A "smug" TDI guy!

[Brian D.]

You're an absolute riot! Keep posting here; I may even need you for some biodiesel 'how-to' advice somewhere down the road if you don't mind.

[Hockey4mnhs]

your operation is awsome. how much did it cost to get into it? And how often do you have to make it? Welcome to the site and give us some more info!!

[stinkindiesel]

It ran me @ $700 to make the processor, another $400 in pump rig, storage barrels, etc... gotta admit, I bought a commercially marketed one called a Fuelmeister. It worked great, but I got spent on making 6 batches a month to keep me & family in the B. I basically just "up-sized" everything to a 130 gallon reactor vessel and 30 gallon catalyst tank. I've been running this setup for about a year with zero duds or problems.
Hey BrianD- where in VA and NJ? I'm from Paramus, NJ and lived in VA (Ferd-berg) for 10 years.
And I'm more than willing to yap about biodiesel till your ears hurt, hoping someone will learn from my mistakes. I drove a commercial truck for 15 years and finally got wise to bio-d when it crept toward $2.50/gallon. Saved a bucket of $$ in '04 when it hit $3.50+. When you're driving a 30-ton beast that gets 4 or 5 MPG, it really helps.
Now I'm a GM for an insurance agency, and my fuel needs have dropped (what with the Jetta being my #1 ride now, instead of something much bigger). Still saving the long green, though.

[Hockey4mnhs]

soooo cool thanks for the info. do you have any pics of your cars and your bio setup?

[stinkindiesel]

I s'pose I could toss up some pics... I'm electronically challenged, though. Electrons do NOT seem to work in my favor very often. What would be better for the site- 3 megapixel or 7 megapixel? And to what forum would I post it?

[cfg83]

stinkindiesel -

Originally Posted by stinkindiesel

I s'pose I could toss up some pics... I'm electronically challenged, though. Electrons do NOT seem to work in my favor very often. What would be better for the site- 3 megapixel or 7 megapixel? And to what forum would I post it?

I wouldn't go over 640x480 in terms of what you post because not all people have DSL, so they would prefer smaller images. If you have a favorite photo bucket site, put the pictures there and provide a URL for us to go to.

Here is a good example that is also something you may be interested in :

LA Biodiesel Coop :
http://www.biodiesel-coop.org/


Little pictures in the thread, but the option of users going to the big stuff.

CarloSW2

[skewbe]

Speaking of bio-diesel, I've only seen a small scale methanol-lye conversion, which supposedly extracted the glycerine from the veggie oil. Just curious how you process 100 gallons, and in no small degree I'm curious what byproducts it creates and what their disposition is?

Or are you running straight (filtered) WVO (might be able to get away with that in warm climates)?

Also did you mention a "winterizer"?

Thanks.



P.S. if we are doing a price of ownership comparison, you've got a long way to catch up

[stinkindiesel]

Yeah, I know those guys- good crew. There's an outfit in Santa Ana called Extreme Biodiesel, and they're running a biodiesel coop, too. I think they're getting @$2.65/gallon, and it's phenomenally high quality stuff. Todd and Bob are not just cranking out fuel, they're also developing some cutting edge processing and filtering technology. The don't pay me anything for saying stuff, so you know they're doin' something right. www.extremebiodiesel.com
Ahhh, the good old 640X480... I had one of those in high school. Mine was the straght six model with a three on the tree... uh, what? Never mind. I'll find a kid to help me.

[stinkindiesel]

Back to skewbe- I also do the methanol-lye conversion, but a bit different. If the oil is good stuff, I divide the run the batch with 75% of the catalyst (methanol and lye mixture), then let it settle overnight. Drain the resultant glycerine, then re-process with the remaining 25% of the catalyst (mix it fresh- don't let this stuff sit because it turns "stale" within an hour or two depending on temps). The second glycerine yield is significantly thicker and darker.
Running a batch with the full dose of catalyst will give a glycerine yield of 12% to 16%. Doing the two-step method, the yield is increased to 16% to 18%.
The bottom-most portion of the biodiesel is used in the tractor and Mercedeses (Mercedi?). Not because it's bad, but because I like to treat my VW and Dodge to the best. My favorite dog gets table scraps, too.
If the oil is high in free fatty acids (animal fats, really used veggie oil), I treat it with 98% sulfuric acid to the tune of 1 ml to 4.5 ml/liter of oil, depending on the titration. Let it work for @ 6-8 hours, drain the water and schutz from the bottom, re-titrate and run it as usual. I hate high-FFA oils. They usually come from chicken fry joints, so the exhaust smells... sniff-ahhh... great, but it's a pain in the grommets to deal with.
By the way, the BEST smelling oil I ever got was from a Krispy Kreme. Usually, the donuts absorb the oil as the day goes on, but a fired employee hawked a lunger into the fry river, and I lived happily ever after. My Dodge's exhaust smelled like vanilla pastry heaven for a week and a half!

[stinkindiesel]

Skewbe- sorry, I use a commercial anti-gel that I pick up in the truckstop at the 15 and 10 freeways. It's diesel winterizer, and I whip some into the finished biodiesel with an electric drill and paint stirrer. Like 8-oz/100gallons. Works gooood.