You can make Bio Diesel for less than $1 per gal

 

While I'd agree with that statement in general, I'd caution folks on what it "might" really cost you.

I won't include the cost of the processor here, because that can be all over the map, ie.. build your own for a few hundred dollars, or swing all the way over to the other end for a commercial unit like a BioPro for several thousands of dollars.

That aside, your feedstock (waste oil) and your chemicals are going to be the main items in the end cost.

1) Waste Oil - where are you getting it? Was it free or are you paying for it? This is a big part of the equation. Round up your WVO resources before you drop a dime for anything else.

2) Methanol - It's going up in price, just like all other commercially produced fuels.

3) Catalyst - Lye (NaOH, Sodium Hydroxide), or Caustic Potash (KOH, Potassium Hydroxide.) What's it going to cost you per pound? If you can't get it locally, and buy online, the hazmat shipping costs will almost double the price.

4) Other optional chems like Amberlite, Sulphuric Acid, etc.

I haven't counted electricity, water, labor, etc, and like noted at the beginning, the cost of the processor itself.

But if you can take a conservative accounting of 1-4 above, you should be able to judge what it's going to cost you per gallon. I've seen people who get their WVO for free or close to it, and buy their chems in bulk, be able to produce finished fuel for roughly $1/gal. But I've also seen folks who have to buy their WVO, and are paying premium prices for their chems, have their finished fuel cost them nearly double that. But the argument is still there that $2 a gallon BioD is WAY cheaper than dino D.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a HUGE proponent of brew your own. I just like folks to have all the info before they go into this thinking that they'll throw a brewer in the corner of their garage, run down to the corner restaurant for free oil, and EASILY make a few tanks of $1/gal bioD each week.

TX

 

Thanx for the reality check. I am looking into this and am still educating myself

 

I agree

 

Even with all the issues I laid out above, I'd still encourage people to get into it, even if only making a small batch processor.

I think the biggest issue for a lot of home brewers is getting a good, consistent source of WVO. If you're only making 10-15 gallons every other week to fill up your Beetle TDI, it's not too hard. But if you need to make 25-35 gallons a week to feed your Powerstroke (or you're a group of guys needing two to three times that), that's a little harder. It kind of depends on your location. Here in Houston, the competition inside the metro area is heating up, and most restaurant chains have contracts, selling their waste for 25 cents a gallon and up. Out in the suburbs, things have been easier and we've found free sources (for now). But even if you had to buy cleaned waste oil from a collector/processor for a $1 a gallon, that still means that your finished bioD is only $2 - $2.50 a gallon. And that's pretty much half of what pump dino D is costing. So even with the rising costs WVO, chemicals (about a $1.25/lb here for KOH), and methanol (about $4.25 gallon here), you're still a long way from from the cost of pump dinoD.

I'm in this for the long haul. We're even looking at oil crops to grow on our land in central TX. Imagine pulling 100-200 gallons of oil per acre annually off your own land.

TX

 

That would be my dream. Grow your own fuel. I still have alot to learn before I build my setup but I appreciate any and all info.

 

I'm growing my own fuel right now. 100 acres of canola, and 25 acres of camelina this year. We will plant 200 acres of canola this fall. The nice thing about growing the oil seed is the ability to crush and make bio as we need it, rather than having to make the bio all at once, and then having to store it till needed.

 

how do you crush ?? pics of system ?

 

i have been looking into growing some canola here in south texas. From everything I have read about it, the yield would end up being ~80 gallons of oil per acre on a good harvest.

i haven't crunched all the numbers since i still need to get pricing on a few things, but it seems like it may not be feasible for us.


while i agree and think anyone who can should make bio, it's not for everyone. especially since making it in your garage in the suburbs is not a good idea at all, and what exactly are you doing with your wash water if you are? better hope you don't get caught sending it down the sewer.

 

80 gallons per acre? That would be a crop failure here I don't have a water disposal problem because I use Magnesol.

 

Why in the world not? That's a pretty broad statement to make.

Again, why not? Provided you've extracted any remaining methanol, it's soapy water, probably cleaner than what gets discharged from your dishwasher or washing machine.

 

What kind of yield are you getting? I was sent some information from UT Austin as it seems a lot of people here in texas are looking into this. they say yields are from 800-2000 pounds/acre, which would equate to ~80 gallons, right? Are you able to extract more oil than that?

I don't use water anymore either. sometimes it takes A LOT of water to get the diesel clean, and then what do you do with it?


Depending on where you live, there are different consequences. A quick web search will show different news reports where people had their equipment confiscated and assessed heavy fines. one phone call from a concerned neighbor could turn into a real nightmare.


sounds like you are quoting that from journey to forever and that is a broad statement. You are going to loose some diesel in a water wash and there will be glycerin. Also, not everyone does methanol recovery. Don't get me wrong, I am not a tree hugger by any means and really don't care, but those bunny humpers are nasty.

Have you every thrown some wash water on grass? it's a good weed killer even if you use KOH. (without methanol recovery) i can't find it, but there was an article about a company making biodiesel that was draining the wash water in their field behind the warehouse. they got in hot water (no pun intended).

 

My yield this year was 4,200 lbs per acre @ 40 percent oil by weight = 223 gallons per acre X 100 acres = 23,333 gallons of recovered oil. The University of Idaho just came out with a new strain of canola that will produce over 50 percent oil.

Some people don't realize that canola will produce MORE seeds with LESS water. Overwatering in spring will decrease yield.............

 

wow, @ 4200 lbs/acre it is a definite go. we are are going to setup a small test garden and plant some canola. the weather here in south texas is something else, so we want to be sure before we plant 100 acres.

thanks for the tip on watering. that was one of our concerns since it never rains here and we would definitely have to irrigate to get any water on it.

 

A lot depends a lot on whether you seed fall or spring canola. We are high desert here with only about 10-12 inches per year. Spring canola doesn't work as well here. We "pre-irrigate" about 10" in our pivot about mid August, and have the seed in the ground by no later than the 15th of Sept. Yields have been between 3,500-4,500 lbs/acre. We DO NOT irrigate at all in the spring. We found that if the canola is "stressed" by low ground water in the spring, it tries to produce more seeds, giving us a higher yield. If you want any more info on growing canola, just let me know.