Bio Diesel

[osuldo]

Hi all,

Wondering if anyone on this forum knows where i can get an oil press.As i would like to convert rape seed into oil ,also would anyone know where to get the best system to convert this vegtable oil into bio diesel many thanks

[Harry Sacks]

also would anyone know where to get the best system to convert this vegtable oil into bio diesel many thanks

Build it yourself, I did, works a treat. You can copy it if you like, all the parts are easily available.

Are you a grower then?

Have you ever made biodiesel before?

[osuldo]

Build it yourself, I did, works a treat. You can copy it if you like, all the parts are easily available.

Are you a grower then?

Have you ever made biodiesel before?

yea have grow about 10 acres on setaside ground which i would like to convert into oil and then into diesel.Any suggestions on how to convet the vegtable oil to diesel would be appreciated ,do you use chemicals in the process,also what materials did you use for this as my budget is limited?

many thanks for the reply would appreciate all the help i can get.

[Harry Sacks]

yea have grow about 10 acres on setaside ground which i would like to convert into oil and then into diesel.Any suggestions on how to convet the vegtable oil to diesel would be appreciated ,do you use chemicals in the process,also what materials did you use for this as my budget is limited?

many thanks for the reply would appreciate all the help i can get.

What yield of oil do you get, or expecting to get, are you growing rape? How you process it depends on the water content. It's pretty straight forward with virgin oil.

[Kam]

I can't say too much as it would be far to easy to find out details on me and I hate the fact I'm spread over the net.

But Used Cooking oil is freely available from most cooking establishments

They have to pay to have it removed by registered waste carriers

that’s the expensive bit - getting the license.

But the process is easy and the chemicals can be bought over the counter too.

Don’t forget the custom and excise want there cut 27p+ per litre

Cars/vans can be run at 5% Biodiesel / DERV with no problems with warranty

However our tests have shown it it can be run higher

First thousand miles you need to change filters regularly until all the petro-diesel cr@p flushes out and fit better fuel pumps.

Some Mercedes engines can run 100% and Euro-5 Adblue systems should be ok too.

Emissions are slightly better, but Nox is worse

be careful with the chemicals and get friendly with your local chippy (avoid chinese and thai)

[Harry Sacks]

I can't say too much as it would be far to easy to find out details on me and I hate the fact I'm spread over the net.

But Used Cooking oil is freely available from most cooking establishments

They have to pay to have it removed by registered waste carriers

that’s the expensive bit - getting the license.

But the process is easy and the chemicals can be bought over the counter too.

Don’t forget the custom and excise want there cut 27p+ per litre

Cars/vans can be run at 5% Biodiesel / DERV with no problems with warranty

However our tests have shown it it can be run higher

First thousand miles you need to change filters regularly until all the petro-diesel cr@p flushes out and fit better fuel pumps.

Some Mercedes engines can run 100% and Euro-5 Adblue systems should be ok too.

Emissions are slightly better, but Nox is worse

be careful with the chemicals and get friendly with your local chippy (avoid chinese and thai)

It is now virtually impossible to get used oil from chippy's that is of a quality suitable for making biodiesel.

Last year I took 200litres of chip fat, all of it was solid at room temperature. It did however, make fairly good diesel with only one major problem, it is solid at anything under 20C. This makes it useless as a vehicle fuel. All the non solid oils go back to the supplier, why? Because they can sell it or use it to run their fleets. Virgin oil makes far superior fuel IMO. More importantly the process requires less energy than used oil.

I have run older diesels on B100 for a while with no problem. I know of no one who has used it in HDi for any length of time and would be very interested to hear their experiences.

and fit better fuel pumps.

That's the expensive bit!

[Kam]

I can't say that we have had any problems with getting oil from chip shops that is poor quality, even through the winter most of the oil collected was liquid and good from the chip shops, High animal fat content in the chinese seems to be the problem here with it solidifying below 20degC

VirginOil is probably better, but we are currently focusing on the recycle side, FFA's are what make the difference, and used cooking oil has more, but still well within tolerances, anything thats is really bad wil be used in steam generation plant.

our tests are across a huge range of vehicles and its still early days yet, but some are up to 30% in Renualt HDI and ford TDCI's and have shown no really problems apart for the pumps, once we go fully scale we will know more.

[Harry Sacks]

problems apart for the pumps, once we go fully scale we will know more.

Is that the in-tank pump or the high pressure pump on the common rail engines?

[Kam]

Is that the in-tank pump or the high pressure pump on the common rail engines?

fuel tank pumps mainly, have had problems that could be high pressure pumps or injectors but seems to clear before we can diagnose it for certain, I'm not a mechanic so could not answer 100%.

we're happy to roll out across fleet and will continue to test with various blends and additives to improve the fuel we use. We have yet to produce our own. that will be the hard bit - most of the fuel is produced at a contractors site until our plant is built.

