Topic: Does anyone here biodiesel?

[Schroeder]

So like the title says, does anyone here make biodiesel?  I've been thinking of getting a little rabbit or some small diesel vehicle for some time now and making my own biodiesel.  I've read several good articles on how to do this, but I don't know if it could be done on a large scale at home (without spending large amounts of time or spending large amounts of money to get set up).  From what I've heard, to make an old vehicle run on biodiesel a few simple seals need to be replaced, but other than that vehicles from the factory will run on it. 

I am just starting to learn about this practice and was wondering if anyone here is in the biodiesel refining scene or knows anyone in it.  What are your guys' thoughts?  Too much work?

[gilbertsta]

MY Brother in Michigan does it. He sells to farmers. He bought a diesel van that runs off it also. If you have specific questions I can ask him. It seems like a simple practice. I know he uses a few filters to clean out the oil. The first filter needs replacing more often than the rest. He also adds additives to the oil. I know that ppl with diesel trucks buy it from him to. They run it without a problem. He quit making it for a while because gas prices went down, but I am sure he will start it up again. There is a looming problem though. The greedy wealthy ppl are starting massive biodiesel companies and buying up the used oil from the local restaurants. The restaurants used to just give him the oil.

[Schroeder]

http://makeprojects.com/Project/Backyard-Biodiesel/187/1

I think some of the additives you speak of are mentioned in this article.  They include lye.  How does he do it on a large scale though?  For example, a typical tank holds what?  Let's say twelve gallons of diesel (if I get a car, not truck).  The article talks about heating the oil, shaking etc.  You can't really shake a 5-gallon bucket or some large container like that.  If you wanted to you'd need some sort of machine to shake it....did he make something with say a 5hp engine? 

If you could ask him I would greatly appreciate it.  Does he have an email address?  I would like to say that he has no reason to not disclose information with me because I am not a potential customer.  I live in Ohio and currently do not even have a diesel vehicle (the thought of getting one and trying this is interesting though!).  I also am not a competitor, I don't plan on opening a biodiesel gas station in my front lawn that will compete with his operation lol.  I'm just wondering if this is even feasible.  Currently I'm thinking two gallons (judging ONLY on the process described in the link I posted) could be made in one jug.  It takes about two days for one two gallon container to "cure."

Sure, you could do this with 40 two gallon jugs, but it just doesn't seem productive to me.  I'd wanna make it twenty gallons at a time in one container.  Unless there are other ways than this article describes, this can not be achieved without the help of motors and such because there is no way a person can shake a mixture in a 20 gallon container in the manner described in this article.

Again, this is the only how to article I've read and there may be other ways to do it that do not require shaking and such.  In such a case i'm thinking a guy could drop in the ingredients after filtering, walk away, and come back to a tank of biodiesel from which he removes the good fuel and disposes of the waste. 

Any information would be appreciated.  Again, Gilbert, I am not your brother's competitor or anything like that lol.  Just a very curious guy looking to get informed.

[gilbertsta]

I will ask him. I think he has a 300 gal tank in his shed. I know he has a huge tank in the back of the van and he siphons the oil from the restaurants and he can run his van directly off the oil. Not sure how he does it but I will get back to you on this probably 2morrow.

[gilbertsta]

ok...so I called my brother, he said he adds 3 things to the oil, kerosene,gas and a glycerin stabilizer. he said it will be stable for about 2 weeks, if it sits longer than that the glycerin will set up and destroy your seals. The best thing to do is to get special equipment to remove the glycerin (which you can use the glycerin for soap and candles) he said you can find the equipment you need at "Freedom Fueler" If you have more questions and would like to talk with him "pm" me and I will give you his phone #

[Schroeder]

Thank you.  I'm very interested.  I'll PM you.