yours indicated that you don't use hydrocyclones to separate any solids out of the batch. I looked at the diagram of your plant and wondered why you wouldn't use a liquid/solid type hydrocyclone to remove the magnesol before the final filter. Like a desander type of hydrocyclone. Since decanter type centrifuges are used to remove Magnesol this would seem like a no brainer. I haven't used Magnesol yet, but I'm thinking of switching to avoid any oxidation of the BD and waste effluent. Do you know what size particles the Magnesol is? Less than 10 microns?
I would think that different types of hydrocyclones at different stages of the process would benefit the automation of the batch process. 1 liquid/solid HC to filter out any large heavies and possibly water from the WVO before esterification and transesterification, a liquid/liquid HC to separated out the glycerin, and either a liquid/liquid HC if you're doing a water wash or a liquid/solid HC to separate out the Magnesol.
Unfortunately, it seems that the flow rates for manufactured hydrocyclones starts a rate too high for your typical homebrewer. This weekend we're going to try and make a small one that will handle about 5 gpm out of some 316 stainless pipe and fittings that are just lying around and welding up the volute and a small sump for the bottom of the HC. I'll let you know how things go.

your pal,

Juan

 

Good morning Juan! Using a $5 bag filter for removing the Magnesol is a lot cheaper than a $1,000 Hydrocyclone! I use a different system for removing the solids from the oil than a HC also because of cost mainly.

The 2 commercial plants I've designed so far use the HCs mainly to remove the glycerol faster because there doing 500 gallons per hour instead of 100 gallons per hour. The oil that goes into these plants has no particles in it to separate out, so they are not needed.

I don't use a hydro-cyclone for my system because I am using waste restaurant oil as a feed stock, and they are VERY sensitive to the in-feed. I found out the hard way that what my friend Dr VonGerpin told me about using them on WVO was problematic, Just to sensitive............

I use a 5 micron bag filter to remove the Magnesol, and then a 1 micron final filter. I very seldom find anything in the 1 micron filter, I just use it to make me feel better!

I don't think a HC would work with a waterwash system. I think the potential for forming an emulsion would be to great...........