[Harry Sacks]

fuel tank pumps mainly, have had problems that could be high pressure pumps or injectors but seems to clear before we can diagnose it for certain, I'm not a mechanic so could not answer 100%.

we're happy to roll out across fleet and will continue to test with various blends and additives to improve the fuel we use. We have yet to produce our own. that will be the hard bit - most of the fuel is produced at a contractors site until our plant is built.

The electric pumps are notoriously unreliable, especially French HDi, so I wouldn't put failure down to biodiesel use immediately.

Can I ask what part of this project you're involved in?

[Kam]

The electric pumps are notoriously unreliable, especially French HDi, so I wouldn't put failure down to biodiesel use immediately.

Can I ask what part of this project you're involved in?

Pretty much everything, I'm almost a one-man-band with the running of it, I leave the politics and budgets to my boss and the councillors, I have been involved for the last year or so, but its been in planning for 2years nearly and the project is set to run 5years - (odd thing is everyone involved in the project knows why we are doing it, but never mention Peak Oil in the official bits only the fag breaks and lunch breaks)

I did write more to this reply - but I can't go into too much detail yet,

I'd love to tell you more, but until everything is signed up and agreed I'm keeping quiet.

I have been watching your posts Dom about the subject, but have been unable to really talk about it with you.

what sort of setup do you have? production levels and all that

are you working to EN14214, and what sort of price per litre/price per ton does the raw oil cost?

I take it your Private sector?

[Harry Sacks]

I have been watching your posts Dom about the subject, but have been unable to really talk about it with you.

what sort of setup do you have? production levels and all that

are you working to EN14214, and what sort of price per litre/price per ton does the raw oil cost?

I take it your Private sector?

My current setup is a prototype, it's small but can easily be scaled up. I wanted to build a sealed system with minimal vapour emission that was easy to use, relatively safe and could fit on a garage work bench. It is ideal for someone who just wants to run their own car. It's self loading, the raw oil and methoxide can be fed in under atmospheric pressure, so no need to have open containers. It pumps the mix from bottom to top, the methoxide can then be fed slowly into the pipe so it contacts all of the mix evenly as it enters the reactor. It's heated and thermostatically controlled. It has a methanol vapour recovery system which works, but needs improvement with regard to its efficiency. I'm working on a heat exchanger run off the vacuum pump. I can just walk away and let it run for an hour. When it's done I just drain it out while its hot and let it separate.

I have no way of knowing if I'm anywhere near EU standard. The analysis costs about £1500,

but I think it's a bit unneccassary at this level. I find the 'shake 'em up' test is a very good indicator of quality.

I wash the fuel very carefully for about one week, bubble washing is the way to go IMO. I use a 150 compressor tank with regulator, it bubbles the tank for 12 hours on one charge. I change the water four of five times until it's clear.

Even with the highest FFA gunky crap (never eat from a chippy again!) I get sparkling biodiesel. However, I'd love to know the methyl ester content! I'm making it for under 50p/litre. Could easily make for less if bought everything by the tonne.

[Kam]

Home brewing eh, even better. If I ever get any contacts that can test to EN141214 cheaper I see what I can do for you, just too see how good your getting it,

Most of the work in biodiesel has been done by people in the garages,

Even with the highest FFA gunky crap (never eat from a chippy again!) I get sparkling biodiesel.

I know what you mean, Its not until you start to see the rubbish oil that we collect that you know how bad some restaurants are.

I certainly have a better idae where to eat and where not too.

[Harry Sacks]

Are you using NaOH?

How do you do your titration? I use a digital ph meter to be as accurate as possible. I can't abide messing up a batch getting the amount of catalyst wrong.

[Kam]

Are you using NaOH?

How do you do your titration? I use a digital ph meter to be as accurate as possible. I can't abide messing up a batch getting the amount of catalyst wrong.

Plant is not yet built, but will be Potassium Hydroxide and methanol, Lab will be fully equipped and the system is fully automated, just input the titration results and amounts of catalyst and oil and walk away.

its still a batch process system and should produce 5000 litres a day.

[Harry Sacks]

Plant is not yet built, but will be Potassium Hydroxide and methanol, Lab will be fully equipped and the system is fully automated, just input the titration results and amounts of catalyst and oil and walk away.

its still a batch process system and should produce 5000 litres a day.

Is the titration automatic?

Most of the work in biodiesel has been done by people in the garages,

That makes sense, it's been a barn yard enterprise for over thirty years in the US.

Ultimately the garages will be dealing with the side effects of biodiesel.

One thing most people overlook is the exhaust smell. If anything will prevent widespread use of B100 it's that, It really does stink. When my neighbour drives past the smell lingers for quite a while.

Town dwellers will not tolerate this, I guarantee it. Look at all the animosity caused by a few windmills.